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What defines a Community space? A gathering space; an urban farm or something in the lines of traditional open spaces where you allow a myriad of activities to flourish within the boundaries. These have, though, allowed some illicit activities to grow as well. There are many questions an Architect ponders when designing something as simple as a 100-sf urban farm, because space matters and what we do with it could be envisaged in numerous probabilities. We need to streamline these possibilities which best interacts with its context and function, however also ensuring the design will allow for any supplemental activities which cannot be forecast, could be given an opportunity to flourish. Such ideation tools are necessary when designing a public space. Traditionally, most of the gardens were esoteric and catered to the rich section of the society. Some of these famous aboriginal gardens are the Mughal, English, Roman gardens designed with lavish spaces containing water bodies and eclectic flowers which were intended towards beautification of the garden. The evolution of the garden has been spectacular and is moving towards more functional use. This is due to the fact that cities are stifled with built environment and lacking open spaces which makes protecting and using them at their full capacity even more necessary within the urban fabric. Subsequently, physical public interaction is threatened with the advent of the internet, social media, and other entertainment services at home, deterring people from leaving their houses. There are also underlying threats to other civic spaces like theaters, markets, shopping malls, and many other such human-centric structures. Because of streaming services, people are not going to theaters; online shopping has become more efficient for people than going to markets to buy food or shopping malls for apparel. With such problems of the modern world, the architecture community has to develop unique solutions to attract the masses to their project. One such public space reminiscing a vernacular English garden is Stourhead, England. It consists of a magnificent lake reflecting classical temples, mystical grottoes, and rare and exotic trees, offering an opportunity for people to explore within its vast land. It is such a picturesque park that certain magazines describe it as a ‘living work of art’. On the opposite spectrum, we have Central Park which is situated right in the heart of Manhattan constructed from scratch. All lakes and ponds within are artificially made, creating an exotic and sumptuous space to wander through handling a gamut of activities. Creating a park in an urban setting is difficult to design. However, there have been some incredible examples which have revolutionized the urban public space experience. The Parc de la Villette, designed by Bernard Tschumi, did not design the park in a traditional mindset where landscape and nature are the predominant forces behind the design. Rather, he envisioned Parc de la Villette as a place of culture where natural and artificial are forced together into a state of constant reconfiguration and discovery. It was created on conditions of points, lines, and planes, where the points represented the follies allowing the guests to break its exploration represented by lines. The ‘planes’ represented the exchange of activities. Another park, reviving an old railway track cutting though midtown Manhattan, illustrates how various derelict structures can be used to our advantage to activate the space for public use. The high line cutting through several structures has rejuvenated the area around it, which is now lined by art intertwined with residential and commercial buildings. It’s a unique experience as you walk through the archaic tracks converged by superimposition of indigenous flora separated by segments of viewing decks, an amphitheater, and sit-out spaces enhancing the whole idea of exploration and then breaking that feeling to only start again. Well-designed public spaces could help a neighborhood in betterment of its people and could revive the environment around it. Synthesis was given an opportunity to design a community garden for the people of Hillside neighborhood, assisting them with community engagement in small scale farming. The project is site lined on two sides by townhouses, some of which are derelict whereas others inhabited. The other two sides are abutted by a main road and a small lane where the peak of the slope begins sloping evenly towards the Hillside road. The neighborhood is rich in churches and is lined by a few industrial factories but lacks common outdoor spaces for the community to gather, creating segregation between neighboring groups. Thus, designing a community garden that acts to achieve its primary goals, which is farming, but could be interjected by other activities and allows them to flourish through juxtaposition is what we strive to achieve. The site is scattered with two imaginary boundaries which helps to define visually quasi – private vs. pure public space. The raised beds are custom designed to cater to various age groups and consist of supplementary provisions for growing flowers or herbal shrubs. Such a dissection of the site helps various communities within the area to perform their activity within the community space and also allows for the common public to pass through and interact with such groups. #CommunityDesign

