Court Yard House | City of Pasadena

The CourtYard House designed by PARAVANT Architects, located in the City of Pasadena, California, receives building permit.  The project takes advantage of existing structures on the property and creates a true indoor/outdoor living environment for the contemporary lifestyle.  The courtyard is created between the residence and detached office and contains a seating area with a state-of-the-art fire pit.  

Promotional Partners Headquarters Office in Los Angeles

The new headquarters office of Promotional Partners in downtown Los Angeles, California designed by PARAVANT Architects has been completed recently.

Organic Day Spa | Santa Monica, California

The new Organic Day Spa designed by PARAVANT Architects, located three blocks from the Pacific Ocean, is coming soon to Main Street in the heart of Santa Monica, California.  The project began the plan check process with the City of Santa Monica and construction is scheduled to start later this year.

Creative retrofitting of existing commercial and residential structures:

Creative retrofitting of existing commercial and residential structures:In recent months we have been getting approached more often in the US market by clients that want to know how to make their buildings more energy efficient and sustainable.  The initial answer, which most clients find surprising, is to make a change in habit.  A simple shift in the way a client thinks could reduce operating, maintenance and investment costs.  For example turning off lights when they are not being used and watering the landscaping at night.  There is almost always an opportunity to be more efficient with energy and resources.  These small steps can have large impacts on local, state, national and even global scales.  The second step is technically and financially more challenging and needs to be evaluated carefully.  Every product replaced has some amount of embodied energy in it, more if it is removed before the end of it's life cycle.  The approach taken by the client must offset these two losses plus the investment of the new product in order to make a difference for the client and have an impact at a larger scale.  At PARAVANT Architects we typically study the envelope condition and building equipment to determine if the energy/resource gains are large enough and financially feasible to make the upgrades.  The process can be implemented in stages, however a holistic approach in the way the client uses the building is required in order for it to be a success for the wallet and the environment.

15th International Passive House Conference

The 15th International Passive House Conference will take place from May 27th to May 28th 2011in Innsbruck. It is the world’s biggest and most important convention for energy efficient construction. The Passive House Standard is being received successfully all over the world. This year’s Conference will be a gathering of Passive House pioneers and is a must for all future-oriented developers, builders and decision-makers.

Casa Alemana: Contributing to the public awareness of sustainability.

The Casa Alemana event successfully took place in Escazu, Costa Rica in March 2011.  The German/American Architect Christian Kienapfel of PARAVANT Architects was invited by the German Costarican Chamber of Commerce (Deutsch-CostaricanischeIndustrie- und Handelskammer) to speak on the topic of “Impact of Sustainable Design on Construction, Gestalt and the User, International Rating Systems: LEED, DGNB, CalGreen,…”.  The following images are of the traveling "Casa Alemana" pavilion.

“Green Building and Energy Efficiency: From Innovation to Policy” presented by GABA the California German American Business Association

On April 14th the first event of the new GABA SoCal Clean Tech /Sustainability Industry Group will host “Green Building and Energy Efficiency: From Innovation to Policy” conference. 
Architect Dipl.-Ing.(FH) Architect Christian Kienapfel, AIA, LEED AP, AIA, LEED AP from PARAVANT Architects will be presenting and participating in the panel discussion on the impact of sustainable design on construction, gestalt and the user - International Certification systems: LEED, Cal Green, DGNB,… The event will be introduced by Marc Eichorn Vice Consul General, German Consulate, Los Angeles and moderated by Michael Boehm: LEED AP, Partner, Haig Barrett, Inc.; Chair Clean Tech & Sustainability Industry Group, GABA SoCal.

When:     Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 | 6:30pm-09:30pm
Where:    Los Angeles Convention Center, Room 409,
                1201 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA
Fee:        GABA Members - $40 | Non-Members - $50

Casa Alemana | PARAVANT lecture in San Jose Costa Rica

The “Casa Alemana” or German House is a prototype energy-efficient home that is visiting 13 countries in South America, demonstrating new and innovative German technologies used during home construction and for solar energy collection. While these technologies are achieving significant energy savings they are also creating more comfortable living spaces. Through architectural sophistication and technological innovation the "Casa Alemana” shows that beauty and comfort can work together with renewable and efficient energy solutions. The exhibition is based on the Technical University of Darmstadt’s 2007 and 2009 winning Solar Decathlon, an international architecture and engineering sustainable house competition sponsored by the United States Department of Energy. The home, which is open to the public, will offer events for professionals interested in the application of technologies for efficient and renewable energy use, particularly microgeneration. The “Casa Alemana” will be displayed in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Montevideo, Uruguay, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Asunción, Paraguay, Santiago de Chile, Chile, Santa Cruz, Bolivia, Lima, Peru, Quito, Ecuador, Bogotá, Colombia, Caracas, Venezuela, San José, Costa Rica, Guatemala City, Guatemala and México City,México. Detailed information on the project is available at www.lacasaalemana.com. The Federal Ministry of Economics & Technology and the Federal Ministry of Transportation and Building & Urban Development sponsors the project.

