Ssa Architecture

Information may not be reliable

Pictures of Our Architectural & Interior Design Work
Welcome to SSA's web site. As of today, this site has over 66 pages that typically contain 8 pictures per page. Most of them have links to larger, more detailed pictures. If you don't see what you are looking for it is because we have only posted 500 pictures and that does not fully describe our capabilities. As I get time I plan to add over 200 additional pictures of our work!
News From SSA

Phase 1 of our Southern Nevada Housing Authority ADA/504 upgrade project was bid last week and we are expecting it to award this week. Our estimate was less than 1/2% off of the average bid. Sometimes we estimate really good... but that close is a miracle! The project consisted of 5 scattered site homes being adapted for persons with mobility impairments. This contractor did well on a similar project recently so we are hopeful that this one will construct smoothly.

This months issue of In Business Las Vegas ranked SSA as 10th in the valley! So I can say that we are in the top ten!! It is good to be in such great company. Also, looking at the others listed I would estimate that SSA runs with the lowest overhead of any of the top 10. Value and quality architecture is what we offer. Here is the link: http://www.zinio.com/reader.jsp?issue=416117000&o=int&prev=si That takes you to the magazine. The top ten list is on page 14.

SSA sent some staff to the CEFPI annual conference in Washington DC last week. They brought back some great information that will not only be valuable to the design of schools. As part of SSA's staff training process we have pour staff members go to these events and then bring the information back to the office to train the remaining staff. This year SSA was the only architectural firm in Las Vegas attending the CEFPI conference. We place a great emphasis no staff training and hope that this makes our firm a stronger competitor and a better architectural firm. We expect to have some pictures posted showing projects in DC on this site soon. Apparently the stock of existing schools leads them to historical building restorations.

Today I saw the first draft of the YouTube presentation that the client put together. It looks really good for a first draft. As you will see the video guy didn't quite get the word that the exterior had changed yet. I'll post a new link as they work the bugs out. This is the first of multiple advertisements on the project. It emphasizes the glamour of the project under normal conditions and the safety issue when it is "Buttoned Up." I'm now able to tell you the project name is "Zero Point" and in Busby Arizona. It is a granite mountain about 5000 feet elevation above current sea level. http://www.youtube.com/user/ZeroPointCondos

Yesterday we had a great meeting with the client on the "Something" (2012) project. He gave permission to show some progress work on the web site. I directed staff to make some changes on the perspectives that we have up already. so maybe in two weeks we'll update those too. Meanwhile some of the conceptual hand sketches that Alan and Ken had are now released for viewing.

WOW!!! Sarah and Manch are on the front page of the Las Vegas Review Journal Today!!! This is the link to the LVRJ http://www.lvrj.com/news/57691842.html
Here is our page on Manch Elementary School project. For that reason I have posted a link to the Manch pages here. Exterior, Kindergartens, Office, GreatRooms, Exterior Views and Corridors. These pictures were taken during the week before school started and the first week of school. So some punch list items are not done yet in the photos. Also sometimes I had to turn on the lights for the photography and other temporary reasons while the lights normally stay off for school operation. To my knowledge this is the second elementary school classroom building ever to be 100% daylighted in the Clark County School District. I was also the architect of the first, at J. S. Park elementary. The first page are design images. click on the links to find the constructed images. Also click on the square photos to see some larger versions.

It's the day before school starts and I have to tell you that Manch is ready!!!! It's awful hard to get workers to finish when they know that the next stop is the unemployment line. So The last bid seemed to take forever. But it LOOKS GREAT! I hate to toot my own horn but an architect who works for me went out to the site with Sarah and I last week and he had not seen the work. He told me its the best school that he has ever seen!!!! WOW! Of course I always think highly of my own work on one hand.... and on the other hand remember what got "Value Engineered" out that would have made it better. So its hard for me to be objective. But some of the teachers told us that they were teary eyed when they saw it ant thought of working there!!! So that's an unbiased opinion! Here's the link. Be sure to click on some pictures to see construction photos. Sarah, who is 10 years old, helped dad to make a few video clips. I'm going to try to understand YouTube and upload some clips soon. Just for fun!!!

We went to Manch for a construction phase visit yesterday and it is nearing completion! The finish work on the planets in the kindergarten area is wonderful and I told the manufacturer that I plan to submit it for an award. Also the VCT work is marvelous too. All of these highly skilled workers are usually only available to the big casino jobs but the students at Manch are lucky to have them due to the economy. I put three new photos from that visit on the bottom of the Manch page.

Ken was invited to speak at the C. H. Decker Elementary School Career Week today. SSA put together a nice presentation on how we design schools for CCSD, Green Building and Architectural Design. Ken also showed them a power point presentation and an animation fly over of the architectural design too. He brought about 8 presentation boards showing our really cool interior design solution for the kids. The first through fifth graders who attended has a great time as did Ken. Ken began presenting for career week at CCSD elementary schools about 6 years ago when he increased his participation in CEFPI. Alison Starker did a great job of organizing this and gave Ken this nice certificate.

