Traditional Building Design Challenge 2010

Over the weekend, Wayne Visbeen, David Lorenz and Jonathan Lorenz from Visbeen Associates participated in the Traditional Building Live Design Challenge at the Traditional Building Exhibition and Conference at Chicago's Navy Pier. The challenge was to design a "Gateway Building" with retail on the first floor and residential units on the floors above for a site in the Jefferson Park Business TIF Redevelopment Area. The participants were given time on Friday and Saturday during the hours of the Exhibition to complete their designs. The final presentation had to include hand drawings of the front and rear elevations, floor plans and site plan. Here are a few photos of the design process and our team's final design. Our team finished runner up, so we want to congratulate them on a job well done and a great design!

Kensington Residence

On a trip to the East side of the state yesterday, I visited the Kensington Residence, a LEED certified home that is nearly complete. Here are a couple photos of the project. Stay tuned for more exterior and interior photos when it is finished!This home is designed by Visbeen Associates and built by Insignia Homes.

Torrey Pines

Torrey Pines is a stately European-style home. Patterned brick, arched picture windows, and a three-story turret accentuate the exterior. Upon entering the foyer, guests are welcomed by the sight of a sweeping circular stair leading to an overhead balcony.

Filigreed brackets, arched ceiling beams, tiles and bead board adorn the high, vaulted ceilings of the home. The kitchen is spacious, with a center island and elegant dining area bordered by tall windows. On either side of the kitchen are living spaces and a three-season room, all with fireplaces.

The library is a two-story room at the front of the house, providing an office area and study. A main-floor master suite includes dual walk-in closets, a large bathroom, and access to the lower level via a small spiraling staircase. Also en suite is a hot tub room in the octagonal space of the home’s turret, offering expansive views of the surrounding landscape.

The upper level includes a guest suite, two additional bedrooms, a studio and a playroom. The lower level offers billiards, a circle bar and dining area, more living space, a cedar closet, wine cellar, exercise facility and golf practice room.

This beautiful home was designed by Visbeen Associates and built by DeHaan Homes

eightWest Condo Design Challenge

Wayne Visbeen was on eightWest this week as a part of the eightWest Condo Design Challenge at River House Condominiums in downtown Grand Rapids. EightWest will be giving interior design students from four Michigan collages and universities the opportunity to design one of the condos. The winning design will be chosen by a panel of judges and will be for sale when it is complete. Wayne is one of the judges, so click on the video below to see him on Tuesday's show. Stay tuned for more features from eightWest as this challenge progresses!

Architectural Tutorial: Turret

The school year is back in full swing for the kids, so it's time to start our architectural tutorials back up! Today's lesson - the turret.

definition: tur•ret

n 1. a small tower projecting from a building, usually at a corner and often merely ornamental.

(www.yourdictionary.com)

Here are homes with turrets that Visbeen Associates has designed:

China Project

We are currently working on a residential project in Xiamen, a city located on the southeast coast of China. Wayne just got back from his first trip there to meet the members of the development group in person and visit the site. We will be designing four large, custom villas on a site surrounding the residential high-rise pictured in this photo.

As you can see, the high-rise is currently under construction. In the photo below, you can see a model of what the finished product will look like. When the buildings are complete, they will offer hundreds of residential units, including three helicopter pads for the residents to use! The villas we are designing will go in the green space at the base.

Several members of the development group are pictured in the photo below: (from the left) Mingxing Zheng, Jingchao Ke, Wayne Visbeen, Lin Chen, Qili Chen and Rong Zou.

Here is Wayne with Mudan Chen, the general manager of the project. The scarf around Wayne's neck was given to him as a symbol of good luck.

Stay tuned for more photos and information as this exciting project progresses!

Market Place & Towers

With all of the activity going on in the buildings around Grand Rapids for Art Prize, I am reminded of a potential high-rise project we did called Market Place & Towers. It was a potential project that never came to fruition, unfortunately, but it could have been a great addition to the city for a time like this. Here is a 3D movie that gives you a tour of the project: