Anthony Wayne II opens to great fanfare!

Our Anthony Wayne II project, affectionately know around the office as T-Wayne or Tony Wayne had its grand opening yesterday afternoon after a few months of operation.  The project provides affordable housing for seniors in the Grays Ferry neighborhood of Philadelphia.  Nine years ago we completed the first phase which converted an old school into affordable housing.  The success of that project lead to this project, which has added 46 more units to the mix.  Even more units are planned in a third phase which is currently waiting in the wings.
Lisa Thomas-Laury of 6ABC was at the site reporting live as councilman Kenyatta Johnson joined developer Brett Altman of Altman Co. and other dignitaries as the ribbon was cut.  See the coverage here from 6ABC and at The Inquirer

Educational Video about a Career in Architecture Starring JKR Architects!

Izzo Here: A few months ago, Tiffany (formerly of JKR, but still a close ally to the office) and I embarked on some uncharted territory.  We were approached by an awesome organization called GreenTreks to star in short film about careers in STEM or science, technology, engineering and Mathematics. This was the result.  Hopefully this will inspire you or someone you know to become an architect! Grab some popcorn!

Green Treks teams up with JKR for informational video

Tiff, Izzo, and Ferro

This past Monday, Green Treks, the award-winning Philadelphia-based nonprofit communications company teamed up with JKR Partners to film their upcoming educational series about STEM careers.  If you aren't familiar with STEM, it's an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.  The short film is geared toward high school students that might be interested in a job in these fields but may be too scared to ask the questions they really want to know.  Tiffany and I were interviewed by a local high school student, and we quelled her fears about how much Math architects really use. Contrary to what most people think, we really don't use much complex Math.  After filming in the office,we headed to one of our construction sites around the corner where site superintendent Dave Ferro from Clemens gave us some hands on experience.

Tiff...Architect superstar!

Tiff is not only an awesome architect and author. She's won game shows on tv, MC'd AIA national events, and now is on her way to becoming an international Tweet Chat superstar. If you're like me, you're thinking, "what the hell is a tweet chat?" Well, it's like a more sophisticated chat room.  For the real definition, click this Anyway, she was so good last year when she mc'd at the AIA convention that she was asked by AIA National to host this tweet chat titled Women in Architecture last week.   Clicking that link will allow you to see the whole conversation.  It was a big success with 525 tweets, by 69 unique twitter users, reaching 35,912 twitter accounts! You can follow her at @architektmuse

Anthony Wayne II, Subsidized Senior Housing

TWayne awaiting his brick, hardie board, and stucco exterior

3^rd floor unit view

View from the 4^th floor corner unit 

Glenn, Tiffany, Lauren, and Laura have been working on a 46-unit apartment building that will provide subsidized housing for seniors in the Grays Ferry Area.  Anthony Wayne II neighbors Anthony Wayne I, which JKRP previously renovated.  Construction is well underway on TWayne (as we’ve affectionately nicknamed it), despite some acts of trespassing, vandalism, and theft.  TWayne has 1 and 2 bedroom units, as well as two community rooms and a number of communal sitting areas.  The large window systems that have been installed will give these seniors plenty of light and nice views of the Center City skyline, as well as nearby fields. 

FIRM CRAWL @ JKRP!

PhilaNOMA's first (and now probably annual) Firm Crawl went off without a hitch!

I can honestly say that I was a little pessimistic in thinking that we would only get about 5 or so students - especially after such a long afternoon of crawling already (we were about number 4 on the list of firms to visit)

And then it rained.
And then they were delayed.
And then someone said the pretzels were going to get stale.
And then I yelled at Sean for eating a pretzel.

But nevertheless at around 4:45 there were almost 30 students from Temple, UPenn, Drexel and Philly U in our elevator lobby - eager and ready to learn all about our home away from home - JKR Partners!

SPECIAL THANKS to Jose for being the visionary of the 'three ring circus' aka Firm Crawl - Open House at JKR Partners...
Natalya for putting the 'swag' packages together.

Tram Fun - Marissa, Sam, and Blake for the refreshments..

The 412 Lux Design Team. (Jose, Blake, Steve)

The Starplex Design Team. (Mike F.)

The SouthStar Design Team. (Zach, Mike I.)

Kim for putting up with a full house of folks hovering around her desk..

Dave for sharing his oratory skills with the group..ANDLast but certainly not least the entire staff of JKRP for your hospitality during this event....

MLK Day of Service

G-dubs hard at work on his corner

Rooch and Izzo, supervising

measure 7 times, cut twice

Laura and Tiff show off their schmutzin' abilities

Yeah, we're a week late on this one, but it's still blogable. A good majority of the office dedicated a day of work to help out the Philadelphia chapter of Habitat for Humanity while a select few held down the fort at Walnut Street.  We've started to make this a little JKR tradition.  Usually we'll lend our architectural services to Habitat, but this time around we put in some physical labor for some families in need.  We split into three small groups and worked on a few houses within the city.  It was a good time, and we felt good doing it. 