Architect Dip.-Ing.(FH) Halil Dolan, LEED GA and Architect Dipl.-Ing.(FH) Christian Kienapfel, AIA, LEED AP will be speaking at the Conference in San Jose, Costa Rica on March 23, 2011 on the topic of"International Sustainability in Germany and the Americas - The impact of sustainable design on construction and the user." (LEED, CalGreen, DGNB,......)

PARAVANT finally has a page on Facebook

PARAVANT

It took Facebook over 6 years and more than 500 million users to convince PARAVANT to be represented on the social network site.  Please visit us at:  PARAVANT on Facebook  and let us know if you like the page. 

Charleston Home & Design Show | January 28th-30th, 2011

The Charleston Home & Design Show will feature custom home designers and vendors for the Charleston, South Carolina metropolitan area. 

Location: Gaillard Auditorium, 77 Calhoun St., Downtown Charleston. Show Hours:  Friday, Jan. 28th: 11am - 6pm | Saturday, Jan. 29th: 10am - 6pm | Sunday, Jan. 30th: 11am - 5pm.

PARAVANT is proud to announce its new branch office in Charleston, SC | Phone: (843) 425-4174. PARAVANT is creating innovative designs for discerning clients.

CAL GREEN | January 1st, 2011

California continues to lead the way in the U.S. to reduce the impact buildings have on the environment. “CAL GREEN” goes into effect on January 1st, 2010.The California Green Building Standards Code is a code with mandatory requirements for new residential and nonresidential buildings throughout California. The code is Part 11 of the California Building Standards Code in Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations and is also known as the CALGreen.

In short, the code is established to reduce construction waste, make buildings more efficient in the use of materials and energy, and reduce environmental impact during and after construction.

COST RICA DEVELOPMENT | PROJECT COMPLETION

The construction of the residential development in Atenas, Costa Rica has come to completion after 8 month of construction. It is expected to complete landscaping and interior design within the next 6-8 weeks. 

International Passive House Days

GUEST LECTURE AT VIRGINIA TECH | SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN

Architect Marcus Brown, Halil Dolan and Christian Kienapfel from PARAVANT ARCHITEKTUR were invited to the Guest Lecture series in the School of Architecture + Design.
The lecture was titled "Departure and Evolution" took place on Thursday October 21st 2010 in Blacksburg, VA.

COSTA RICA DEVELOPMENT

The new construction project in Costa Rica is expected to reach completion soon.

PREFAB AGENDA - sustainable dwelling design for the 21st century

PARAVANT ARCHITEKTUR has most recently been published in "PREFAB AGENDA - sustainable dwelling design for the 21st century" the latest online book by Robert Mendel:

"Sustainable Dwelling Design for the 21st Century describes the global challenges we face and how prefab building technologies can effectively address the crucial issues of sustainability and affordability. .... Many of these systems are not well known despite the fact that they are innovative, efficient and cost-effective. These include modular, panelized, steel, aluminum, foam, concrete, hybrid and kit assembly systems."

Among those profiled are:

• KieranTimberlake
• Michelle Kaufmann
• LivingHomes
• Oskar Leo Kaufmann & Albert Ruf
• Paravant
• Graft
• Kjellgren Kaminsky
• Hive
• Larry Sass and 
• Eric Owen Moss

"New Concept Architecture" by Rihan

The book "New Concept Architecture" has been published by Rihan in August 2010. Three projects of PARAVANT ARCHITEKTUR are featured in this new 2 volume book (ISBN: 978-988-18758-5-3). 

• Benetton Retail 
• Interfaith Center Los Angeles
• Urban Planning Tempelhof Berlin

PARAVANT | SHANGHAI

PARAVANT ARCHITEKTUR has opened its new branch office in Shanghai, China. This new office location will help to better serve our clients in the Asian market. You can reach PARAVANT at shanghai@paravantarchitects.com. The office is located at 1-403 Guangfu Road | 200070 Shanghai | P.R. China.

NEW PHONE NUMBER

PARAVANT ARCHITEKTUR's Los Angeles downtown office located at 811 Wilshire Blvd. | 17th Floor has an additional new phone number. You can reach us now any time at (213) 787.6330.

COSTA RICA AREOPAGUS RESIDENCE UPDATE