Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Its a studio environment where we all bring something to our projects, and thats for the better, Elizabeth Roberts tells me over the phone. Personalities are really important and all my strong, creative clients dont just have a point of view; they are down to earth, problemsolving people. Roberts, whose tenor is equal parts modest and warm nwhen she speaks about her eponymous architecture firm, belies the impact she has had on contemporary living ideals. Indeed, the Brooklyn based architect has been behind countless respectful transformations of outdated and run-down early New York brownstones, which she spins into bright aeries that boast both beautifully preserved crown mouldings from yesteryear as well as Instagramworthy modern kitchens.

Robertss devotees include a cadre of prominent female powerhouses in creative industries such as Rachel Comey, Athena Calderone and Ulla Johnson, whose home spaces have been widely covered by the likes of Architectural Digest and are sure to be aspirational lifestyle fodder for years to come. While each of these residences feel distinctive to their inhabitants, there is a tie that binds. Robertss skill is in navigating and mediating juxtaposition to elegant and fresh effect, leaving the homes she touches both contemporary and historically soulful.

Her education and experience reflect the duality she is recognized for; after earning her first architecture degree from UC Berkeleys School of Architecture, where she learned modernist start from scratch principles, the Marin County native went on to Columbia, receiving her second degree in historical preservation. Adaptive reuse was an important ideait made all sorts of sense to me at a young age: using existing buildings and finding a way not to tear them down. Roberts found beauty in the historical and industrial. I love the elements we dont often create anymore as architectsheavy timber, true brick walls and creating features out of historic details. But she is quick to point out that she is no anachronist. We build to the timesI love contrast: the glossy new with the old.

Roberts had formative periods interning and working for famed California modernist William Turnbull, preservationist Alice Carey and the award-winning firm Beyer Blinder Belle. In 2003, after being offered a partnership at a firm in San Francisco, she decided instead to strike out on her own, turning her West Village apartment bedroom into an office. I managed to afford it by splitting my bedroom diagonally in half with a blackout curtain, she recalls. Roberts initially took on mostly residential projects, including a number of Brooklyn townhouses, presaging the boom that was about to occur in the residential market. For many years I intentionally didnt do commercial. I realized the pressure and the values were not in line with what I wanted to spend my time and energy on; I wanted to work with families to create lifetime houses, she says.

As artful residential renovations started to become her calling card, addressing the interiors was a logical next step. Theres no reason that when we are building a building we should stop at the walls. Why not talk about color on the walls, and the furniture? she asks. Im really interested in blurring those lines. Roberts now has six full-time interior designers on her team. She has also returned to taking on select commercial projects, starting with Rachel Comeys flagship store in 2014. It was such a personal expression of hers. That exploration for a beautiful, concise and lasting backdrop for her creations was a great re-entry into commercial [work] for me, says Roberts, who most recently designed the NoMad restaurant Il Fiorista, for which she tapped artist Leanne Shapton to create bold, watercolor-like murals.

Her firm is now working on several ground-up projects and, as ever, Roberts is keen on finding the tension that will keep it interesting. Its easy with old buildings. New construction is more complicated. But its a blast finding contrast in the landscape, how it sits in nature, and bringing organic forms into a clean box, she says. Her cach among influential women hasnt waned, either. A roster of current clients includes chef Melia Marden, Atlantic Records executive Julie Greenwald, supermodel Daria Werbowy, jewelry designer Mary MacGill and former HBO president Sue Naegle.

Asked about her sustained influences, Roberts offers a paean to her chosen city. I dont know if I would have found a place as an architect if I hadnt been so inspired by New York and its history. I love the grit, the grime and the glorious architecture, she says. And things evolve [here]. One thing about New York City is that nothingor very littleis too precious to change.

Read the original:
Architect Elizabeth Roberts Builds the Rooms Powerful Women Want and Need Mieke Ten Have 12.25.2019 - Cultured Magazine

If anyone can offer us some motivational words of wisdom in a year that has pretty much gone to shit, its Architects frontman SamCarter.