Auxiliary Sketchbook

I am going to post this because Tiff just gets too shy sometimes. Tiff is a busy woman.  She's always got something on her plate.  This summer she organized a Sketchbook Meetup themed around some of the buildings of noted Philadelphia architect Julian Francis Abele.  Every month the group would focus on a different building; The Union League, the Free Library, and lastly the Art Museum.  Sunday, the group was at the Art Museum where a handful of people got to hear a mini lecture by Mike Spain about some of the history of the development of the museum and some of the players behind how it came to be.  Pretty cool stuff, and a beautiful day to be sketching! Check out the sketches! Click them for a bigger image.

Team Jerry

Laura Here: Our team had a lot of fun walking (and only walking) around the city during the scavenger hunt.  It was actually a nice tour through Philadelphia; we walked by places I haven’t been to in years, such as the Betsy Ross House.  Jerry, Tiff, Zach, and I represented JKRP well, as you can see by the above picture.  We may not have won, but we sure played smart. 

Third Thirsty Thursday

It's finally starting to catch on as a tradition around here, and this time we had a bunch of new guests with us.  All the new employees made it out to the bar we affectionately know as The Pub.  We're getting back into the habit of heading over to our favorite local watering hole on the third Thursday of the month. One time we played Pictionary... most times we just drink and eat every item containing cheese on the menu.  This picture only tells half the story, meaning half the people are behind the camera. I am starting get the itch for the annual JKR Partners Phils outing. Ah good times. On a side note, I am getting addicted to Instagram.

This is what it's all about...

Our best and brightest student Dan Cruz! So proud!

James Wines, another ACE student of ours, and an awesome saxophonist!

The happy graduates toss their caps.

Izzo Here: A bunch of us have been actively involved in ACE Mentoring for quite a few years now; some of us close to a decade.  For those of you who aren't familiar with ACE, it's an after school mentoring program for high school students who think they may be interested in a career in architecture, construction or engineering. Urffer has even had some of his ACE students come back after attending college to help him lead a team. 

We've been lucky enough to have one great student (actually we've had many), but Daniel Cruz from George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science has stood out as being exceptionally stellar.  Dan joined our ACE team when he was just a lowly shy little freshman, and we've watched him grow each year into a fine young man. We've kept in touch over the years, and I'm happy to say he's been accepted to a number of great colleges and universities and received some sizeable scholarships.  He'll be attending Temple University in the fall and will be majoring in Architecture. I guess we've had some sort of impact on him.  But he deserves all of the credit.  He and his classmates are pretty spectacular; I mean, more than half of the kids in his class got serious scholarship money. By serious I am talking full rides. And by serious I mean, one classmate got a $500,000 Gates Millennium Scholarship which will pay for his entire education through his PhD!


I was honored to be one of his invited guests to his graduation ceremony this morning at Bright Hope Baptist Church and I look forward to being invited to his college graduation in the future.  The kid's going places!  

The Auxiliary Sketchbook.

Tiff here...

This weekend I kicked off my FIRST session for my latest creation - The Auxiliary Sketchbook!

(Thanks for coming out Natalya!!)

The Auxiliary Sketchbook is a group for anyone that has an interest in architecture, is in need of a creative outlet and is able to play well with others... The group will meet once a month for a total of 4 months leading up to an Art Exhibition in September.
(The Art Expo will be held in Old City Philadelphia)

During the sketch sessions, we will be given a short tour and brief historic overview of the buildings or spaces. While sketching is encouraged, photographers are MORE than welcome! This year's sketchbook theme focuses on the forgotten architecture of local Philadelphia Architect, Julian Francis Abele.

Here is a quick schedule: 

May 27, 2012 – The Free Library of Philadelphia

June 24, 2012 – The Union League

July 29, 2012 – Widener Building

August 26, 2012 – The Philadelphia Art Museum

So that's it in a nutshell...You in?

 

 

Visit us @ Meetup.com!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SLICKEST DOLLAR GENERAL EVER

 
Blake Here: So the fences are down, the porta potties have departed, and Sedgley Plaza is now open for business.  Blanketed in a vibrant copper colored standing seam metal panel this new 20,000 square foot center is located at 2815 Ridge Avenue in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood of Philadelphia.  Currently Dollar General is the sole performer, and you can quote me, alongside the one Mrs. Tiffany Millner we created the slickest outfitted Dollar General ever, just look at that amazing body of materials and combination of textures...am I wrong?...and please don't assume the box sign was our idea...Anyway there is 10,000 square feet of space remaining and Sedgley is eager to welcome additional businesses and life to the area.  You know anyone looking to open shop?  Feel free to contact Bryan Perchick or Pat Heron at Legend Properties Commercial Real Estate.  Thanks for your time

Fun fact of the day - the pattern for the standing seam metal was derived from the Mortal Kombat blood code for the Sega Genesis game system: A-B-A-C-A-B-B.

Tiff @ the AIA Convention 2012

 Tiff Here...

 I recently had the pleasure of attending the national AIA Convention in Washington, DC last week...

