Mental health is one critical component of our overall wellness and ability to live a healthy and fulfilling life. According to the National Institute of Mental Health Disorders, 1 in 4 American adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year, and many people suffer from more than one mental disorder at a given time.

From the hospital we’re born in, to the schools we attend, to the home we live in, the spaces we inhabit for most hours of the day affect our mental health. In this episode, principals from several of TreanorHL’s design studios take a deep dive into a few of these different building types and uncover how they can affect our mental health.

In this episode, we hear from:

• Steve Carr, principal in our Health studio
• Stephanie Grose, principal in our PK-12 Education studio
• Jeff Lane, principal in our Justice studio

Learn more about the projects referenced throughout:

• Springfield PK-12 School
• Clear Creek County Health and Wellness Center
• Douglas County Treatment and Recovery Center

TreanorHL is a national architecture, planning, and design firm located in the United States. The company holds a firm belief in sharing resources and insights with professionals, clients, and building users to shape the space we use to live and grow as people. For more information, visit treanorhl.com.

Healthcare is a critical part of our lives, and access to quality care can, in a worst-case scenario, be the differentiating factor between life and death. In the best-case scenario, quality and holistic healthcare keeps us out of the hospital and in the places and activities where we thrive.

In rural communities, barriers such as access and connectivity can affect how and when patients receive care. TreanorHL had the opportunity to recently work with two clients on new rural healthcare facilities to help support their communities with the care they need. With two different geographies, communities, and needs, we wanted to discuss their insights into ways these new critical access healthcare facilities are helping support their patients.

To discuss this topic, TreanorHL Health principals Curtis Hendershott and Mike Hagan join this episode, along with Dr. Timothy Ryan, the public and environmental health director of Clear Creek County in Idaho Springs, Colorado, and Dave Garnas, administrator at the North Central Kansas Medical Center in Concordia, Kansas.

Learn more about the projects referenced in this episode:

• Cloud County North Central Kansas Medical Center
• Clear Creek County Health and Wellness Center

TreanorHL is a national architecture, planning, and design firm located in the United States. The company holds a firm belief in sharing resources and insights with professionals, clients, and building users to shape the space we use to live and grow as people. For more information, visit treanorhl.com.

As architects and designers, we’re often asked questions about creating new spaces and buildings or preserving hundred-year-old buildings. It’s less often that our role in rebuilding after disasters is discussed in classrooms and newspapers. But this is a critical role we can play to help families and businesses recover after their lives and livelihoods are upended.

On this episode, we catch up with Pendleton's Country Market owners Karen and John Pendleton to discuss their experience recovering from an EF-4 tornado that ripped through their farm in Lawrence, Kansas, in May of 2019. Joy Coleman, principal and architect at TreanorHL, assisted the Pendletons with assessment and renovations after the tornado and joins this episode to talk more about the project.

Architects have the opportunity to serve as emergency second responders by certifying as disaster assessment professionals through the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, which is the national standard for certifying architects, engineers, and code and safety professionals to provide assessment reports. Will Robarge, an associate principal and architect at TreanorHL,  is one of just a few certified trainers through Cal OES, and he is currently serving his third term on the AIA National Disaster Assessment Committee, which is tasked with educating architects and engineers to be able to prepare and respond when a disaster occurs. Will joins us on this episode to share more information about these initiatives.

Resources:

• View photos from weather events referenced throughout this episode
• How to make a disaster preparedness plan for you and your family
• FEMA 
• Red Cross 
• Cal OES
• AIA Disaster Assistance Program
• AIA Reoccupancy Assessment Tool
• AIA Disaster Assistance Handbook 

TreanorHL is a national architecture, planning, and design firm located in the United States. The company holds a firm belief in sharing resources and insights with professionals, clients, and building users to shape the space we use to live and grow as people. For more information, visit treanorhl.com.

It’s National Preservation Month, and this year, we celebrate the importance of some of the lesser-known stories of underserved communities. Our historic preservation specialists Vance Kelley, Nancy Goldenberg, and Julia Manglitz join this episode to share stories about some of the special places they’ve worked on that define our history. From a community center built by Chinese pioneers to a church pastored by Oliver Brown of Brown v. Board of Education, buildings are amazing recordkeepers of our past. When taken care of, their structures and their stories can last far into the future. 

Learn more about the projects and resources referenced in this episode:

• St. Marks AME Church Restoration
• Rio Vista Community Center Rehabilitation
• The University of Texas at El Paso documentary about the braceros
• Bing Kong Tong Rehabilitation
• Manzanar Guard Tower Reconstruction
• Manzanar Photography by Toyo Miyatake

TreanorHL is a national architecture, planning, and design firm located in the United States. The company holds a firm belief in sharing resources and insights with professionals, clients, and building users to shape the space we use to live and grow as people. For more information, visit treanorhl.com.

We’ve all come to appreciate the physical places we use to socialize, learn, relax and ultimately go about our daily lives. For higher education students, the spaces they have access to can be critical to their education and growth as individuals. As design professionals, we wanted to talk about what these types of spaces are and how their design informs the intent, whether it be to tune in and socialize or tune out and study.