From his admirable campaigning ahead of the UKs general election in December, to his powerful, political lyrical statements throughout the Brighton metallers discography, the vocalist is constantly standing up for whats right and hes got plenty to say in the way of hope going into2020.

It really can feel like that when were smashed with how shit things are from every angle, every day, but I think you have to look at the youth and be hopeful for the future, Sam tells Kerrang! in the latest issue of the magazine. I look at [teenage climate change activist] Greta Thunberg, who is so great and has done so much. Shes inspired so many people to stand up and make a change in their lives. I see so many brands and companies now moving more towards an ethical direction. And, okay, you can easily be cynical about that and assume that is just their way of trying to make money, but you have to take the small victories where they are and try to build on them. There has been a definite shift in attitudes, so we have to run with that to achieve even more and to keep trying to be better people, generally.

Read this next: 10 artists helping to save the planet through environmental activism

Away from these world issues, 2019 has actually been a pretty special one for Sam and Architects and the biggest lesson that hes learned this year is that dreams can cometrue.

I always wanted to record at Abbey Road, and we did that this year [for a Spotify session], he smiles. I cant explain how much that meant to me so many of my favourite records were made there. But then also I think this year has really reminded me that its important to help other people whenever you can. The past couple of years have been really hard, with everything this band has been through, and when youre kind of broken like that, you dont want to put yourself out there so much anymore. But this year has really reminded me how important doing thatis.

Sams full interview is available to read in the new issue of Kerrang!, which you can get anywhere in the world through Kerrang.Newsstand.co.uk. Or, if you live in the UK, you can grab it now from all goodnewsagents.

Link:
Architects' Sam Carter: "You Have To Look At The Youth And Be Hopeful For The Future" - Kerrang!

The Wuxi Taihu Show Theatre, which is wrapped in a steel structure designed to look like a bamboo forest, has opened in China.

The theatre in Wuxi,a city near Shanghai in eastern China, was designed by Steven Chilton Architectsas the permanent home for a watershow designed by Belgian theatre director Franco Dragone.

The round theatre takes its appearance directly from the nearby Sea of Bamboo Park the largest bamboo forest in China, where West-Line Studio created a bamboo-clad gateway earlier this year.

"If you grow up in the region the Sea of Bamboo Park will be a familiar back drop to family days out and school trips and is a favoured spot for romantics," said Steven Chilton, principal of London-based Steven Chilton Architects.

"I became aware of it years before as the location of the famous tree-top fight scene from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and was struck then by the incredible spatial qualities of the bamboo forest," he told Dezeen.

The building contains a 2,000-seat theatre at its centre, wrapped in a painted masonry and full-height glazing wall.

Surrounding this core is ascreen of angled steel columns that are arranged to visually break up the mass of the theatre.

"The budget allowed us to have 365 columns to play with whilst our goal was to visually break up the view of the inner drum of the theatre building as frequently as possible," said Chilton.

"I've always admired the work of Andy Goldsworthy and sought to emulate his approach of combining multiple self-similar objects in a manner that results in unexpected visual richness," he continued.

"We looked at a number of techniques to maximise the visual 'interference' of the columns from multiple points of view around the building and settled on an approach that combined the coding of an emergent multi-agent system and good old fashioned manual manipulation."

The columns support a canopy of gold anodised aluminium louvres, which were designed to represent the canopy in a bamboo forest.These louvres of the canopy and the columns provide shade for the building to help cool it.

"The perimeter canopy and columns provide an abundance of shade all year round over the facade, substantially lowering the load on the heating and ventilation systems over the life of the building," explained Chilton.

The theatre forms part of a new cultural development in Wuxi, and has been designed to be its centrepiece.

"I wouldn't say the building was designed to be iconic, but the client was keen for the building to embody a visual narrative that would be familiar to people from the region and accessible for visitors," he said.

"The visual distinction of the theatre will hopefully create an identity that contributes to the developer's goal of creating a destination that celebrates regional culture whilst avoiding the pastiche approach employed by others."

