NKB Design and Management, LLC.
design with purpose.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Coming Soon: NKB's New Brand and Website
We're EXTREMELY EXCITED to announce we'll be launching our new brand and website in order to serve you better! Stay tuned for changes!
Monday, April 7, 2014
Heartfelt Client Testimonial
We had the pleasure to renovate an office suite for Dr. Christine Borgelt's psychology practice in Lansdowne, Virginia in February. See below for the wonderful testimonial Dr. Borgelt gave us that we had to share:
Launching a new small business, we needed design and build expertise that understood our vision, our timeline, and our budget. NKB Design and Management provided all that, with a heartfelt desire to deliver excellent work. The team was patient with our many questions, professional and warm in all interactions, provided regular updates of progress (with photos!), and delivered on time and on budget. We could not be more pleased with their work. A “class act” business!
Launching a new small business, we needed design and build expertise that understood our vision, our timeline, and our budget. NKB Design and Management provided all that, with a heartfelt desire to deliver excellent work. The team was patient with our many questions, professional and warm in all interactions, provided regular updates of progress (with photos!), and delivered on time and on budget. We could not be more pleased with their work. A “class act” business!
-Dr. Christine Borgelt
Psychology and Education Professionals
Lansdowne, VA
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Exciting News for Our Clients!
We are extremely proud and thrilled to announce---NKB is now a Class A Licensed General
Contractor with BLD specialty in Virginia! We are thrilled to not only provide our clients with designs for their
interior projects but also BUILD them as well!
What this means for you is that you no longer have to worry
about going out to find a designer for your interior renovation and then separately
having to find a contractor. We are
housed under one roof allowing for Convenience, Quality and Affordability to
you! This is so important for us to be
able to do this for our clients.
At NKB Design and Management, we look forward to serving
you!
Monday, December 23, 2013
Closing out 2013
From all of us at NKB, we wish you all a safe and HAPPY HOLIDAYS! May the New Year bring great joy, happiness and prosperity to everyone! We are excited for great things to come during the new year...sneak peak...we will be including BUILD into our services so please keep a look out for that!
Best wishes :)
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Design Tips When Leasing Space
Recently we came across an article from Perspective magazine which we thought was full of important things
to note when leasing a space. It was a
question and answer with a New York City Real Estate advisor Greg Lorberbaum. Lorberbaum educates tenants in understanding and
making good decisions on their lease agreements in his book Leasing NYC. His approach as a tenant rep is to stop
selling and start helping as many people as he can.
Here are some tips Lorberbaum gives in the article that are helpful
to keep in mind.
- At the design phase, have your designer create two floor plans-- one layout now for your current staff and the second which would maximize density for the future.
- If there are several conference rooms factored into the design now, have them designed in a way where they can be doubled as office space down the road. This can be done by eliminating central lighting fixtures or vents where the future divided wall would be placed. Also, placing light switches on both sides of the conference room would allow for the room to be converted into office space easier with less cost to the tenant.
- A note for the boss- he/she should consider leaving the huge corner office behind. Lorberbaum mentions sitting in offices or workstations like their employees may help with employee morale.
- When looking for space look at options where there is access to as much daylight as possible. This is helpful when having an open plan concept.
- Purchase furnishings that allow for flexibility. Movable wall partitions are great for altering your space.
Additional tips NKB suggest are:
- It’s very important from early on to task someone internally with the responsibility of managing the move. Keep in mind this person has to keep up with their full time responsibilities as well and to provide them with support when needed.
- Another important tip is to gather a team early on. This includes project managers in the following fields: IT, telecommunications, audio/visual and move relocation.
- To add onto number 4, there are studies that show having your employees have access to daylight is important to productivity and employee morale. We have seen from experience in some spaces where the perimeter is lined with offices and workstations are placed inside with no daylight. This should be flipped. If this cannot be an option than another solution would be to have glass walls for offices and conference rooms.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Project Management and the Design Process Overview
At any given time of our lives all of us will undertake some
form of a project. It could be building
a bird house with your kids, a coffee table in the garage, designing the next
smart phone technology, balancing the government’s budget or working on a
$100,000,000.00 mixed use development in the heart of town. Developing and executing any given project is
what is providing change to our world on a daily basis.
