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CARLOS ARCHITECTS INC. EARNS COVETED GOLD NUGGET AWARD

5/25/2023

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      Carlsbad, CA May 25, 2023 — Judges for the 2023 Gold Nugget Awards have named Carlos Architects Inc. as an Award of Merit winner in its annual competition, which as the largest competition in the nation, honors architectural design and planning excellence and drawing entries from throughout the United States and internationally.  Carlos Architects Inc. earned its Merit honors for 3Roots Wellness Center San Diego, CA, which was honored for Best Community Amenity. Chosen from the elite pool of Merit Award winners, Grand Award winners were announce on May 24th in Anaheim, CA.

    Located in San Diego, CA, the 3Roots Wellness Center innovative building design utilizes a pre-engineered superstructure clad with an energy efficient insulated metal panel which provides solar reflectivity and excellent thermal performance. The building form is simple and bold allowing the monolithic building skin to provide an easily identifiable form. Planned voids in the ‘form” allow for logical access points around the building. These voids also provide interior transparently through large fields of glazed doors and curtainwall. The singular building skin is cleverly extended to create a covered main entrance and outdoor gathering space which furnishes protection from sun and rain. The 3Roots master-planned community and the 3Roots Wellness Center offers a welcoming and dynamic presence that celebrates health, wellness and connectivity for all residents.

    Thank you to Gold Nuggets awards — For your wonderful recognition to those who improve our communities through exceptional concepts in design, planning and development. 


Owner: Mesa Canyon Community Partners, LLC (Lennar, Shea, CalWest)
Architect of Record: Carlos Architects Inc.
Production Architect: Andrew Carlos AIA LEED Green Associate
Concept Architect: SILLMAN
Interior Architect: Design Line Interiors - A DAHLIN Company
General Contractor: C&S Companies
Structural and Electrical Engineering: C&S Companies
Mechanical and Plumbing Engineering: McParlane & Associates, Inc.


Project Principal: Cory Hazlewood, DBIA
Project Manager: Bryan Pickard
Superintendent: Reed Stewart
Project Engineer: Lorraine Hussey
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Building a House with Minimal Space

7/1/2020

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We were asked to be an expert contributor for Redfin on factors to consider when building on a smaller lot. Maximizing living space in small coastal lots while maintaining outdoor settings can be especially challenging in coastal San Diego.
The original Redfin article can be found here.

Building a house from the ground up can be a difficult but extremely rewarding task. Having the ability to design everything to your exact specifications is one of the biggest draws for most people when deciding to build or not. However, sometimes design plans are hindered by a lack of space to work with. When building on a small plot of land it’s difficult to ensure that you are getting the most out of your home and your property. That’s why we’ve reached out to the experts in home design from Sacramento to New York to provide you with ways to optimize the design and layout of your home when working with limited space.
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Have a project program at the ready The Project Program is the heart of every design, and all the more critical for projects with a limited lot size. The project program is simply a list of wants, needs and priorities; a tailored road map for the project and design solution. An efficient and well-vetted program will allow for all the essential design elements to be captured while weeding-out the non-essential. You can also combine circulation paths wherever possible to reduce wasted space. Circulation is necessary in every space to get from one area to another and can affect usable living areas if not carefully considered in the overall design solution. Employing Open living and Flexible living plans are good ways to reduce circulation paths. – Carlos Architects

Build vertical As an architecture firm with many mountain home designs, we are accustomed to designing on lots with limited buildable space due to the topography. We excel at creating unique home designs that maximize the vertical space with window compositions and different floor level heights, accompanied by natural light and shadow. Vertical designs allow for many different viewpoints at different heights and can also be a great way to economize on construction costs with stacking, thus reducing the building footprint. – Centre Sky Architecture

Design a home that’s harmonious with the land
The key to designing a house on a restrictive plot of land is to take the time to work out creative designs that are complementary and in harmony with the site. If the lot is narrow, you might want to focus on vertical space – higher ceilings that utilize hanging or high-mounted elements such as cabinets that extend up – making the room feel larger and making the most of all storage possibilities.  Another approach is to focus on connecting the interior of the home to well-thought-out outdoor spaces to extend livable space outside the home’s footprint.  Lastly, light-toned rooms that are filled with daylight have a calm and more spacious feeling.  – Keri Murray Architecture