Steven Chilton establishedSteven Chilton Architects in 2015 after leaving architecture studio Stufish. The studio is currently designing a domed theatre in Guangzhouthat will resemble a puzzle ball.

Photography is by Kris Provoost.

Project credits:

Architect: Steven Chilton ArchitectsClient: Sunac GroupArchitecture and design management: Sunac GroupConcept engineer: Buro Happold EngineeringTheatre consultant: Auerbach Pollock FriedlanderShow design: DragoneLDI: Tongji Architectural Design

View post:
Steven Chilton Architects completes "bamboo forest" theatre in Wuxi - Dezeen

overlooking a coastal pond and the ocean beyond in the long island village of sagaponack, new york, the kihthan residence by bates masi + architects is designed to celebrate the periodically rising water levels of the area. instead of hiding the flood damage prevention measures, the design takes advantage of them and embraces the duality of the wetland landscape by elevating and breaking apart the houses different volumes in order to let flood waters flow around and between them. glass-enclosed bridges connect the different volumes and allow residents to appreciate the dramatic spaces between them, whether flooded in wet periods, or interconnected by flows of native plantings in the typical drier periods.all images courtesy of bates masi + architects

bates masi + architects has elevated and broken apart the house, pool, decks, and sanitary field to let water flow freely, thereby reducing the potentially damaging hydrodynamic pressure of coastal flooding. comprising a series of vertical volumes from which to observe the surrounding landscape, the residence remains perched safely above, while glass-enclosed bridges that connect the different spaces offer views of the dramatic spaces between them. the orientation of each volume is influenced by the desire for ocean views or sights of the rural landscape and responds to the program housed within.

programmatically, pulling apart the spaces allowed for maximum privacy as four guest bedrooms are separated from the living areas and master suite, explain the architects. communal spaces have flexibility to flow to the outdoors and extend onto elevated decks by means of full height sliding glass doors.

the residence is wrapped in board and batten wood siding, which is reminiscent of nearby vernacular structures, while its two-layer composition allows for selective control over its opacity. at grade level the boards are omitted and the battens form an open screen to let floodwater flow through it per fema regulations, while, above, overlapping boards and battens are opaque to mask neighboring houses from view. at the roof line, the battens are omitted to let light filter between the boards.

the exterior language translates to the design of the interior spaces as well, where the horizontal datum lines are visually transcribed onto the interior walls by means of material transitions for interior finishes and wall claddings. wood clad walls at the first level transition into wainscoting and light painted walls at the upper floors. this visual link expresses the seamless connection between interior and exterior as one travels throughout the house.

project:

name: kihthan

architect: bates masi + architects

lot size: 0.92 acres

building size: 5,000 sq. ft.

location: sagaponack, NY, US

contractor: k. romeo inc.

interior designer: select furniture from wyeth

sofia lekka angelopoulou I designboom

dec 20, 2019

See original here:
bates masi + architects breaks apart and elevates house in the US to embrace flooding - Designboom

To Work at Different Scales is the Architect's Wisdom: Ricardo Bofill Interviewed for the Time Space Existence Video Series

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Whatsapp

Mail

Or

In their recent interview for the Time Space Existence video series, Plane-Site, through the support from the European Cultural Centre, interviewed Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill. The series will be exhibited in the biennial exhibition in Venice, opening May 21-22, 2020.

Bofill was born in 1939 and is known as one of the worlds most renowned and controversial architects. He began his studies at the University of Barcelona and later continued his studies at Universit de Beaux-Arts Genve in Switzerland in 1958. After completing his studies he started his own studio referred to as Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura, where he explored Catalan Modernism through poetry, history and vernacular Catalan design.

The interview was filmed at one of Bofills most significant projects named La Fbrica, which acts as both his home and studio. The project which was refurbished from an old cement factory, has remained Bofills studio and home for almost four decades. The project forms the basis to Bofills sense of diversity and extensiveness throughout his architecture.