In any of these cases you are engaging in a temporary
activity which is designed to produce a unique product or result. Therefore a project is temporary and
has a defined beginning and an end with a defined scope and resources. All projects must be expertly managed in
order to be completed as defined, on time and on budget.
Project managers are the people in charge of projects. They utilize their knowledge, skills and
techniques to accomplish these goals and complete projects effectively and
efficiently. Projects in general can be
broken down into four main categories:
1.
Conceptualization
– This is where the development of the initial goal, specifications and scope
of work are defined.
2.
Planning
– This is where detailed specifications, schematics and schedules are
formed.
3.
Execution
– This is where the product is created and the actual work performed.
4.
Termination
or Close-out – This is when the completed project is handed over to the
client. At this point all resources for
this project are re-assigned to other or new projects and project is formally
closed-out.
In the design and construction industry the same concept
applies with a few variations. In the
design phase of the project the breakdown may look like this:
1.
Design
Consultation – This is where the designer meets with the client to discuss
the client’s goals, needs and wants.
During the design consultation the designer can propose ideas, solutions
and/or budget parameters. Simple
schematic drawings may also be developed along with a rough or general cost
estimate.
2.
Pre-Design
and Existing Conditions – This is where the designer can examine existing
site conditions, do a site analysis, and conduct code search. The designer can also field measure existing
spaces to be remodeled and create sketches, plans, elevations, etc.
3.
Schematic
Design and Design Development – This is where the designer will develop all
concept plans with a detailed scope of work to be performed. During this time the client will review the
schematics and may or may not propose changes to the designs.
4.
Construction
Documents – This is where the construction documents are prepared per
scope. Construction documents are
referred to as the final drawings and specifications from the designer, which
provide detailed instructions for the construction of the project.
A project manager’s experience, knowledge, skills and
techniques will allow him or her to undertake and deliver any given project
with the discipline required to manage the resources, time, and budget.
In the next blog we will review the project management
process in detail. NKB Design &
Management believes every client and every project is just as important as the
other, no matter the size, budget or scope.
Let us know how we can help you with your next project.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Holy Design!
When looking at statistics to understand how many people
attend church and how many religious congregations there are, the Gallup Polls
states 40% or roughly 98 million people attend church on a regular basis and
there are roughly 350,000 congregations in the US.
Whether you practice Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam,
Buddism or any other religion, going to your specific place of worship has become
a ritual. These places of worship provide
different purposes for different people
including: guidance, inspiration,
calmness and relaxation. Buildings that serve as religious spaces are
designed to have a connection to the realm of God.
SOURCE: FREE DIGITAL PHOTOS ARTHUR84 |
The interior space within the architectural shell
encompasses several key components making a space complete. For example, in addition to the primary
sanctuary spaces within churches, there are secondary spaces used for teaching
and social functions. With keeping design
in mind, there are several key design elements needed to carefully create the religious
masterpiece.
Here are the top 4
key design elements:
1-
Scale: Places
of worship are built “to be enduring icons of the civilization for which they
stood, and landmarks for years to come” (Roberts, 2004). Scale contributes to massively high ceilings i.e.
as if to be reaching towards God and the added effect of awe.
2-
Lighting is
another key element to design because it serves as a connection between humans
and deities (Hamilton & Watkins, 2009). Consideration should be placed on brightness
and darkness for contrast. Also, layers
of lighting should be paired together in order to provide different levels of
illuminations. This includes accent, ambient,
decorative, task and natural lighting. (Read more about this in our previous
blog on lighting).
3-
Acoustics:
The acoustical performance of a
congregational place is critical in providing the message clearly whether you
are sitting in the front row or the last seat in the back. For
example, the geometrical configuration should be considered because it impacts
how the Pastor sounds when speaking versus how the choir sounds when they are
singing.
4- Materials: Because of scale and acoustics, designers and
builders have to keep in mind the specific materials to be used when designing
the space.
At NKB Design and Management, we look forward to working
with your place of worship in the areas of Northern Virginia and DC. Please let us know how we may be able to
assist you.
Sources- Evidence
Based Design for Multiple Building Types, Gallup Poll, Hartford Institute
of Religion Research
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