We have to face it, we are all getting older. No longer can we say we will live forever and architecture, as a whole, is beginning to shift, designing more and more for the older generations. The need for more cross-generational care is at an all-time high. By 2030, more than 6 million “Baby Boomers” will be retiring and will soon be needing long-term care. [1] One such way to think about how to combat this change in the markets is to design for multiple-generation homes. In the article, Make Room for Grandma: Architects Design Homes for Multiple Generations proposes a new way of design that combines multiple independent living areas with common spaces for families to share, thus allowing families to stay together and help each other out. It hasn’t quite caught on yet in America, but the premise is strong. Housing that is adaptable, that is fully accessible for all generations, and can grow with the families as their needs change. [1] The 2030 Problem: Caring for Aging Baby Boomers Article: Make Room for Grandma: Architects Design Homes for Multiple Generations

Universal versus Relative Knowledge. Right and wrong versus abstract thought is like comparing mathematics to music. One is constant, unchanging and undeniable while the other expresses emotion, triggers memories and sensations. However, it is important to recognize that elements of music, rhythm | pitch | notes | tempo, are all associated to measurements of time and frequency, which is also seen in geometry. It is mentioned in Branko Mitrovic’s Philosophy for Architects that, “The idea that certain proportional relationships of a building are beautiful because they correspond to certain musical relationships...” [1] He brings this up as an example of how the numerical ratios in buildings reflect those in musical intervals, noted in both Renaissance architectural writings through post-World War II Europe as a concept of rules to follow to create beauty and perfection. As the human mind began to contemplate life and theory in the eighteenth century, the rejection of divine order (“social privileges based on birth and the status of the family”) led the French government to rationalize systems of measurement, equalizing its society and breaking down social barriers that restrained much of the public from local privileges. This move was seen as universally good from the perspective of a modernizing Europe but it also began to deny human nature. Johan Goldberg has written a book called Suicide of the West [2], which acknowledges that man’s natural condition for 250,000 years was based in poverty and often lead to a quick death from disease or attack. In the book, he explains that the enlightenment occurred unnaturally fast in the human evolutionary timeline. That the introduction of free speech and rights are from God not government and that the fruits of our labor belongs to us, all formed the unnatural state of man, prosperity and longevity. And, while great from a standard of living, we as a collective society have become spoiled, entitled and dependent on our predecessors achievements to move forward. Much like Mitrovic states in the Philosophy for Architects, “…the availability of science and technology does not only mean that we can make better things than our predecessors; it also means that we can make greater errors and often make things much worse than one could have in the past.” While this universal thought seems extreme, it showcases the importance of relativism. It’s human nature to utilize the abstraction of opinion and free thought. We develop from trial and error. In Rem Koolhaas’ article “Junkspace”, our modern society faces repetition instead of innovation. “Regurgitation is the new creativity; instead of creation, we honor, cherish and embrace manipulation.” [3] I take this form of thought as a homage to how well our ancestors prepared our society. They uniquely crafted our generations to live better, healthier, longer lives, but what they could not predict was our need to stabilize and latch on to this universally safe idea of western civilization, fearing change and progress. We need the flexibility of relativism in order to appreciate and evolve. Universalism is built from this archaic form of critical thinking, learning what works and what does not. But it forces our society to understand its needs to function and advance. Much like music, there is a rhythm to follow, pitch and tempo to maintain, but it is flexible and subjective in execution. These rules of universal reasoning become more like guidelines to progress independently from our predecessors. Sources: Mitrovic, B. (2011) “Philosophy for Architects”. Princeton Architectural Press Goldberg, J. (2018) “Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy” Crown Forum Koolhaas, R. (2006) “Junkspace”. Quodlibet

Synthesis is pleased to welcome Greg McMullen, MBA, AIA, as one of our newest studio members and who will serves as our Studio Director. He earned his Bachelor of Architecture at the University of Cincinnati and his Masters in Business Administration at Indiana University. Greg brings more than 30 years of experience and has a strong technical and architectural design background along with significant large project experience, as well as experience in a wide variety of project types. What is the most rewarding part about being an architect and why? I truly enjoy the diversity of my everyday experiences – from interacting with clients to detailing a wall section to designing a reception desk to mentoring a graduate architect - I find that all aspects of being an architect keep me challenged and engaged in ways that help me to learn and grow, both as an individual and as a professional. I also like providing leadership and being engaged as a part of the very large team needed to help implement a construction project. What do you enjoy doing on your free time? In my free time I enjoy playing tennis with my spouse, watching the Tennis Channel and traveling to tennis tournaments to watch professionals play. Tennis, anyone? We also enjoy taking classes at the Indianapolis Art Center such as hand-blown glass, hand-constructed ceramics, encaustic painting and monotype prints, exploring cooking techniques (learning to make homemade pasta with homemade tomato sauce is the latest adventure!), growing all kinds of ornamental and edible plants (the homemade tomato sauce is much better with home-grown tomatoes!), and various home improvement projects. Except plumbing projects. No one likes to do plumbing projects. What is the best professional advice you’ve ever received? I was encouraged early in my life to listen carefully and to ask questions any time that you do not fully understand what is occurring or being discussed. If you can’t acknowledge a lack of knowledge or understanding to yourself and to others, it makes it more difficult to learn new things and to move forward in both in your life and in your career. It made my year when a former client praised our design team for being “good listeners” and responding to their wants, needs and limitations, as opposed to simply imposing our own ideas upon them. How do you define success? The best professional successes that I have enjoyed have been the times when a client first occupies a building and they have that “WOW” or “AHA” moment. They really start to understand how we as architects can improve not only their built environment, but also their business processes at the same time. What inspires you? I am inspired by my choice of a career and the impact that the many clients, employers and co-creators that I have been fortunate to envision and execute projects with has had on myself. I am inspired by my parents and their dedication to each other, our very extended family and the support that they have given to both myself and to my sisters both in the past and in the present. I am inspired by creating objects of pure beauty, in whatever form and whatever basis of inspiration those objects take. Objects of beauty can be based in nature or on a geometric exploration or just a weird concept that pops into your head. #Synthians

As designers, our concepts are based on the relationship and shift of priorities between the natural and the imaginative approaches. We explore basics around realism and romanticism and examine how these theoretical positions are present in contemporary design. So, what is still present as an active component of design thinking? And why does it matter? I identify as a pragmatist. I drive a specific route to work each day based on traffic. I have a haircut for the least amount of effort (thank God bed head is still quasi in style). I use a multitude of programs to make the drawings read right, instead of just a single program to ensure the drawings read right. That’s why the idea of a “pragmatist aesthetics” [1] is so appealing to me. A building for everyday use is what an architect’s first expectation is in the 21st century. But, I must also compare a pragmatists aesthetics with Corbusier’s “Plastic Emotions”; “…by the relationships which he [the architect] creates he wakes profound echoes in us, he gives us the measure of an order which we feel to be in accordance with that of our world, he determines the various movements of our heart and of our understanding; it is then that we experience the sense of beauty”. [2] These two concepts are what we, as designers, strive for in modern architecture. A pragmatic sense of beauty. By combining these two modes of thought, we discover how to express a building’s connection to its inhabitants freely and sometimes discretely. In Andrew Ballantyne’s essay, "Architecture, Life and Habit”, he identifies the building as the place that inspires its inhabitants, “the stronger the rapport, the better the fit, the more aesthetically satisfying the achievement.” This coincides with Immanuel Cant’s question of knowledge: “…some knowledge may be inborn to the human mind or whether all knowledge comes from experience”. [3] How will we know what our inhabitants will desire without knowledge of where and what our community stands for at that very moment? Furthermore, how can we predict what the future culture (5, 10, 50 years) would deem as relevant architecture? I had a first grade teacher, Mrs. Woodward, that would ask a question and if you responded with, “I feel like…” she’d interrupt you and tell you, “I don’t care what you feel like, I care what you think”. It seems like Cant applies this same idea to his definition of Posteriori knowledge, “We know their truth from experience and not by considering the concepts they include.” The yellow bridge does not have to be yellow to function as a bridge. The same goes for pertinent design. We know what needs to be built to function. We also know what drives a culture and how it leads us to a probable resolution. The Enlightened Thinker and/or the Romantic. The architect utilizes a form of “Universal Rationality” to identify how the surrounding culture themselves and how they want to / should be perceived. Or, the designer recognizes the communities ethos and traditions and reflects it in the most complementary way possible. It can then be determined what is the correct, functional design for the community. It is the utilization of intuition, knowledge, pragmatism, and emotion to provide, as Corbusier would say, good art. “A house is not a machine-à-habiter. It is man’s shell, his continuation, his spreading out, his spiritual emanation.” ~Eileen Gray Sources: Ballantyne, A. (2011) “Architecture, Life and Habit”. Wiley on behalf of The American Society for Aesthetics Le Corbusier (1986) “Towards a New Architecture”. Dover Publications, New York Mitrovic, B. (2011) “Philosophy for Architects”. Princeton Architectural Press

The business world is competitive, and clients of architectural firms expect design solutions that not only solve a functional problem, but also integrate art and beauty. The Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority and The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis both fall into that category. Successful design solutions must capture clients’ needs, spirit and imagination. Public space projects must offer a unique experience for their patrons. The large interior spaces and uninterrupted floor space traditionally associated with public space projects dramatically influence each building’s interior personality. Certain projects require an unadorned flooring approach so as not to detract from the exhibits within, while others benefit from bold color and unique patterns that fill the space with excitement. Comprehensive design solutions and materials must perform, be easily maintained and continue to look good well after opening day. Some public space flooring solutions involve altering colors of running line products, while others warrant both a custom pattern and color palette. The design team elected to customize a running line product for The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, a world leader in museums that serve children and families. It features interactive exhibits and colorful interior public spaces. The Children’s Museum’s most recent expansion was a 35,000-square-foot welcome center. Completed in June 2009, the center is the museum’s new front door for its more than one million annual visitors. The project features a skywalk bridge that connects the museum to its parking garage, new ticketing areas, enhanced visitor services including lockers and restrooms, an expanded retail experience, and a more generous lobby that can be utilized after hours for events throughout the year. In addition, the project relocated and expanded the InfoZone—a branch of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library—to a more accessible location for greater public interaction. Because of its high traffic flow and almost round-the-clock usage, the design team recognized the need to select easy-to-maintain flooring that would reinforce the clients’ image and overall building story. The welcome center’s color palette incorporates The Children’s Museum’s trademark colors of aqua blue, spring green and terra cotta. In addition, interior finishes continue the story established with the 2004 renovation of the museum’s popular interactive dinosaur exhibit, “Dinosphere: Now You’re in Their World.” The Dinosphere’s design features full size cast dinosaurs breaking out of the museum’s south side exterior. As a continuation of the story, the welcome center’s north exterior design features a parent brachiosaur lifting the roof so that its child can participate once again in the museum’s activities. The design team explored conceptual ways to incorporate the floorcovering into the overall design story. Carpet was the logical acoustical choice in the three-story space, and modular tile was selected over broadloom for maintenance and roller mobility (to accommodate stroller, wagon and wheelchair traffic). Multiple colors of walk-off tile were selected for the skywalk. Once functionality was addressed, we approached aesthetic design. The welcome center’s entry ramp provides visitors with an expansive view of its floor, making the carpeting a dynamic part of the interior design plan. The design team used the story created by the brachiosaurs breaking into the building as an opportunity to find a carpet pattern that emulated the explosion that would ensue if the event had actually occurred. It was important that the pattern’s scale be legible from above without having a regimented appearance or defined overall pattern lines. The design team selected a multi-level loop solution dyed nylon product, which is 100% recyclable and contains recycled content. Large open spaces can be affected by dye lot changes or variations, so it’s best to avoid beck or piece-dyed products when specifying large quantities. The pattern contains randomly placed 4” accent squares within a charcoal grey background. The neutral background provides a visual transition between the welcome and other areas within the museum. The carpet pattern is playful and engaging, and select positioning of the tile enhanced the feeling that dinosaurs are lifting the roof to enter the building. Because scale and colorways of running line products are typically geared toward the commercial/corporate market, the design team elected to custom-color the carpet’s accent squares and incorporate more childlike hues of blue, green and yellow that also tied into the expansive green ceiling and the museum’s existing brand. Custom-designed modular carpet patterns and a variety of hard surface materials were used once again to reflect the client’s brand in a major expansion to the Indiana Convention Center. The Indiana Convention Center expansion was a response to ongoing increased convention and trade show demand. The more than 700,000-square-foot project includes exhibition space, meeting rooms, and pre-function and support space, all within a tight urban site. The project also includes the design of a climate-controlled