Thank you for taking the time to read by blog! I was recently awarded a 2013 AAJ Knowledge Scholarship. The award of this scholarship will afford me the opportunity to attend the 2013 AIA Academy of Architecture for Justice Conference in Portland in September.
A little over 7 years ago in 2006 I received an HOK sponsored prize for architecture for work in one of my classes while pursuing a Master's degree at university of South Florida. Four months after I received that award I was sitting at my new desk at HOK Tampa, assisting in the design of a County courthouse in Florida. Time has flown by since then.
During my seven year tenure at HOK, my primary focus has been on judicial and civic architecture. This has included programming, design, planning, sustainability, documentation, and construction administration on Courts projects in four States. I also participated on a major design competition for an international justice project in Qatar.
What I find most rewarding working on courts projects around the world is the challenge. The challenge of designing and planning a facility that is safe and secure, while creating a civic design representative of the people in that region is what I enjoy most. And while my tenure has included a lot of ‘firsts’, I am most proud that a courthouse I administered in Florida has recently received approval from GBCI for LEED Certification.
I have reviewed the 2013 AIA Academy of Architecture for Justice Conference schedule and I am looking forward to ALL the Court related talks. I am currently working on a civil courthouse in Fort Worth, Texas that has an extensive court technology scope. I feel that attending the conference will introduce me to technologies that I may not have otherwise considered and that may benefit my client and the users tremendously.
The DBFM class has also piqued my interest. During the 2013 Florida legislative session, the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate passed a law regarding financing of public projects. This will surely have an impact on the future of courts projects in my home state. Learning more about the implications this will have on the design industry will be crucial to me as my career moves forward.
The conference offers many topics that are in line with my current experience and I look forward to hearing what is presented and how I could implement any ideas to our current projects. To say that I am enthusiastic about this opportunity to attend the conference would be an understatement. See you in Portland!