(Keep in mind that I was also on vacation that week - so I had to cut my vacation short and drag my husband with me... If that doesn't scream dedication to the profession, I am really not sure what does!)

I was invited by the AIA's Department of Diversity and Inclusion, to speak on a panel called: Behind the Round, Black Glasses: What Architects Really Do - Which was a 'town hall' styled discussion - geared to students and non-architects on the perception of our roles and responsibilities as architects. From what I understand, the public only thinks that we design and create pretty pictures.. While this is true, it only counts for about 25% (if not less) of our actual day to day responsibilities... 

I was also given the honor of being interviewed on a podcast speaking about my role and experiences as a Woman in Architecture AS WELL AS serving as the Co-MC to the AIA's Annual Women in Architecture Dinner - held at the Women in the Arts Museum.  

The entire experience was priceless and I am grateful to have been offered these wonderful opportunities :)

I have posted a few (terrible) pictures from the various events... (hopefully I will be able to post a few of the 
professional shots soon) 






 

 

Tiff continues to Succeed

Tiff continues to rock n' roll!  I mean, she's always aspired to be a rockstar and now she pretty much is one.  Who else is getting coverage by national magazines!? Ok Ok, truth be told, Paul and Bob have their moonlighting gig at Screen Trade magazine writing a monthly column about theaters, but Tiff is a featured story in Diversity Woman Magazine. How cool is that?  A few months back Tiff was approached by the National AIA to be featured for this photoshoot of diverse women making a difference in the architectural community.  You might remember this post a few months ago outlining her trip down to DC. She's always making us proud.

Building Happy Hour

KIM! With a BEER!

Sean bringing in the backup

Friday, we closed up shop a half hour earlier than usual and invited our new neighbors upstairs down to our new deck for a few drinks.  It was nice to finally meet the new people from Arcadis, and Nicholas Cosmetic Dental. It was getting a little lonely being the only tenants in the building.  The weather got better, the drinks started flowing....Just to give you a sign of how well it went, Kim even stayed!

Charlie.

Tiff here.
Some men bring home flowers...
Others may even bring home dinner - that is fully cooked.

On Saturday, my husband Demetrius brought home a chicken that he found in Northeast Philly - while helping a friend move...

I think that maybe someone may have given a few chicks to their kids for Easter and this one got away... We are still trying to figure out what to do with her - but in the meantime he named her Charlie.

This one's for the ladies...

 Tiffany here: (YES - I really am back) I had the pleasure of attending the 6th Annual Diversity Women's Business Leadership Conference (National Harbor, MD). The AIA's department of Diversity and Inclusion was a Bronze sponsor and invited me (along with a few other wonderful women) to participate in the conference as representatives of the design and construction industry. 

Yes - it was a conference full of women (and a few scared men - haha... just kidding), but the message that was sent was WE ALL need to be more diverse in our lives. This message holds true to each of our personal lives as well as the broader landscape of the working environment. 

I sat in a pretty dynamic break out session called, Executive Success: "What Men Aren't Telling Women"... (Presenter - Jeffery Tobias Halter)

(Needless to say, that room was PACKED)

The presenter took us through a myriad of situations that definitely divide the genders and offered advice in terms of how women can overcome some self-imposed challenges in order to play the game.

For example... A group of men and a group of women were asked a series of questions:

1. Who is better at problem solving...Men or Women?

- The group of women said that women were better.

- The group of men said that men were better.

Ultimately, is it said that men and women see the idea of problem solving differently... Men view it as making a decision (regardless if it is right or not) and women view it as a process of research and investigation in order to come up with the right solution...

2. Who is better at networking....Men or Women?

- The group of women said that men were better.

- The group of men said that men were better.

It is always important to network with a purpose. Just be mindful of your surroundings. Men tend to speak in terms of status and when meeting new people find ways of how they can help each other. Women typically do not go into situations like this.  However, study after study has proved that women tend to have larger networks than men, although they may not be using them to their fullest potential. 

- With that said... Ladies, it's time to step out of our shells and start working the room!

Tiff exhibits at the Collingswood Book Festival

Izzo Here: First of all, Tiff is BACK! Second of all, Tiff hawked her book 200 Something at the 10th annual Collingswood Book Festival this past Saturday.  If she hasn't already made a name for herself around the office, she's making a name for herself everywhere else.  She's selling books like it's her job...albeit her part time job... ;-)  If you missed it, she'll be back there next year.  Tiff is awesome.

Most Favorite (not showing favoritism but) employee is moving on

Izzo Here:  I think I can speak for the office when I say I'm really going to miss Tiffany.  I've spent 90 percent of my working life working alongside her.  But she's taking a leap and packing up here.  We're going to miss that infectious laugh, that upbeat personality...the all around loveable, positive, always encouraging vibe.  She's taking that charisma, and funneling it into the future, teaching Philadelphia high schoolers the beauty that awaits them in the field of architecture.  In celebration of her new beginnings we all went bowling to send her off! She loves bowling! We all wish her the best and thank her for her many years here making JKR as awesome as it is! We Love You Tiff!