June 2, 2014 · 10:34 pm

Money, Money, Money

money

Tax credits are essentially free money. But you come to find out that while they may be free, if you qualify, they are a lot of work. Be prepared to spend money to get money. Reading the guidelines, doing your research and eventually filling out the forms takes a lot of time. And if you are not in the money or legal business, you will probably need to retain professionals with that expertise to get you through it all.

There is no doubt that when it comes to money a lot of advice can come be gained from the lyrics of music. Continue reading →

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May 27, 2014 · 9:01 pm

What Lies Ahead

IMG_0179

There are several things on the table for the OCU School of Law project and several things brewing for the Blog. A number of things seem to want to command center stage for being the most important and at the top of the list, not surprisingly, is money. Things brewing are more in line with things like meeting new Blog guests, exploring local beta and uncovering more of the historic legacy of the building.

Money Talks

The financial viability of the project was a part of the big “go-no go” analysis of the existing building.

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May 20, 2014 · 7:21 am

A New Outfit – trying it on for size

Central HIgh School

As we begin the due diligence effort for the OCU School of Law to investigate the feasibility of placing the law school within the old Bell building, now American Farmers and Ranchers Insurance Building (AFR), we engaged in the process of program validation to explore changes to the space needs that may have surfaced in the time span since the last quest to try a building on for size. Academic programs evolve and change over time and we needed to understand where things stood with the last version of the space needs.

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May 12, 2014 · 11:30 pm

Divergent View 2

Canopy

The Forgotten Competition

I was recently driving down Lindsay Street in Norman when I my eyes landed upon a structure that invoked a déjà vu moment. I thought to myself “could this be the product of a distant design competition?”

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May 6, 2014 · 12:55 pm

Assessing the Fabric

Turrits The building we are looking at for a test fit for the OCU School of Law is currently occupied by the American Farmers and Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company (AFR). They are the latest in of a string of occupants going back to the original use as a high school for Oklahoma City when it was first occupied in 1910. This wasn’t the first time this building was being given consideration for the School of Law. The AFR building was a runner-up to the Fred Jones Manufacturing Plant when it was being considered for a downtown home.

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April 22, 2014 · 7:32 am

Third Time the Charm

Block Diagram - Third Floor

While the OCU School of Law’s last endeavor to be a downtown law school came to an unsuccessful conclusion in 2009 it was not going to be the last. Three years later in 2012 a new downtown opportunity presented itself. This time it was an historic structure in midtown just a few blocks north of downtown.

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April 15, 2014 · 6:33 am

Design Unwrapped

Exterior Glazing

The design gears were turning with a rapid elaboration of the building components. The basic organization and flow of the space program within the structure were reasonably established. More definition was needed for some of the more technical spaces that included moot courtrooms and teaching environments. Further confirmation and fine tuning of adjacencies was also in order. The design team was happily on their way and immersed in drilling down to new levels of detail within individual spaces.

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April 8, 2014 · 6:50 am

Testing Design Options and Creativity

FSB-TKA Scheme B-C - 1

Studying how a vertical circulation spine and the interaction that it can introduce to the building organization was an enlivening and creatively infusive exercise. Each scheme that was developed seemed as strong and powerful as the previous one and yet each one very distinctive with its own strong character statement.

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April 1, 2014 · 9:46 am

Finding the Right Path

Atrium 1

Pathways thru Buildings

Part of the story at the law school at the Fred Jones Manufacturing plant is that FSB had to compete or perhaps the term would re-compete for the project. This was a new field of teams that were each paired with firms with a greater national presence. FSB was partnered with TKA of Cambridge who had previous law school design experience as well as having repurposed a Ford Assembly Plant not as a law school but as an academic scientific research facility.

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March 25, 2014 · 9:44 am

A Test Fit

Downtown OKCDowntown Adjacencies

Part of exploring the opportunities of the Fred Jones Manufacturing Plant for the transformation into a loft law school involved revisiting the space needs program for the OCU School of Law. While FSB had created an in depth evaluation of needs as a part of developing the Master Plan for the law school on the OCU campus, 5 years had passed since that effort and before this downtown opportunity presented itself. The academic program for the school had continued to evolve over those years, there were new needs based on being in a downtown location and the nature of library design was taking a new turn with the increasing advancement of technology and the expanded use of the internet.

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