Street Talk
Fresh ideas about design
Don’t Waste… DONATE!
08.2018
By Chelsey Atkins, LEED Green Associate
Collectively, the design and construction industry has risen to the challenge and we’re diligently doing our part in reducing the amount of waste generated, however statistics don’t lie… We still have a long way to go!
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Office Culture
07.2018
By Lawrence J. Fabbroni, AIA
For our team, successes are sweet, but the anticipation of the next challenge is what drives us the most.
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The Integrated Design Practice
04.2018
By Claudia Saladin, ASLA, LEED AP
"The more complex the ecosystem and the greater the diversity of its parts, the more successfully it can resist and recover quickly from stress. "
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The Craft of Story Building
02.2018
By Mason Radkoff, CSI/CCCA, LEED AP BD+C
A story’s form should be organic— the moves it makes, the shape it takes. Initial visions of setting, theme, voice, and plot emerge as the writer intuits what the story needs without the anchor of minutia holding things back. Art is made.
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6 Signs Your Office Needs a Refresh
10.2017
By Tom Price
When was the last time you refreshed your office, academic, or social space? If the answer is 10 years or more, it’s definitely time to consider making updates. Maintaining a workplace that is relevant and performative is critical to keeping a sharp competitive edge. It also helps recruit and retain the best talent while improving ...
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Early encounters with urban design
10.2016
By Street Talk Editor
Last Wednesday, the lunch room in Strada’s Pittsburgh office was alive with the sounds of teenagers negotiating. Not our newest recruits (yet), but participants in the ACE Mentoring Program, working in groups on a hypothetical urban design project. ACE programs are designed to introduce high school students to the range of careers available in architecture, construction, ...
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Learning by Doing: Designing Active Learning Spaces
06.2016
By Robert W. McCauley, AIA, and Stacey Blankin, LEED AP
For the first time in decades, schools from elementary through higher education are dramatically changing the way they teach. Acknowledging the limitations of the traditional classroom, they are embracing new pedagogical opportunities presented by advanced technologies, and rethinking their academic spaces. Active learning encourages increased student interaction, deeper engagement with the material, and greater ownership ...
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Promoting disruptive innovation for social change in the mountains of West Virginia
06.2016
By Dana Coester, Creative Director, WVU Reed College of Media
Strada recently celebrated the opening of Evansdale Crossing, a five-story, 100,000-SF mixed-use social hub that is interspersed with academic spaces on West Virginia University’s Evansdale campus. Strategically located at the heart of the building is Reed College of Media’s dynamic new Media Innovation Center. We invited Dana Coester, the Creative Director of the Media Innovation ...
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Hacking the Gender Gap
04.2016
By Monika Gibson
One of my favorite things about being an architect is the opportunity to meet interesting people. It is also a part of my job to learn about them, about the things they do, about the things they like or dislike. It is crucial for a project to be successful to truly understand who the users are ...
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Surprises and Challenges
03.2016
By Raymond F. McCaughey, RA, Associate
Having worked at a few professional services firms, I find the work at Strada entails a unique difference from all of the others—at Strada, surprises are good things. And along with the changes of an evolving business world, where each client has a slightly different set of needs to resolve, I often find the best ...
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