pedestrian passageway between the convention center and Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts. Many of the convention center’s visitors are first-time visitors to Indianapolis, so it’s very important the building exude a welcoming feel through its architecture, lighting and views in and out of the building. Attending a convention is an experience directly related to the impact that selected finishes has on the interior environment. The building authority required selection of easy-to-maintain finished surfaces; creation of an interior that would appeal to prospective clients when both empty of exhibits and teeming with conference attendees; and the design of a facility that provides the appearance of one contiguous building. Designing for spaces like the convention center differs from other commercial projects in that these large public spaces contain open expanses of pre-function and meeting space, providing an opportunity to create a grand impression. In addition, spaces are used for long stretches of time, must hold up to heavy foot traffic, and must accommodate the use of scissor lifts and palette jacks. Because of these requirements, 36” modular multi-level loop nylon cushion-backed tile containing a percentage of recycled content was the logical floorcovering choice for the project. In addition to satisfying walking comfort, acoustical and maintenance needs, larger format tiles of 24” to 36” installed with full spread releasable adhesive respond better to wheel traffic than 18” tiles. A combination of custom colored terrazzo and walk-off tile was specified for entry areas, large format porcelain tile for restrooms, and poured urethane resinous floor was specified for service corridors and kitchen. The carpeted areas alone within the Indiana Convention Center expansion project exceed 26,000 square yards. By following architectural concepts that focused on Indiana’s landscape and glacial history, the design team elected to design its own flooring pattern to address branding, scale and color. To reflect the convention center’s brand as an Indiana landmark, the design team studied aerial photographs taken of the Indiana landscape as well as the state’s geographic characteristics. Nine different carpet patterns reflective of Indiana’s natural geographical characteristics were created for various spaces, including the integration of crop circles and grids within pre-function and gathering spaces; linear sand dune patterning at meeting room entrances; and simplified grids in meeting rooms and connecting hallways. The convention center’s complex carpet pattern responds to circulation paths and helps define gathering versus circulation spaces within pre-function zones. Carpet insets that identify meeting room entrances aid in way-finding. The expansion’s carpet color was critical both from an interior design perspective and the relationship to the existing building. The majority of the convention center expansion’s walls will be neutral. As a result, we wanted the carpet’s overall color to be warm. Because green was a predominant color throughout the existing space prior to the current expansion, the new color palette needed to coordinate with existing marble columns, pipe and drape, and meeting room upholstery. As color and pattern tend to blend over a distance, appearing lighter and cooler, the design team chose a majority of cranberry reds, golden yellows and browns, in addition to a smaller amount of green, to warm up the space and tie into existing oak and new cherry running trim. Using different hues of green—teal in meeting rooms and viridian in pre-function areas—will ensure compatibility with the existing space once the new expansion is complete. To meet the building authority’s goal that the building looks like one contiguous space, designers coordinated new and existing neutral wall colors and designed a master carpet pattern plan, which allows the operator to continue the color palette and patterns into the existing building when select areas of flooring need to be replaced. As with all projects, it’s important to test the design before placing the order. Color variation, hue and overall pattern will affect stain hiding capabilities and the longevity of the surface’s appearance. Because it’s important that carpet stains don’t stand out if they can’t be treated immediately, the carpet’s stain resistance was tested before placing the order. Coffee, red wine, ketchup and mustard were spilled on carpet tiles, and cleaned by facility staff a week later. Our client looked for two things: how obvious the stain looked before it was cleaned and how well the stain could be cleaned after a week’s time. It’s important to note that many running line and custom samples are produced on a non-running line machine. Often these machines produce carpet that represents yarn dye color and construction method only and doesn’t have topical stain resistance treatments, which will affect the outcome of testing. Make sure to confirm this before testing. A public space’s floor area is often a prominent part of the overall project. Selecting the right kind of treatment—either neutrally or with a pattern—can enhance the overall architectural design solution. In addition, material choices have a considerable impact on the overall longevity and maintenance of the space. If you want to make an impact, floor finishes provide one of the most expansive and economical mediums for large public spaces. #CreativeResponsibility

