November 24, 2014

LCCC Culinary Arts Design Receives IIDA Best of Category Award

Bialosky + Partners received a 2014 design award from the Cleveland Chapter of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) for Best of Category in Education for the Lorain County Community College Ben & Jane Norton Culinary Arts Center in Elyria, Ohio.  We are pleased to announce that this is our second design award for the Culinary Arts Center and we want to again thank the college, the construction team, our consultants, and our photographers as well as our colleagues and the prestigious jury for this honor.

Visit our AIA Honorable Mention blog post to see the award submittal images and read the project brief.

Additionally, Plain Dealer Art & Architecture Critic Steven Litt has a recap of the event here: Healthcare projects dominate winning entries in 2014 AIA Cleveland architectural design awards

September 10, 2014

IIDA Talk of the Town: Urban Cool Meets Farm Fresh

We are excited to share that Bialosky + Partners has been featured in the IIDA Cleveland Akron City Center Newsletter and website’s “Talk of the Town” column.  The article profiles Cuyahoga Community College (CCC)’s Hospitality Management Center (HMC) and the adjacent private restaurant Pura Vida.

Read the article here: http://www.iidaohky.org/articles/cleveland-akron/urban-cool-meets-farm-fresh-ccc-hospitality-management-center-pura-vida

The project goal was to create a new image for the college via contemporary, forward-looking architecture paired with clean striking interiors that creates an inviting community nexus to celebrate the art of cooking.  Glass walls admit views into the restaurant kitchen allowing the culinary students and visitors to see the instruction process in action.  This visual connection enhances the idea of Culinary Theater and demystifies the art of cooking.

Pura Vida + CCC HMC won a NAIOP Northern Ohio 2013 Award of Excellence for best Mixed-Use Interior Design project and a 2012 Award of Merit from IES (Illuminating Engineering Society).

Additionally, mark your calendars for the upcoming IIDA OH KY Chapter Annual Conference that will be held in Cleveland on October 17!  It’s held here once every 5 years and speakers this year include Cheryl Durst, IIDA CEO and Michael Murphy, Co-Founder and CEO of MASS Design Group.

http://www.iidaohky.org/events/cleveland-akron/iida-oh-ky-chapter-annual-conference-cleveland

May 14, 2014

Job Opening: Interior Designer at Bialosky + Partners Architects

Bialosky + Partners, one of the Midwest’s leading architecture/ design firms is seeking a passionate and motivated interior designer who is collaborative, creative, well-organized and confident.  Candidates must possess an eagerness to learn, ability to show initiative, exhibit a strong professional work ethic, be detail oriented and able to handle multiple tasks. Bialosky + Partners is an integrated design firm in which teams are typically maintained from a project’s inception through completion.  Project work will be inclusive of all phases of design (schematic design, construction documents, finish selection, construction administration, furniture selection) for a multitude of project types not limited to higher education, multi-family housing, corporate office, high end residential, and mixed use developments. This is a full-time paid position with excellent benefits.  Please submit resume and a sampling of your work. Qualifications: 4 year relevant degree Entry level – 5 years experience AutoCAD proficiency Adobe Photoshop proficiency Revit proficiency is a plus Google Sketchup proficiency is a plus Adobe InDesign experience is a plus Contact: Tracy Sciano Vajskop, Senior Associate | Senior Interior Designer tvajskopATbialoskyDOTcom

February 13, 2014

BPA University – Digital Fabrication + Scripting in Architecture

Last Friday I put together a small informal internal lunch and learn for the BPA staff in which we looked at and discussed digital fabrication equipment and construction techniques.  Based off of the course that I taught at Kent State University last semester, the discussion of various techniques and uses in architectural applications became very exciting.  We also began to discuss and share how the process of scripting and parametric design could impact our design.  I shared various precedent from firms such as SHoP Architects, design work by Alex Hogrefe, and even included some of my own work on a new bookshelf that is in process.  Feel free to walk through the Prezi Presentation below!