The interview is shaped around three main categories referred to as the practice of scale, the pleasure of space and confronting time. Bofill states that the important part about architecture is the capacity for generosity (Bofill). As you develop as an architect and become stronger with your ability to design one has more capacity to give to others. During the interview, Bofill also discusses the importance of understanding scale whether it is small or large. He believes it is important to be able to jump from different project scales without it becoming a reproduction and or duplication. We strive as architects for creativity and Bofill states that everyone knows creativity runs out (Bofill) and for him the challenge is to try and always continue creating.

The advice Bofill gives all young architects is to work at different scales is the architects wisdom (Bofill) and by understanding scale we begin to understand how to design, which ultimately allows us to make these spaces dominate and make it human (Bofill). When we begin to understand scale and movement within our designs we start to have a better understanding of space.

Credits

Ricardo Bofill:Interview content and photographs credited toRicardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura.

PLANE-SITE: Interview series Time Space Existence. plane-site.com/projects/time-space-existence/

European Cultural Centre: This interview series is made possible with the support of the European Cultural Centre. europeanculturalcentre.eu

View original post here:
To Work at Different Scales is the Architect's Wisdom: Ricardo Bofill Interviewed for the Time Space Existence Video Series - ArchDaily

Sandy Rendel elegantly converts a barn into a simple house in the British countryside

A derelictbarn with acorrugated iron roofin West Sussex, UK, has been converted into acomfortable, yet notover domesticatedhouse bySandy Rendel Architects and is surrounded by gardens designed by Piet Oudolf

This elegant re-imagining of a former working barn finds new freedoms within a simple industrial framework. The architect Sandy Rendel has garnered plenty of experience of working within the planning constraints and social eccentricities that shape the modern English landscape, following up lengthy stints at the studios of both James Gorst and Tony Fretton before setting up his own office in 2010.In 2016, the studios South Street house in Lewes, perched on the edge of the South Downs, won anRIBA award and was shortlisted for the Manser Medal for best completed house in the UK.

This new project sits amidst existing gardens in West Sussex, a well-loved and much visited horticultural destination.The original structure was a derelict Dutch barn, a familiar rural form with open sides and a corrugated iron roof that no longer served a functional purpose on the site. Rendel and his team had to play a canny game with the planning authorities, invoking a clause that allowed the conversion of disused agricultural buildings into dwellings.

It was an exercise in trying to ensure the raw form and character of the original barn was maintained and not over domesticated, Rendel explains, with the key challenge being to preserve these qualities whilst also making a well-insulated, comfortable and spacious place in which to live.

The surrounding gardens have been developed over the past decade by the clients in close collaboration with the Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf.The converted barn adjoins them and certainly retains an agricultural form, with a ribbed zinc clad facade and the characteristic curved roof. Whether its rising above the planting or looming over the approach road at the edge of the site it appears for all the world like part of a farmyard. From inside the house, the emphasis is very different with glazing arranged to make the most of the very seasonally planted garden. In the summer, the landscape changes considerably and full height frameless windows frame verdant views from every angle.

The apparently effortless simplicity of the exterior was hard-won, not least the planning requirement of retaining the character of the original barn. The architects and the fabricators agonised over every aspect of the detail design to give the joints and corners a flawless yet still industrial quality. We studied the ad-hoc compositions of un-designed and regularly repaired agricultural structures, Rendel says, we also looked closely at the industrial photography of Bernd and Hilla Becher. The end result is asymmetrical and honest, responding to its site and the brief with characteristic restraint.

The barns internal plans are inverted, with bedrooms on the ground floor and an open plan first floor to make the most of far-reaching views across the garden to the Souths Downs. Dark joinery, wooden floors and red and turquoise shelving units are paired with the dark red steel of the industrial-sized roof joists. The studio is planning to add a cylindrical viewing tower on the site, in a style that evokes a typical grain silo, to create a viewing platform for the garden and continue building in the pared back agricultural tradition.