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Emphasize fluidity between indoor and outdoor To optimize space one of the best design strategies is to create indoor/outdoor spaces that expand the usable area with areas like courtyards, patios, and decks.  Another key approach is to limit the number of internal walls to create a wide-open space that has an open feel optimally directly connected to the outdoors.  Using a lot of glass strategically placed to focus views creates abundant natural light and makes constrained spaces feel larger and more open. – Re- Architecture
Having worked in Venice and other locations with small challenging lots for the last 37 years,  I have found creative ways to maximize the sense of space within a limited space. Blur the defined boundaries of interior and exterior spaces to bring the exterior inside and the exterior out to maximize space. Using the same materials on the ground plane both in and out is one way to expand limited interior space. I tend to prefer higher volumes of space if you are confined with limited space in the floor plan and to maximize natural light to help spaces feel lighter and larger. – David Hertz Architects

Design with dual-purpose in mind In order to make the most of a small space, first, adopt a loose fit for the program by creating flexible spaces with openness and connectivity between them and allow functions to overlap between one space and another. Second, embrace the site by strategically opening up to the outdoors with the careful placement of doors and windows, which can perceptually increase the size of a space. Third, consolidate circulation and back-of-house spaces to minimize or eliminate corridors and carefully integrate stairs, bathrooms, and storage. – 
MF Architecture

Prioritize open but dedicated spaces Many people think that opening up all of our spaces is a way to make limited space feel more unlimited. However, when we do that, it converts what might have been multiple rooms into one large room. This reduces the sense of separateness that we often seek in spaces that differ from one another in use and activity. More times than not, we end up continuing to create even more spaces that are large and open, connected to other spaces that are large and open, to compensate for the sense of separateness that we lost when opening everything up in the first place. Our way of combating that is to open things up mostlybut not all the way, thereby creating open but distinct spaces wherein distinct activities can happen. The end result combines the benefits of seeing activities sometimes two or even three zones away while maintaining a sense of separateness where we happen to be sitting. In this way, we avoid needing to build more than the limits with which we are living. – Webber + Studio

Get creative with storage When building for maximum efficiency on a small lot, be aware of every little space-saving technique. Use space under stairs for a powder room or pantry, or don’t have a room dedicated to a pantry at all and use cabinetry for a pantry. Tailor your inside spaces to the furniture you have or plan to use so not a single square inch of space is wasted. Use your outdoor spaces as outdoor rooms to further minimize the living, dining or kitchen. – Element 5 Architecture

Let there be light  Maximize light, not only with more windows but also incorporate light colors and materials throughout your home; it will make everything feel bigger and more spacious. Lighter, brighter hues and glass-based tiles are more reflective, which can make your space appear open and airy, as opposed to dark colors that tend to absorb natural light. – Roomored


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Avoid basements  Where possible, avoid basements. Homes with no basements aid a better quality of life and help you stay connected with the outdoors. Also, remember to research the local zoning laws on how to maximize your yard space or increase the height of the structure beyond what is allowed. – PMPC Architects

Get everyone involved To start, determine WHO is making decisions and be consistent about it. If you and your spouse are making decisions, great. If you, your spouse, and your soon to be live-in-parents are making decisions, fantastic. Just decide and consistently have everyone involved start to finish. This will avoid expensive rounds of revisiting things already cut from the project scope.  – Wascha Studios

Know Thyself: Tell your Architect how you spend your time, what are your rituals, who you hang-out with. Every space needs a purpose. If you don’t use a dining room, don’t have one.  But will your living room area be large enough if you wanted to set up a temporary table? Another thing to consider is where windows will be located. Sometimes that big window is great to extend your space, but be sure to keep privacy in mind. Will you need to cover it with window treatments, or how will that window get cleaned? We like to locate windows where they can expand the indoor to the outdoors, and yet provide privacy. – TAC Studios


Written by: Mike Cahill
Mike is part of the Content Marketing team and enjoys applying market insights to provide valuable content on all things real estate. Mike's dream home would be mid-century modern style near the water.
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Our CFO discusses what business owners will no longer take for granted after the Corona Virus

4/3/2020

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When asked the question, "What as a business owner you will no longer take for granted, both personally and for the business?" Jennifer Carlos responded to Julie Austin with Create For Cash: One of the things I personally will not take for granted is "The flexibility and ability to travel.  As a business owner, you are no longer tied to vacation requests for time off or an inability to take work with you.  We have a dedicated team in place, the technology to work from any location and can finally travel when the itch hits…until Corona Virus. As the corona virus numbers go up, that dream vacation slips farther away."
We at Carlos Architects are accustomed to working remotely, but we miss the face to face interactions that we love with our clients who often become friends.
Jennifer responds, "Secondly, concept delivery is not the same.  So much communication is lost online.  Two dimensional images, budgets and even spacial references in the design industry can be difficult to convey through technology. While we are accustomed to using every tool available for remote project delivery, it won’t ever be a true replacement for  a face to face client to architect interview. “
We remain committed to doing all we can to deliver stunning projects while socially distancing and doing our part to slow the spread of COVID 19.  But in this age of pandemic, we can't help but look forward to being able to meet with our clients face to face again.
Read more of the story here: https://createforcash.com/covid-19-business-owners/
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Carlos Architects Inc featured by Home Builder Digest as a Best Residential Architect

3/25/2020

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We are pleased to be featured by Home Builder Digest as a "Best Residential Architect".  Thanks for the feature! (Photo by Ian Patzke)
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Our Firms Commitment to you during the Covid 19 Pandemic

3/20/2020

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Client Q & A

11/29/2017

 
Hart Residence - Encinitas, California
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Q: Why did you decide to improve your home?
A:  
We bought our home because of the spacious lot and proximity to the people and places we like to be near. We can walk to the beach, into Encinitas, or to any of the schools our kids will attend. The house we bought needed a lot of love. We knew that right away. It was simple and ok to begin with, but we hooked up with Andrew very soon after moving in to envision what it could be. Our remodel was about improving the flow of our life and expanding the indoor/outdoor living space.

​Q:  What is your favorite part of your new space?
A:  
My favorite part of the remodeled space has to be the master suite. The closet makes me so happy every time I walk in and the shower is divine. It's like being in a luxury spa hotel every day. I also really love the family living space. It feels like it's giving you a hug when you're in there with the fire going and the kids playing. It's just magic.

Q:  How has this remodel affected your quality of life?
A:  The new house is like such a reflection of our style, our lives, and our priorities. It makes life easier and feel more connected and special. It's a whole new chapter for us.

Q:  How do your friends and family react to your improved space? What was the most memorable reaction?
A:  Not just our family and friends....but everyone who passes this house falls in love. It's becoming an important symbol for our neighborhood and for sustainable, stylish living. Grocers, furniture salespeople, doctors, coworkers..... the list goes on. People love it! That said, I think the most memorable reaction was mine. After unpacking our kitchen for hours, I just broke down in tears. I'm so happy for my kids and my family to have this space. It was a big accomplishment made possible only through your vision and Joel's team. Incredible. I can't thank you all  enough.
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Considering transportation costs in sustainable design. The 100 mile house challenge.

3/6/2012

 
The rise of the locavore movement introduced millions of people to the 100-mile diet, which involves eating only food produced within one's own region. Now, a new focus on sustainable architecture is applying the same concept to homes.

The idea of a 100-mile house shouldn't be shocking: Historically, most homes were made using local materials simply because it was more practical. But in an age when even middle-class homeowners can order marble countertops from Italy and bamboo floors from China, creating a home entirely from local materials challenges builders to carefully consider every piece of the structure, from the foundation to the eaves.


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Briony Penn's 100-mile house in Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.  Mark Boyer


Last week, the Architecture Foundation of British Columbia launched an international competition to design a 1,200-square-foot, four-person home that exclusively uses materials made or recycled within 100 miles of Vancouver. David M. Hewitt, the current chair of the Architecture Foundation, came up with the idea for the competition on a whim and presented it at a board meeting. "It was almost thrown out facetiously, and everybody latched onto it," he says. 
To read the entire article, Click on Read more below.


This article is from  Good.is and can be found athttp://www.good.is/post/100-mile-houses-expands-the-locavore-movement-from-food-to-architecture

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Cart-opia: Repurposed Trailers Fuel Portland Foodie and Livability Movements

1/10/2012

 
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All Photos credit A.K. Streeter via flickr and Creative Commons.


This article is by A.K. Streeter and can be found at http:www.treehugger.com
They are known as 'pods' or 'clusters' - groups of small repurposed trailers and carts with wheels that have infiltrated every major neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. Mexican carts serving soft-shell tacos and bulging burritos were part of the trend's re-ignition. But Portland has taken its food cart pods beyond the norm - there are now more than 200 carts in the city, and they are an institution, and a great part of the local economy. They continue to introducing city dwellers to such fanciful new food trends as Korean-Mexican fusion (Koi Fusion), and have covered over some of the dreaded surface parking lots that so abound. 