[prezi id="<http://prezi.com/jhgvwfbugqxo/macraild-dig-fab-and-parametric-modelling-lunch-and-learn/#>" width=500 height=400 lock_to_path=0]

January 29, 2014

So You Want To Build a Culinary School?

Dollar signs ($$,$$$,$$$) are what every College administrator imagines at the mention of a new Culinary Arts Program. Its launch may be one of, if not the most costly investment an institution of higher learning can make. For these reasons and more, its recipe must be artfully constructed with consideration given to both the end user and community’s palettes. Its conception must be artfully balanced to satisfy the institution’s curriculum needs, the technologically entrenched student user’s expectations and prospective donor philanthropic objectives. The development of such a facility affords opportunities for public outreach, rectifying existing campus master planning shortfalls, and the development of synergistic opportunities between existing internal and external College partnerships.

The May Company Building Store Front

The May Company Building in downtown Cleveland, OH is home to both Cuyahoga County Community College's Hospitality Management Centeand acclaimed restaurant Pura Vida.

At first glance, the creation of a new or revival of an existing culinary arts program appears self-contained and finite, when in fact it is quite the contrary. Many of a College’s existing facilities can and should be evaluated for their potential symbiotic relationships with your new culinary facility.  Its only when your perspective elevates to 20,000 feet do these synergies truly reveal themselves.  Performing art centers, conferencing centers, sports facilities, central food service, public programming, are all venues that can take advantage of and enhance a culinary program/facility. This new facility, in addition to fulfilling its primary use teaching the culinary arts, can provide the college with a marketable team-building outreach center, special event pre-function space, or an elegant on-campus restaurant to aid in its fund-raising endeavors.

LCCC Culinary Demonstration Kitchen

Demonstration Kitchen with smart classroom technology for distance learning at Lorain County Community College Ben & Jane Norton Culinary Arts Center

In addition, this investment must exploit the potential of each space beyond its original program and consider the opportunities to utilize its physical environs for alternate educational offerings. Flexible and well-planned teaching kitchens may convert to an A-La-Carte kitchens, with a simple equipment reconfiguration, to service gala events being held in the culinary school’s new multi-purpose lounge/lecture hall/special event space. Accessory spaces normally considered off limits to students should now be seen as invaluable educational tools in support of your new culinary curriculum. Shipping and receiving areas, for example, can serve as a working sanitation and safety labs, or prep kitchens, where students attain first-hand experience receiving, inventorying, cleaning, and prepping food product. Better yet, your new program could celebrate the locally grown food movement with the inclusion of a greenhouse/garden adjacent to or on top of your new facility showcasing the advantages of locally grown produce, while at the same time reinforcing the importance of sustainable building design.

Pura Vida Restaurant Kitchen

Cuyahoga County Community College's Downtown Hospitality Management Center shares space with noted Cleveland restaurant, Pura Vida (pictured here). Having a professional kitchen adjacent and visible to culinary school students provides additional opportunities for students to be inspired, learn, and engage.

You can now imagine that these students, your students, graduate from a program with more than just the traditional culinary education but one with innovative business practices at its core, an embedded understanding of the benefits of local sustainable food communities with a creative approach that these prospective employees associate with added value.

Ben & Jane Norton Culinary Arts Center - Exterior

Exterior View of the LCCC Ben & Jane Norton Culinary Arts Center at dusk.

This post was authored by Bialosky Cleveland Principal Mark Olson, AIA, LEED AP For more info: View this video produced by Lorain Community College with students, professors, and professionals discussing the opening of the Ben & Jane Culinary Arts Center and the launching of LCCC's Culinary Arts Program: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZmZZQOJs9w Cuyahoga Community College offers a similar video with background on their program, focusing on the downtown Cleveland Hospitality Management Center and the Eastern Campus HMC programs, which were both designed by Bialosky: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0iOeGQdoME