Choosing an Insulation System for the Creative Co-Op - Part II
May 18, 2010 - When our architects first mentioned using cellulose as the primary insulation for the Creative Co-Op, I have to admit it was not even on my radar screen. I have a great deal of trust in their material choices, but the idea of using recycled newspaper for serious insulation alluded me. I grew up in Brooklyn, NY in a bungalow style house built in 1922. When built, most of these homes had no insulation in the walls and attic whatsoever. Cutting holes in the walls and pumping in cellulose was how many of these homes were later retrofitted to provide some degree of protection from the heat and cold. It never seemed to do a very good job.
I started my online research not on Google, but on You-Tube. I wanted to "see" the latest in cellulose technology, not read about it. After I looked at some videos, I then went go to Google to locate a source. As I was doing my search, I heard a news report that it was YouTube's 5th Anniversary, and the narrator started spouting off statistics that were simply mind boggling (24 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute!). This was music to my ears. Since one of the key reasons we are building the Creative Co-Op is to handle the increase in business for sales and training videos our clients want for their corporate web sites.
Posted by Vic Cherubini on May 20, 2010
Choosing an Insulation System for the Creative Co-Op - Part I
May 15, 2010 - The idea of being inside of a large metal box in the heat of a Houston, Texas summer is a bit scary. The insulation decision is a big one because of its long-term impact on the comfort and success of the Creative Co-Op. The challenge is to get the building property insulated from the elements, keep the occupants comfortable, and do it in a cost-effective way. Part of the fun of building a non-conventional structure is doing the research to find out what others have done and their experience. The internet is excellent for this kind of research. Unfortunately, for cargo container insulation there is not one single source of great information, but I was able to glean some information from blogs, online forums, and web sites.
Below I will share my findings with you, followed by my ideas for an insulation system and some comments from our architects.
Posted by Vic Cherubini on May 19, 2010
Creative Co-Op – Shapespace Really Delivers on Architectural Floor Plans
March 1, 2010 – When we started planning the Creative Co-Op project, we knew we wanted a building that was unique in style yet structurally sound. Our plan has always been to use upcycled, recycled, and sustainable materials where possible. This made economic sense, but it also appealed to creative nature. Just go to a weekend crafts fair and you will be amazed how an artisan can take something destined for the junk yard and turn it into a work of art that is truly beautiful. So, before we got too deep into the project, I decided that we needed to have an architect involved from the conceptual stages through construction, completion and occupancy.
Not having used the services of an architect before, I was not sure what to do. I turned to my friend Professor Tom Diehl in the School of Architecture at the University of Houston to ask his advice. Tom knew about epic because in 2006, he had one of his upper level classes visit our studio, walk the property, and create concepts for the best ideas for developing the land. The results from his students were nothing short of spectacular. We used one of the concepts from a student to buy a used cargo container and convert it into a retail store.
Posted by Vic Cherubini on March 02, 2010
Topographic Survey for epic New Building Completed
January 29, 2010 - In order for our engineer to properly design the foundation for our new studio building, he asked that we provide him with a topographic survey. A topographical (or topo) survey is the tool engineers use to design and manage drainage. Surveying is done by gathering information through observations, measurements in the field, and research on surveys on file from nearby properties. The topo survey measures the elevation of points of the land, and presents them as contour lines on a plot. The topo survey would also help us to accurately establish boundaries and the elevations of the property.
Posted by Vic Cherubini on January 30, 2010
epic Breaks Ground on New Studio Building!
December 10, 2009 – At 1:35 this afternoon the truck from Geotech Engineering and Testing arrived at our property, and by 1:45pm the crew of two field operators had their rig set up and prepared to drill the first of two holes into the earth for our soil survey .
This blog entry will give you a little information about a soil survey. Just about every structure requires an understanding of subsurface features unique to the area. The geotechnical consulting engineer determines the characteristics and behavior of subsurface soils, then interprets this data and makes recommendations on soils parameters which may be used for design or remedial purposes.To make our decision we called three soil survey companies.