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The New San Diego Main Library Construction

11/18/2011

 
Representing the 35 year citizen effort to build a new main library for the City of San Diego, the new Central Library is designed for LEED Silver certification.  It is a nine-story community gather space that incorporates a new downtown charter high school.
In this video, Turner Construction is using Building Information Modeling (BIM) to improve efficencies in building San Diego's New Central Library. This model shows different elements of the structural build from when the project was at grade through completion in 2013.
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For more information on the new San Diego Central Library, visit the San Diego public Library foundation website.

Can Small be Beautiful in the U.S.?

11/10/2011

 
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Zeta Communities

As Population, Consumption Rise, Builder Goes Small


This article is by Christoper Joyce at NPR November 1, 2011:

The planet may not feel any different today, but there are now 7 billion people on it, according to the United Nations.

That number will continue to rise, of course, and global incomes are likely to rise as well. That means more cars and computers, and bigger homes: the kinds of things Americans take for granted. It's that rise in consumption that has population experts worried.

Klaus Lackner, a physicist at Columbia University's Earth Institute, says as economies improve in places like India and Africa — where populations are growing fastest — they're going to want to live more like we do.

"It's very hard to convince people to stop consumption," he says.

But maybe the world's next billion will be happy with Hondas instead of Hummers.

"I would expect consumption in the future gets larger, but we also learn how to do things more efficiently," Lackner says, "so the raw material consumption may well go down."

But Lackner says consumption will eventually go up again; you can only tighten your belt so much. Physicist Daniel Kammen at the University of California, Berkeley, says there just isn't much incentive for rich countries to do that anyway.

"In many parts of the world, energy — and I hate to say this — is simply too cheap," he says.
Kammen, the head of an energy laboratory at Berkely, says cheap energy enables Western countries to live high on the hog.  And people want to copy us.

"There's a huge impact of the decisions that we make," Kammen says, "and also we export a lot of technologies."

The problem is there just isn't enough cheap energy or water or land for 9 billion or 10 billion people to live the same way.  So what if Americans set a different example?  Consume less by living smaller?  The Japanese do it.  can small be beautiful in the U.S.? Some People think so.

ZETA Communities builds modular homes here. Project manager Scott Wade says they're not like "stick-built" homes — "stick-built meaning they build it one piece at a time," Wade says, "whereas we build it an assembly at a time."One "assembly" is the floor, with duct work; then the walls, the ceiling, and so on. Workers make and assemble the parts for one home — about 1,500 square feet — in a single day.
Zeta Communities
"It is a higher quality because we have more control over it," Wade explains. "And we don't have the weather delays getting in the way."

Everything from the caulk along the walls to the lumber is certified green or is from sustainable sources. The walls contain extra insulation and every hole is sealed to make the buildings energy efficient. ZETA says that in the right climate, rooftop solar panels could provide the entire home's power — a so-called "net zero" energy home.

ZETA founder and President Naomi Porat sees cities as her company's big market.

"The population all around the world is moving toward the cities," says the former real estate executive. "Land is a vital resource, there's not a lot remaining, so we need to think about creative ways to use space."In cities, modules can be stacked to make a new generation of efficient buildings. At ZETA headquarters, architect Taeko Takagi rolls out a blueprints with one of ZETA's prototypes.

"It is a micro studio," she says. "The units are under 300 square feet."

That's truly micro: smaller than most suburban living rooms. Porat says there's a group that might find this alluring, though: "What I call the technocrati generation that uses the city as its living room and kitchen and goes to practically a dorm room to crash at the end of the day."

But how do you convince someone to live this small?

"The psychology of convincing someone is to provide very simple things, like enough storage," Takagi says. "I like to provide a large sink, so that the person who's using it doesn't feel like they're lacking or living smaller and everything is miniaturized."

Since buildings consume about 40 percent of the nation's energy, they're a logical target for more efficiency. But Berkeley's Kammen says living smaller isn't the ultimate solution. With 9 billion or 10 billion people, rising consumption will overwhelm any efficiency, as well as our current sources of energy. What's needed, he says, is renewable energy that's cheap and won't run out.

"And by essentially every measure," he concludes, "we are not moving fast enough."
Full article can be accessed at : 

http://www.npr.org/2011/11/01/141868233/as-population-consumption-rise-builder-goes-small
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