In this episode, we invited higher education clients to discuss the various spaces that support student success on their campuses. TreanorHL principals Tim Reynolds and Nadia Zhiri are joined by Caroline Bennett, Professor, Associate Chair and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Kansas, and Matt Park, Associate Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Midwestern State University.

TreanorHL is a national architecture, planning and design firm located in the United States. The company holds a firm belief in sharing resources and insights with professionals, clients and building users to shape the space we use to live and grow as people. For more information, visit treanorhl.com.

Learn more about the projects referenced in this episode:

• University of Kansas Learned Hall Engineering Expansion
• Midwestern State University Legacy Hall

TreanorHL is a national architecture, planning, and design firm located in the United States. The company holds a firm belief in sharing resources and insights with professionals, clients, and building users to shape the space we use to live and grow as people. For more information, visit treanorhl.com.

New student life buildings are fresh, exciting, and usually expensive. With the right plan, it’s both possible and economical to get the 21st-century building you want with the stock you currently have. All you need is space, a vision and strategies to stay on budget. 

In this episode, we caught up with Joe Stramberg, a principal in TreanorHL’s Higher Education studio, along with Cass Coughlin, the Director of Residential Life Administration at Emporia State University and Teresa Frederick, the Associate Director of Facilities Management at Missouri State University, to talk about these strategies and some interesting project history and fun facts along the way. 

TreanorHL is a national architecture, planning and design firm located in the United States. The company holds a firm belief in sharing resources and insights with professionals, clients and building users to shape the space we use to live and grow as people. For more information, visit https://treanorhl.com/

Learn more about the projects referenced in this episode:

Woods House Renovation at Missouri State University 

Abigail Morse Hall Renovation at Emporia State University 

TreanorHL is a national architecture, planning, and design firm located in the United States. The company holds a firm belief in sharing resources and insights with professionals, clients, and building users to shape the space we use to live and grow as people. For more information, visit treanorhl.com.

May is National Preservation Month, and we wanted to celebrate the importance of historic places and the heritage of these places and spaces that define our history and shape our future. TreanorHL provides planning and architectural design services for historic preservation projects—including restoration, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse. Our preservation specialists love what they do and go above and beyond to make sure historically significant buildings serve well into the future. 

To talk more about why we love historic preservation and what it means to us, we caught up with Vance Kelley, Nancy Goldenberg, Kim Butt, Joy Coleman, and Julia Manglitz from TreanorHL’s Historic Preservation studio. 

Learn more about projects referenced in this episode:

• Kansas Statehouse
• St. Marks AME Church Restoration
• Stanley Mosk Library & Courts Rehabilitation

TreanorHL is a national architecture, planning, and design firm located in the United States. The company holds a firm belief in sharing resources and insights with professionals, clients, and building users to shape the space we use to live and grow as people. For more information, visit treanorhl.com.

Since earlier this year, higher education institutions globally have made the most dramatic shift in teaching methods in history—and it was made almost overnight. Those following news surrounding the pandemic’s effect on higher education already know this shift is changing the operational and financial landscapes of many colleges and universities. But what does it mean for students? We wanted to know what it’s like being a participant in this learning shift, and what students really need and want moving forward. In that spirit, we invited four students from various universities to share their thoughts with us.

TreanorHL is a national architecture, planning, and design firm located in the United States. The company holds a firm belief in sharing resources and insights with professionals, clients, and building users to shape the space we use to live and grow as people. For more information, visit treanorhl.com.

In the construction industry, the cost of a building is more complex than simply adding up the sum of its parts. From labor rates to equipment prices and indirect costs, there are many factors affecting construction budgets. While your cost estimation might appear accurate at first, it’s crucial to understand cost control options so that you can respond to the unexpected and stay on budget.

To learn more, we caught up with Joe Stramberg, a principal in TreanorHL’s Student Life studio, and Blair Tennant, associate principal for Vermeulens cost consulting. Joe and Blair have worked together on various higher education facilities on campuses across the United States, and have presented on this topic at several national conferences, including Tradeline, ACUHO-I and more. On this episode, they talk about cost drivers, case studies and tools you can use to keep your facility on budget—without sacrificing design integrity or programming.

For a deeper dive into cost control, visit them at the Tradeline University Facilities conference this May, at the ACUHO-I conference this June. 

Can't make it? Review some basic tips to implement cost control and share with your colleagues.

TreanorHL is a national architecture, planning, and design firm located in the United States. The company holds a firm belief in sharing resources and insights with professionals, clients, and building users to shape the space we use to live and grow as people. For more information, visit treanorhl.com.

In honor of National STEM Day, the architects and designers at TreanorHL have been thinking about what STEM means to them and how it affects their professional and personal lives. With STEM-related occupations expected to grow 70 percent faster than others, we have an opportunity and responsibility to share our insights and perspectives with young and aspiring professionals. To capture the spirit of STEM, we caught up with a few of our Science & Technology staff and asked them to share their experience working in a STEM field.

TreanorHL is a national architecture, planning, and design firm located in the United States. The company holds a firm belief in sharing resources and insights with professionals, clients, and building users to shape the space we use to live and grow as people. For more information, visit treanorhl.com.