Over the years, Synthesis has been approached with a plethora of design opportunities. Whether creating a monumental wayfinding tool, higher education facility or a senior living home, we have a diverse portfolio of design options. Yet, we challenge ourselves to stay relevant and innovative with every new project. We question ideas constantly by asking, “where do our designs come from and how do we use it?” This is not just a Google search to find inspiration but a deeper examination into how a concept is related to how we make decisions. For centuries, architect’s and philosophers would ask why we have designed the way we have. Why is the site oriented a certain way? What style of architecture would be most appropriate or what looks / feels right from past projects? But, as Richard Rorty in Philosophy and Social Hope describes it, “…we are getting a lot of political and social philosophy which takes its starting point not from historical narrative but rather from philosophy of language, or from psychoanalysis, or from discussion of such traditional philosophical topoi as ‘identity’ and ‘difference’, ‘self’ and ‘subject’, ‘truth’ and ‘reason’.” [1] I find myself now asking what is the culture that has molded the location? What brings people to this place and what do I want them to experience? These new questions open a designer to contemplate not only what the end goal should look like, but how it is embraced by its community. And much like Socrates’ quote about death, “for the fear of death is indeed the pretense of wisdom, and not real wisdom, being a pretense of knowing the unknown.” [2], we must push through the obvious to explore the unknown, the unrecognized and the unembraced to provide a better, innovative approach to design solutions, whether through self or subject, not limited by the realities of the 21st century. Vitruvius describes theory as, “…the ability to demonstrate and explain productions of dexterity on the principles of proportion.” [3], meaning that we rely on a substantial understanding of who we’re effecting to provide the quality of work needed to better inspire the client, their patrons and even the community in which it resides. Design can be simple, logical and rational, but can’t it also be impactful, inspirational and moving? We have the ability to create beautiful works of art, but we also can be responsible for the social impact of how, where and why a building is designed appropriately and necessarily. This responsibility can be daunting to contemplate at times, but as Vitruvius continues later about symmetry, “Symmetry is a proper agreement between the members of the work itself, and relation between the different parts and the whole general scheme…” Sources: Rorty, R. (1999). “Philosophy and Social Hope”. Penguin Books Mitrovic, B. (2011) “Philosophy for Architects”. Princeton Architectural Press Morgan, M. (1914). “Vitruvius – The Ten Books of Architecture”. Harvard University Press #CreativeResponsibility

Synthesis Incorporated is pleased to welcome Katie Gordon, Graduate Architect, as one of our newest studio members. She earned her Associates Degree from Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne with a certification in digital design and fabrication, as well as her Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Architecture at Ball State University. What is the most rewarding part about being an architect and why? I find the most rewarding part of architecture is that every project is different. It is an ever-changing multiple piece puzzle that gets designed and then built, how amazing is that? With new and emerging technology, like 3D printing, VR headsets, and augment reality, it allows for architects and clients to explore the space earlier in the design and gives more understanding into what a building or a space can become. It is an incredible experience to be a part of. What do you enjoy doing during your free time? As a recent graduate, I am still trying to figure out what to do with all this newfound free time, but I do enjoy playing video games with friends, acting in a few plays, and watching hilariously terrible horror movies. What is the best professional advice you’ve ever received? “There is an order to how we do things around here. First, we are going to do things right, then it is going to be done.” Bob Borson (Life of an Architect). This quote is short, sweet, and to the point and encompasses how I view architecture in today’s world. If you make a mistake, own up to it. If you notice inconsistencies, point it out tactfully. Everyone’s goal for a project should be to get it done right and then move to the next phase, thus creating a better world; one building at a time. How do you define success? Success for me is when we can gain an understanding of how to improve people’s lives. Just by being aware of people and what their current and future needs may be, we can be successful in architecture. What did you want to be when you grew up? Does it reflect what you’re doing now? I jumped around on what I wanted to be while I was growing up, same as most children. I have always enjoyed tackling issues, using different tactics to try and find the best solution possible for everyone involved. I enjoyed building 3D puzzles, model cars, and building huge snow ramps to make sledding just that little bit more fun. Then, in high school, I took a drafting/robotics class, which was so different than any other class I had ever taken. This allowed me to constructively question and test various solutions while learning new drawing and software skills. It was incredible and I soon fell in love with architecture as it was always a new adventure with every project undertaken. Now that I am finally done with my schooling, I am excited to finally test my knowledge out in the real world. #Synthians

