Tuesday, November 13, 2012

The Year 2012

As 2012 nears the end it's end, with about a month and a half to go, it has proven to be a little more productive for our architectural practice than the last two years.  We have some nice projects come our way during the course of the year. Many of them are smaller new projects or renovations of existing buildings.  These renovation projects often involve taking a dated building with aged mechanical systems, old and inefficient window systems and tired finishes inside and out and renovating them into efficient and attractive buildings that will see extended life for many years. This is a much more sustainable approach in most cases than tearing down buildings and starting over or  constructing a new building on a green-previously bare land and often farmland site.  The renovation of the Northern Hotel downtown represents our most significant of this project type right downtown in Billings, Montana.  Some others include Red Oxx Manufacturing, Uberbrew-a microbrewery downtown, Tolliver Law Office and some continued work on the Norgaard Building.

New projects this year have included medical work on several medical clinics including the Opthalmic Associates building off of Shiloh Road, Kalispell Regional Medical Center Addition, and a number of residential projects.

Our firm or work won awards this year from the American Council of Engineering Consultants for work on the MSU Football Endzone Expansion with Morrison Maierle Engineers; and a Montana AIA Design Merit Award for the Montana Cycling and Ski building.

We are looking forward to wrapping an improved year and getting started on what is hopefully continued improvement on our economy in 2013!