Christine and I just got back from the Kimball Art Museum. We went to see it again because of the lighting system that was used in that building. It is impressive and I was thinking of incorporating it in the resort. Some early renderings left me wondering if there is a better system than a series of huge skylights because of having some intense light and then a gap. While I was away a few of the rendering machines finished running some preliminary interiors . The interiors still leave me wondering which way to go but the Kimball trip left us with another option to consider.... one that works and is proven just like the periodic skylights. A choice between the two should give us the best green building and daylighting solution and with 2012 protection too.

So I was saying it is going to be "Something". A project to build a resort to enjoy your vacations, nurture your ascension to a higher plane and built to avoid the more negative predictions regarding the end of the long count Mayan calendar during December 2012 and for up to 4 years thereafter. As I mentioned two days ago the structural units are formed around courtyards that are daylighted and below ground. By interconnecting a set of these modules into suites we develop residences that the client will sell to buyers. These are of course the most luxurious 2012 units that we are aware of and double as a new age resort as well as 2012 survivability protection. One unit is a studio apartment or a typical hotel room with a king sized bed. Two units could be configured to be a two bedroom one bath or a more spacious one bedroom one bath. By adding units the number of persons who can occupy goes up. Two persons per unit maximum. The client offers standard plans with up to 4 units interconnected. These are not for sale to the general public. Those wishing information may write SSA. Click on our email link and be sure to give your contact information. The client will not respond unless you identify yourself. Because of this situation a background check will be performed before you can participate beyond the initial contact. Naturally the client does not want to accidentally end up with any crazy people living here. When you do not feel like being at the resort your room can be turned back to management and rented out to resort conference visitors or not as you like.

If you have been following what I have been allowed to disclose they you are probably wondering what the architecture looks like. The individual units are surrounding a daylighted courtyard. Each is about 14 x 26 feet. Due to the loads of being underground and under great seismic pressure this module is integral to the structural design. Yes we have promotional floor plans. Here is a link. Not only would this be a comparatively luxurious stay (for an external disaster scenario) under lock down but it will be a nice resort 24.7.365 any other time. Specialty restaurants would provide everything from vegan to low carb dependent upon your personal preference for every day fare. If it is locked down eating the remaining fresh food would be followed with MREs. Such activities as Tai Chi & meditation training and other activities adaptable to both scenarios would continue regardless.

Something project postings are being posted late from my writing due to client vetting. So the clients personal wish in all this is not to be buried in a bunker for years alone. Looking at the Greenbrier and with brainstorming it led to the question of why not have most of the amenities of a resort in a small community? This would then be a resort community with all the amenities of a 4 star resort with new age direction prepared for the raising of human consciousness (any time) not just when December 2012 comes. AND. The resort has a day spa, conference center is designed with Feng Shui and energy consciousnesses considered. It would be a Green Building Perhaps LEED platinum. Cut into the rock of a mountain at a high elevation in the southwestern US. The living areas would surround a skylighted courtyard but be below grade. Like many hotels across the country where the rooms are along balconies facing a multistory courtyard. No the day spa and the conference center would not be a part of the facility protected from the negative catastrophic scenarios. Of course both types of use will want to have a good underground aquifer and fresh water fairly deep and sustained water supply.

Something site. So last night I got an email from someone interested in this project and it was referred to as the Something site. I suppose that it was as good as any name. Of course the client has not given permission for me to use the name. And of course the site is secret. If you are a believer in the 2012 prophecies then you may have heard that folding it predicted. The client is currently directing us to proceed on considering two sites in the southwestern United States. Both are at very high elevation above sea level and naturally protected from certain eventualities prior to the construction project that is contemplated here. I have now had some time to review the synergies between the apocalypse protection and the flowering of human consciousness. Interestingly there are quite a few. For those of you who follow the what some call the New Age thinking you may understand that you are being constantly bombarded with EMF. Radio waves from cell phones and TV and microwaves. Protection from these EMF problems will allow a person to meditate and sleep better. Provision to eliminate this problem from the facility will also protect it from an EMP. Electromagnetic pulses can come from the Sun, other external planetary sources, nuclear weapons or man made things like HAARP. The facility will be protected by a Faraday Cage. A side benefit will be that you cannot have your dinner interrupted by a cell phone there. To withstand long periods in lock down the facility would have to be carbon neutral and very energy efficient. In order to have less burden of generators. Of course cutting the building into a stone mountain will cut heat loss/gain. This reduces energy costs in resort mode and would lessen the potential for freezing from extraordinary cold outside in lock down mode.

