Jennifer Wright, AIA
AIAO Portland Section Director
Hello, I appreciate having this opportunity to update all of you on the progress of the formation of an AIAO CRAN (Custom Residential Architects Network) Committee. I would also like to take a moment to join all my fellow AIAO members in extending a warm welcome to Heather Wilson in her new role as EVP/CEO of our State chapter. I know that her expertise with facilitating community connections and supporting progressive policy will bring immense value to the organization and I look forward to working alongside her.
Prioritizing the topic of housing, from single family residential to multi-family development, has been a driving element in the formation of two of AIAO’s newest committees: The CRAN Committee & The Housing & Community Development Committee (HCDC). Having been Knowledge Communities at the AIA National level for many years, member demand has led to these committees being reflected at a local level. Personally, in my role as Residential Studio Director at Telford+Brown Studio, I am excited about being involved in both committees and expanding my knowledge within all scales of housing. Creating spaces for thoughtful dialogue amidst people with broad perspective and lived experience brings innovative ideas to the table that will benefit all of us as individuals & as practitioners. Tonight’s April 8th Thursday Roundtable event from 5 to 6 pm, provides an opportunity for interested members to weigh in on the development of The Housing & Community Development Committee (HCDC). A group which tackles the challenging topics of affordable housing, missing middle housing, homelessness & density at both a statewide & community level.
Comprised of a group of design professionals that share a common interest in or are engaged in custom residential practice, the AIA National CRAN Knowledge Community is a style-neutral group that recognizes members who are engaged in all types of residential architecture design and practice models. From kitchen remodels to new construction, the group provides a forum for an exchange of ideas and resources that affect the residential practitioner. In fact, a handful of resources that serve the purpose of educating potential clients about an architect’s beneficial role can be found on the CRANtv YouTube channel, which features videos like “How to choose an architect for your project” and “The Owner/Architect Contract”.
Last week’s April 1st Thursday Roundtable served as a forum for AIAO members to learn more about what topics the AIAO CRAN Committee may focus on by reviewing recent examples of events hosted by other local chapter CRAN groups.
Some examples included:
AIA Austin CRAN: Site visit to discuss the value of an architect regarding general development, zoning requirements & energy efficient building design methods
AIA Chicago CRAN: Mentoring staff - how to retain well-trained employees through positive firm culture
AIA Houston CRAN: 5 Principles for a Healthy Home
AIA Cincinnati CRAN: Plumbing 101 – What your plumber wishes you knew & How cut effects appearances of wood flooring
AIA Minnesota: Developing & promoting award programs for Emerging Talent of the Year and Architect of Distinction
AIA New York: Decarbonization is Now! And Demystifying Passive House
These examples serve to illustrate how each chapter can take a lead in focusing their CRAN dialogue to mirror the priorities of their membership and region. Those attending last Thursday’s Roundtable voiced interest in the possibility of hosting the annual AIA National CRAN Symposium as a way to promote local residential designers to a national audience, creating more inroads with residential contractors that are interested in supporting custom design and sourcing subject matter experts that would educate on designing resiliency in the face of the destructive nature of fires, tsunamis and climate change.
As can be expected of many topics, there is inevitable cross over with the work of other AIAO Committees. Discussion regarding government policy, regional zoning and codes shows direct parallels with the issues being focused on by The Housing & Community Development Committee (HCDC). The group’s interest to learn more about energy efficient solutions and Net Zero incentives illustrates the importance of tying into the ongoing work being done by The Committee on the Environment (COTE). Finally, the fact that a majority of firms focusing on custom residential projects are small groups with less than 10 employees means that there are many correlations with topics promoted by the Small Firms Exchange (SFx). In fact, AIA Seattle merged their CRAN and Small Firms Exchange into SPARC, The Small Practice & Residential Committee. Discussing the variety of groups and their broad focus prompted a lively discussion of an AIAO hybrid of sorts, where each interested committee might schedule educational outreach, an event or a subject matter expert to focus on a CRAN related topic at points throughout the year.
This summarizes what is only the first discussion in the formation of our unique Oregon-based CRAN Committee and I look forward to hearing your input as these ideas gain momentum. Until next time, if you are interested in learning more about AIA CRAN and their ongoing events, including this month’s webinar on Lessons Learned on Detailing for Durability, visit the AIA CRAN Knowledge Community.