The health care environment plays a central role in infection control and prevention. So, how do architects influence construction activities through contract documents to ensure patient safety and interim life safety standards are met? Patient Safety and Infection Control Special considerations for interim life safety needs to be taken into consideration when doing construction within a hospital. When renovating part of the hospital, the adjacent critical areas need to remain operational with no effect on performance or patient care. Infection control measures should be evaluated during design to ensure that reasonable access to construction activity can occur without threat to the patients. However, prior to identifying construction activity boundaries, carefully planned routes for patient access, supply / instrumentation movement - soiled, clean and sterile, staff, and surgeon work flow are all key parameters to establish. To ensure these measures are incorporated fully into the construction implementation, document the expectations into your bidding documents. This provides a clear expectation up front for all trades on site. During construction, dust control partitions are constructed in accordance with placement plans and details illustrating the wall construction and its attachment to floors, ceilings, and walls. It is imperative that a tight seal be maintained at all times around the entire perimeter of the partitions. Therefore, check the air flow log and walk the site perimeter to confirm that no visible issues occur during each one scheduled site observations throughout construction. #patientcare #patientsafety #infectioncontrol #synthesisincorporated #synthesis

Bruce has been with Synthesis for 15 years. He has a command of over 35 architectural building systems and has completed extensive assessments of 56 buildings, resulting in a comprehensive understanding of building skin systems. Sought by clients for his collegial approach and scientific mind, he ensures that our design innovation is complemented with constructible and maintainable approaches. Bruce also contributes as a spec writer, code reviewer, design detail advisor, historical preservation designer, and mentor. Bruce will help anyone, at anytime, with anything. We are very lucky to have him! What inspires you? Individuals who choose quality and craftsmanship as their guideposts. That choice will be reflected in physical objects they create, their personal efforts for employers, and their relationships with all walks of life. They are objectives that fewer seem to have been concerned with recently, but I see a revival in attitudes towards these ideals from which we all will benefit. What was your first job? Landscape laborer, almost a whole summer. I don’t think I have had a dirtier job than laying wet, fresh cut sod. By the end of a hot August, day neither I nor my coworkers were recognizable. Black “dirt” was stuck in my pores for a week and the clothing was pitched due to the smell. That day was the end of my first job. I sought an upgrade in the fast food industry. What do you enjoy doing on your free time? I give a good deal of time to Boy Scout Troop 174. I believe strongly in the positive influence Scouting can have in our community, turning immature, distracted boys into focused young men who become our future leaders. I spend most of my time improving my home, or at least trying to mitigate its further deterioration. Then there are many hobbies and collections I enjoy when possible as a woodworker, philatelist (look it up), modeler, reader, etc. Proudest professional moment? I believe I have several years of future practice remaining as an architect. So, I hope that moment is yet to be realized. #Synthians

Congratulations to Jennifer Byrer, Executive Assistant/HR Coordinator and John Gilligan, Controller at Synthesis for being this quarter's Fire Starter Award recipients. Fostering excellence doesn't stop with our clients, but transcends throughout our office. John Gilligan, the newest member of Synthesis and Jennifer Byrer are always looking out for the best interests of the studio and ways to streamline processes to make our work life less stressful and more enjoyable. Both are invaluable to Synthesis and don't know what we'd do without them. -------------------------------- About the Fire Starter Award This award is Synthesis Incorporated’s quarterly honor given to a project team or individual(s) within the firm for exemplifying outstanding work on a project or within the office. Based on employee nominations, the winning recipient(s) or team to receive the award. Criteria for this prestigious award includes performance that goes above and beyond normal expectations as it relates to the following criteria: • Outstanding project performance • Exceeding client service expectations • Extraordinary team work resulting in increased productivity and morale • Exceptionally innovative/creative design • Creativity in new and innovative methods and procedures • Outstanding financial/schedule/quality performance #FirestarterAward

Synthesis has a tradition of giving back to the community and this year we broke our previous record with the amount raised through our $3 Friday Jeans Fund. The money collected was used to purchase and donate hats, gloves and scarves for Westminster Neighborhood Services children's toy/gift store. Since this Fund began in 1997, Synthesis employees have donated nearly $21,000 to those in need. To learn more about Westminster Neighborhood Services go to www.westmin.org #Synthians #Community