Their bids consisted of the following:
- Geotechnical engineering services which included - A. Mobilization and demobilization, B. Field exploration, including Two (2) borings to a depth of 20 feet, C. Laboratory testing, and D. Engineering analysis and report.
- Drilled footing, strip footing and floating slab recommendations
Posted by Vic Cherubini on December 12, 2009
Upcycling a Shipping Container into a Fireworks Stand
November 12, 2009 - The purpose of this blog entry is to take you through the process of converting a shipping container into a fireworks stand - from concept to creation. I have included a number of photos to help others who may want to use a container to build a Fireworks Stand, Concession, Storage Unit or similar structure understand the process. You will hear people refer to these steel boxes as cargo containers, intermodal freight containers, but, when they are "upcycled" in this fashion, the proper name is an ISBU or Intermodal Steel Building Unit. One EXCELLENT source of information on the subject is the ISBU Organization,
University of Houston, College of Architecture faculity member Tom Diehl helped me to realize that a used cargo container could be turned into a very effective building structure. In 2005, Tom's 5th year architectural students visited our property and as part of a class project, they provided me with a number of very interesting concepts on how best to develop our four acres of land.
The front of our property is on Sawdust Road, a very heavily traveled street. It is the first southern entrance to The Woodlands, a 28,000 acre master planned community less than a half-mile away. It is a perfect spot for a retail establishment, but our deed does not allow for any permanent structures to be built on that part of the property.
Posted by Vic Cherubini on November 12, 2009
Shipping Container Research - Articles, Videos, Etc.
September 24, 2009 - In doing research on container structures, I have come across a number of excellent reference items, Articles, photos, videos, and other things that I wanted to assemble in one spot and share with others. You may want to bookmark this page since it will grow as I find more information for it.
Posted by Vic Cherubini on September 24, 2009
U of H School of Architecture - SPACE Container Exhibit
September 11, 2009 - I started the day by thinking about the events of eight years ago. Having worked on the World Trade Center as a welder's assistant, the Twin Towers have always held a special place in my heart. There are some images in our Photo Gallery Section (Retrospective) I shot back in 1971 that show the building during construction. That is the way I like to remember them.
Today I headed over to my alma mater, the University of Houston, but not to the School of Business (class of '87 - Go Coogs), but to the School of Architecture. I spoke this morning with Professor Tom Diehl, a Registered Architect and instructor who helped me out years ago with concepts on how best to utilize our land (we have 4 acres as, but the property is has odd long and narrow shape). In 2005, Tom had his class visit our studio, and walk the land. They came back three weeks later with designs that were simply stunning. An idea that one team had was to use shipping containers for a variety of applications (mostly retail).
Posted by Vic Cherubini on September 11, 2009
A Change In Direction - Using Cargo Containers for the New Building
August 28, 2009 - Try as we could, we just couldn't get excited about the design of the new building. It was clear we needed to go in a different direction - something that would get the juices flowing. We looked at a number of non-traditional buildings, and kept coming back to shipping container structures. Could the containers be configured in a way that gave us a large green screen studio, and also allowed for additional space we could lease to other creative companies? We took a scrap piece of 2 x 4 and cut it into scale size pieces for a high top shipping container.
Those dimensions are shown below
Posted by on August 28, 2009
epic Announces Plans to Build Our New Green Screen Studio
August 24, 2009 - one online trend that is indisputable is the explosion in the use of video for all kinds of appicaitons. While there is a lot of junk on the web, there is also a great deal of work that is well crafted and perfect for narrowcasting on the small screen. At epic, we are part of the growing number of web developers who understand the importance of the medium, and we try our best (if possible) to make sure it is a part of every site we build.
In the past, we rented green screen studio facilities from other production companies. This year our video work has grown to the point where we decided to start planning for an addition to our studio specifically to house a green screen stage. This is the first blog entry of the quest to take that idea from concept to creation.
Posted by on August 24, 2009
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