Read the original post:
Sandy Rendel elegantly converts a barn into a simple house in the British countryside - Wallpaper*

Listing of the Day

Location: Spitalfields, London

Price: 4.75 million (US$6.24 million)

This Georgian-era house in East London has been transformed into a live/work home by its owner, the architect Chris Dyson, who has lived in it with his family since 2006.

Mr. Dyson has restored and extended the 18th-century home, creating a multi-layered, old-meets-new home, with office space on the ground floor and accommodation on the top three floors. A contemporary gallery space built for Mr. Dysons architecture practice sits to its rear, and a new top floor comprising two terraces and a kitchen has been added to it, according to the listing agency handling the sale, The Modern House.

When Mr. Dyson and his wife bought the townhouse more than 20 years ago, it needed restoration. It had elegant, well-proportioned rooms with high ceilings and large sash windows, but its facade had been altered considerably from its original design and much of its original wooden paneling had been lost, Mr. Dyson said in an interview with The Modern House estate agency

More: A Malibu-Style Modern Home Lists in Englands Buckinghamshire

The Grade II-listed former clergymans house was built in 1719 by a group of French silk-weavers known as the Huguenots, according to the property listing details, and is part of a terrace of houses in the Brick Lane and Fournier Street conservation area that are characterized by their tall brick facades and sash windows.

Mr. Dyson had worked 30 odd houses on Princelet Street and built up an "encyclopaedic knowledge" of the buildings, which helped him create a successful renovation project in his own home. "You cant bring in the big machines to bish-bash-bosh something together You have to take your time and really listen to what the building has to offer," he said in the same Modern House interview.

The traditional shop-style front was rebuilt and given new windows, which restored its original Georgian look. A new floor could be added because, although most Huguenot houses feature high-ceilinged lofts to allow for their looms, this property didnt require one because it was built for a clergyman. Heritage paint colors and new paneling were added, emphasizing its period feel inside, Mr. Dyson said.

"It is an excellent example of great restorative work alongside contemporary flare. Georgian proportions translate beautifully for modern living, and the live-work element, the scale and the volume of the gallery space, raise it an echelon in both versatility and aesthetic," said listing agent Corey Hemingway.

More: A Modern Home in Cambridgeshire Asks 1.4 Million

Stats

The 4,000-square-foot home features a ground floor with two office rooms, which lead out to a glass-covered raised walkway above a lower-ground floor terrace, and beyond it, a double-story studio/gallery space.

The lower ground-floor is formed of a self-contained one-bedroom flat.

The first, second and third floors include three bedrooms, a bathroom, a water closet, a drawing room and a kitchen opening onto a terrace, which is covered in a glass roof.

Amenities

The studio/gallery building is a huge space, with a vaulted ceiling, kitchen and bathroom.

From Penta: Worlds Largest Private Collection of Whisky Could Fetch 8 Million at Auction

Neighborhood Notes

Princelet Street is in the neighborhood of Spitalfields, a historic and arty neighborhood in the East End of London. It includes Old Spitalfields Market, a covered market established in the 17th century.

It sits just off Brick Lane, a street is known for its youthful feel, hip boutique shops, bars and restaurants.

Agent: Corey Hemingway, The Modern House

View the original listing. Write toListing of the Day

Continued here:
A Live-Work Space Designed by an Architect in East London - Mansion Global

In the final days of World War II, as the Red Army advanced on Berlin and the Third Reich teetered on the edge of total military collapse, Adolf Hitler famously shot himself in his bunker. A wave of suicides would followhigh-ranking Nazi officials such as Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler, Philipp Bouhler, and Martin Bormann killed themselves before being captured by Allied forces. Many war criminals, however, managed to escape. As many as 9,000 Nazi officers and collaborators found refuge in South America; the majority fled to Argentina, which had maintained a close relationship with Nazi Germany.