So as I was saying yesterday SSA has been hired to design a project for a client who is concerned about the possibility of an apocalypse in December 2012. For those of you who do not know about the Mayan calendar which ends on December 2012, report simply that some people believe that something (five years of college brings me no simple vocabulary word other than something?) of extreme significance is coming. Research comes up with such possibilities as Planet x, Nibiru, Nostradamus prophecies, depopulation and lots more. As I said previously the client had directed us to prepare a place. Our design criteria is to prepare a place to live for when it comes. ?IT? It maybe The Flowering of Human Consciousness or a meteor impact type apocalypse. So the facility will be designed to survive the 2012 apocalypse that some predict and also to facilitate the human spirit ascendancy simultaneously. What an amazing concept!!! It turns out that my research shows that many people are building underground bunkers that look like a con-ex with a tunnel going to it. These would only last maybe a month in a white out. You probably know that Washington DC has the Greenbrier Hotel http://www.atomictourist.com/green.htm http://www.avhub.net/congressionalhideawaygreenbriar.htm Where the Eisenhower administration looked for safety from nuclear war and of course reputed underground bases. So the programming and research is well underway. And actually past underway. But the client is reading these releases and this is what I am permitted so say at this point on this topic. We are designing a place for people to avoid being Depopulated if it is an apocalypse AND nurturing to the human spirit if this is the flowering of human consciousness. Tomorrow I will talk about the site.

I have been working on an exciting project for some time but only got the clients permission to say anything about it on this site today! One of SSAs favorite clients From looking at our web site you must know that we do plenty of hum drum projects these days and are happy just to have the work! So or staff is really ready for something different and a challenge. Something different and interesting!

SSA has been fortunate enough to be pretty busy given the state of the economy here in Vegas. So I'm in the office on a Sunday trying to catch up on the graphic design work that I prefer to do personally. Like this web site. You should start seeing a few new pages and links on the site and many more images.

Ken & Christine just returned from SIPA where the learned lots of new ideas and the latest thinking regarding energy savings and LEED. Also, going forward you’ll note some changes in this web site resulting from Ken’s meeting with the guys from a really great web developer! This was their first trip to SIPA and so everything was new and interesting on the first seeing/hearing. While Ken has been a LEED accredited professional for many years new thinking abounds and the SIPs are surely a great easy way to attain LEED points.

SSA has prepared 2 power points for Ken Small To present to the national conference of SIPA, the structural insulated panel manufacturers association. Due to SSA’s interest in energy efficient buildings we have two projects nearing completion that will “Break the Bank” with our local utilities. Both will have a near zero energy gain through the building envelope. Ken was invited to speak to SIPA regarding the Jacob Manch Elementary project. Check out SIPA’s web site www.sips.org.

The first construction contract for the HACLV architectural contract awarded to SSA for UFAS and ADA upgrades is completed. M C Mojave Construction completed the work more than 1% under the original amount bid! Great credit goes to this contractor for its honesty and hard work as well as to the entire project team. Historically government projects (almost) never finish under the money. This was just the type of project where you would expect great difficulty in attaining such a goal and it was difficult! The entire project scope was nothing but remodeling and every time you open up the walls on an old house surprises will be there! Laymen would call the project that of upgrading homes for the handicapped. Every house had to have many walls redone. Kitchens and toilets were redone for accessibility as well as exterior access provided. All this was done with the goal of blending the final home into the neighborhood so as not to make the occupants main streamed. SSA has the utmost praise for the HACLV management team and the contractor.

The Las Vegas RED (Real Estate Development) announces in a full page spread that SSA was awarded The Pantheon Theater Project in Cesars Forum Shops. SSA has been contracted to do both construction documents and interior design on the 600 seat roman themed theater and the project is well underway. The client also retained our firm to provide photo realistic imaging and presentation boards for Cesars, the public and the performers who will be there to see what the developers have planned. Check out http://theredreport.com/ SSA regularly reads and advertises with this publication and we were honored and grateful to have been acknowledged as the “Deal Tracker” one page spread this month!

Today Ken is at Construct 2008 for some educational units. This year there is interesting new information on green building, green lighting and proper architectural communications. Ken is also taking a seminar on the latest thinking on BIM, building information modeling. Ken has been using BIM since before it was known as that. SSA has been using building modeling on AutoCAD, Revit and several energy modeling software packages since SSA's inception.

Today the construction contract was awarded for the Manch Elementary school job. Manch is designed with many architectural innovations. The new and remodeled buildings are designed with the latest green ideas like fully day lit classrooms, sound attenuation through slightly out of square walls and out door learning areas. The completed project is expected to finish at about $20 million including a considerable public drainage project that is being negotiated. This fully daylighted design follows on the heels of the Sandy Valley School buildings that were designed to be 50% illuminated by natural light.

Sandy Valley School buildings 11 month walk through with off without a hitch today. The project was completed with an amazingly low amount of contractor extras. Finishing at under 0.4% (four tenths of one percent) as this project did is unheard of on any CCSD project… let alone a first time construction of a new set of plans. Credit goes to the SSA production staff headed by Ken Small and Alan Wendelboe. Equal credit goes to Rafael Construction, Kevin King and Gerald Looney both of whom did a great job of looking out for the publics money while looking ahead to problem avoidance throughout the work. http://www.rafaelconstructioninc.com/ is one of the many fine contractors that any SSA client would be well served by. SSA was the first architect to bring this level of illumination to CCSD using a far more affordable approach with Solatubes. Use of the construction technologies on this job bring the early stages of green building to a client that up until recent years build mostly windowless ‘prisons’ for our children to be educated in. After Ken Small won multiple awards for the John S Park Elementary project he allowed to take the next step in innovation with this project.