Flad 'Maker Spaces' Make April Tradeline

A story published in Tradeline, "No Shortage of Demand for Maker Spaces," features Flad Principal Stevens Williams and Planner Stuart Lewis, both of the San Francisco office, reprising the themes of their Tradeline session from November, "Making Space for Maker Space: Methods and Metrics to Build Maker Culture." Williams and Lewis recount for author Patricia Washburn the five values they consider important for a successful maker space (transparency, convergence, computation, leverage and flow), and make the case for special attention given to governance issues that are sure to arise during the planning and construction of one.

Several Flad projects are mentioned in Washburn's story, including two at UC Davis – the Engineering Student Design Center (ESDC) and the Brewery, Winery, and Food Sciences Pilot Facility – as well as the Laney College BEST Center, a 5,000-square-foot maker space that combines training for green construction trades with practical application of rigorous "Passivhaus" standards for ultra-low energy use. The need for sustainability touches all maker spaces, as does adaptability and anticipation of desired interactivity among future users of the space. Williams and Lewis describe the thoughtful planning that goes into the creation of maker space that can meet present and future requirements.

Read the full article >No Shortage of Demand for Maker Spaces

April 11, 2018

Flad Architects