Among those who evaded capture was Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi SS lieutenant colonel who masterminded the identification, assembly, and transportation of European Jews to Auschwitz and other concentration camps. After the fall of the Third Reich, Eichmann, who had come to be known as the architect of the Nazi genocide, was apprehended, but escaped from a detention camp and went into hiding in Austria. An Austrian-born bishop, Alois Hudal, helped Eichmann obtain falsified identity documents issued by the Vatican, enabling him to get an Argentine visa and an International Red Cross passport. (Hudal eventually admitted to abetting Nazi war criminals.) In the years following the war, Argentine President Juan Pern, a longtime admirer of Hitlers and other fascist regimes, had established a network of so-called ratlinesescape routesthrough ports in Spain and Italy to smuggle thousands of former SS officers and Nazi Party members out of Europe.

As the Nuremberg Trials brought Nazi war criminals to justice in 1945 and 1946, Eichmann lay in wait. In 1950, a fugitive who had assumed the alias of Richard Klement boarded a steamship to Buenos Aires. He would establish a middle-class lifestyle in the suburbs of the city with his wife and children, working at a Mercedes-Benz factory.

The thrilling story of how it all came crashing down is told in Randall Christophers new animated documentary, The Driver Is Red. A Holocaust survivor who was living in Buenos Aires became suspicious about his daughters new boyfriend and his family. Armed with surreptitious photographs of Klement, the father alerted Israeli intelligence, and Eichmanns identity was confirmed beyond reasonable doubt. Mossad Special Agent Zvi Aharoni was sent to Buenos Aires to orchestrate an illegal surveillance and abduction scheme, Operation Finale. Eichmann was apprehended in 1960 and smuggled to Israel, where he would finally face justice. He was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity and was executed in Jerusalem in 1962.

Christophers film noirinspired animation depicts the dramatic story of Eichmanns capture. The actor Mark Pinter, reading from Aharonis book about the historic Nazi manhunt, lends the late Aharonis voice. The first words Adolf Eichmann uttered to me were, I have already resigned myself to my fate, wrote Aharoni, a German-born Jew who escaped with his mother and brother on one of the last trains out of Germany before World War II.

Christopher told me he made the film because he grew up largely ignorant of the Holocaust. This is an alarming trend. A recent survey found that 22 percent of Millennials admitted to not having heard of the Holocaust, while 41 percent of Americans and 66 percent of Millennials said they don't know about Auschwitz.

In my opinion, we simply must make a deliberate, dedicated effort to know the history of Nazi Germany and the Holocaustthe most catastrophic event in human history, Christopher said. The filmmaker believes it is especially important to study Weimar Germany, because these events sprang from a democratic society with values and culture not much different from what we have today in the West.

People simply didnt recognize that certain decisions and policiesthough maybe not so terrible in themselvesopen the door for more dangerous scenarios, Christopher continued. Nobody was voting for World War II when they voted for Hitler. But in voting for Hitler to do things like get rid of the communists and to bypass a dysfunctional Parliament, they also voted in favor of a situation where World War II and the Holocaust would be a possibility.

Christopher believes that if the U.S. Congress remains dysfunctional and unable to work together, this might pave the way for a similar autocratic leadersomething once considered unthinkable in America.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

Original post:
Capturing the Architect of the Holocaust - The Atlantic

Charlestown, MA Rhiana Gunn-Wright, one of the architects of the Green New Deal, today announced that she is endorsing Elizabeth Warrens campaign for President of the United States.

As one of the key architects of the Green New Deal, Rhiana knows intimately what it will take to defeat the climate crisis,said Elizabeth Warren.She knows how critical it is that we elect a president who recognizes the urgent need for a Green New Deal and who will lead our country toward a clean energy future, while creating millions of good, new jobs and putting environmental justice at the center of our approach. Im grateful to have her support and to stand with her in this fight for big, structural change.

In avideoreleased today, Gunn-Wright stated,The worst part about the climate crisis is that its by design. We know that the odds are stacked in favor of folks who have money. The folks who feel climate change most keenly are by and large low-income people of color. Elizabeth Warren understands that and understands that that is part of the problem that we have to tackle.

She continued:There is no dealing with climate change unless we deal with corruption. Every time I read a Warren climate plan, I am confident that it can take us to a Green New Deal because I see her thinking about: How do we use all of the levers of government?

Watch the full videohere.

Read more about it in Huffposthere. Key sections below.

The Massachusetts senator picked up an endorsement from a key figure in the Green New Deal movement just before the debate in Los Angeles.

Democratic presidential candidateElizabeth Warrenhas already proposed a suite of policy ideas to dramatically slash planet-heating emissions and transition workers into clean industries.

Last week, Warren unveiled her Blue New Deal, the first comprehensive campaign proposal to revitalize coastal economies by fortifying ports, spurring new markets for seafood and completely overhauling the offshore energy industry. On Wednesday, she published an op-ed outlining how shed target fossil fuel companies and reverse President Donald Trumps assault on environmental regulations during her first 100 days in the White House.

The New Hampshire Labor News is a group of NH Workers who believe that we need to protect ourselves against the attacks on workers. We are proud union members who are working to preserve the middle class. The NHLN talks mostly about news and politics from NH. We also talk about national issues that effect working men and women here in the Granite State.

Like Loading...

Related

Read this article:
Rhiana Gunn-Wright, One of the Policy Architects of the Green New Deal, Endorses Elizabeth Warren - nhlabornews.com

Far too many retaining wall projects start with this simple step: homeowners see a clearance sale on retaining wall blocks, make an educated guess how many they need, and have the big box store deliver them. Once the pallets of block are stacked in the yard, they set aside a weekend or two, recruit some friends or family, and undertake a construction project.

We can easily understand do-it-yourself energy (we call it the energy of the innocent) because weve gotten over our heads in home improvement projects many times, when we should have reached out for expert assistance. By the time the project is finally finished, weve made enough mistakes to learn how to do it right the next time. As were fond of saying, anything worth doing is worth doing twice.

Building decorative garden walls is very satisfying and rewarding, as well as being good exercise. When the purpose of the wall is more functional, its important to add an engineering step before starting the project. Retaining walls for purposes like holding back hills, supporting paving or buildings, and controlling runoff are serious projects with long-term consequences, so learning by doing isnt always a good idea.

As a certified hardscape contractor, we often get called after the fact when structural retaining walls fail for one reason or another. This is never a pleasant experience for us or the homeowner. Its vastly more expensive and time-consuming to fix a poorly-installed retaining wall that to install it in the first place. Usually the cause of the wall failure is designed-in and the only solution is to remove it and start over.

In previous columns weve offered retaining wall tips. Heres a brief summary of the basic principles weve already talked about:

Hardscapes should never be built on fill, or on ground that stays wet because of improper drainage. The center of gravity of a retaining wall should be BEHIND the wall foundation, or footer. The taller the wall, the more it should start below ground. The heavier the wall, the more substantial the footer needs to be. There needs to be a way for water to freely escape from the footer trench, and from behind the wall, by gravity. Backfill behind the wall should be clean crushed (not round) stone.

Walls should be tied back into the hill, so that the weight of the backfill prevents the wall from moving. Geotextiles are a typical method; there should be a layer of geogrid back into the hill every two courses on taller walls. Water runoff behind the wall should never be allowed to run into the backfill behind the wall. Curved walls, or walls with multiple corners, are vastly stronger than long straight walls.

Understanding these basics is a good start, but there are many more tips and tricks that come with training and experience. Every wall situation is different, and there are many different types of segmental wall systems, each with cost-benefit tradeoffs. We want you to succeed with every home improvement project you dream about. Its important to know your own limitations before you begin.

Steve Boehme is a landscape designer/installer specializing in landscape makeovers. Lets Grow is published weekly; column archives are on the Garden Advice page at http://www.goodseedfarm.com. For more information is available at http://www.goodseedfarm.com or call GoodSeed Farm Landscapes at (937) 587-7021.

Read the original post:
Retaining walls that last - Record Herald