Published in the Central Penn Business Journal on September 14, 2021 by Jen Deinlein.
Our experience working from home has made a substantial impact on how we view the office workspace. In business, the office has lost some of its luster as the prime location for all business transactions. We still see the importance of direct connections with fellow workers since many of the day-to-day interactions at the office are ad hoc and support a collaborative decision-making process, but the forced isolation at our homes in the last 18 months has provided a window into a life that includes both work and family. New homes are being designed and built with a dual purpose in mind that includes additional space for quiet thought. Employees are realizing they can do their job and have more time with their family and be successful.
Every location has its own sense of history and scale. Urban centers are typically well defined and compact, and because of the density, the buildings grow vertically to provide the necessary functional space but also to maximize the financial investment. Style, scale, texture and aesthetic character typically grow from a common sense of identity in the urban fabric. Working in the less dense areas of Pennsylvania typically means we look to the broader region surrounding a new building site to understand the context and establish a sense of time and place. Respecting and responding to the character of a place informs all of our work, whether the context is urban or more rural.
The act of creation is a very personal statement. As architects we must bring together the functional needs of a client with a physical structure that hopefully celebrates the joy of everyday life. We analyze and solve problems of movement and habitat within a specific environment. Helping our clients see the possibilities is a daily journey that provides meaning to our work. Shadow and light are our creative instruments. Together they bring life and meaning to the structures we create.
Our current period is a time of great change as we look at the impact on the environment of the buildings we create. It is a time of invention and exploration of the new, but also a time of revisiting some of the lessons of the past. It offers many challenges and opportunities and highlights the value of the work we do. I can’t think of a more important time to be an architect. But if I must choose, I would look to the time of Frank Lloyd Wright and his work breaking the bonds of formal classicism, and the opportunity to experience firsthand the shock of the new.
Stuart Christenson, 66, is president of Noelker and Hull Associates, Inc., an architectural design, master planning and interior design firm based in Chambersburg and Frederick, Maryland. With Noelker and Hull, he has been part of the development of several mid-state higher education, healthcare, religious and K-12 projects.
Christenson earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Iowa State and a Master of Architecture degree from the Yale School of Art and Architecture. He is also AIA and LEED AP certified. A Midwest native, he now lives in Boiling Springs with his wife, who is a psychologist. They have a daughter in college and a son who is a senior in high school.
Published in the Central Penn Business Journal on September 14, 2021 by Jen Deinlein.
Our experience working from home has made a substantial impact on how we view the office workspace. In business, the office has lost some of its luster as the prime location for all business transactions. We still see the importance of direct connections with fellow workers since many of the day-to-day interactions at the office are ad hoc and support a collaborative decision-making process, but the forced isolation at our homes in the last 18 months has provided a window into a life that includes both work and family. New homes are being designed and built with a dual purpose in mind that includes additional space for quiet thought. Employees are realizing they can do their job and have more time with their family and be successful.
Every location has its own sense of history and scale. Urban centers are typically well defined and compact, and because of the density, the buildings grow vertically to provide the necessary functional space but also to maximize the financial investment. Style, scale, texture and aesthetic character typically grow from a common sense of identity in the urban fabric. Working in the less dense areas of Pennsylvania typically means we look to the broader region surrounding a new building site to understand the context and establish a sense of time and place. Respecting and responding to the character of a place informs all of our work, whether the context is urban or more rural.
The act of creation is a very personal statement. As architects we must bring together the functional needs of a client with a physical structure that hopefully celebrates the joy of everyday life. We analyze and solve problems of movement and habitat within a specific environment. Helping our clients see the possibilities is a daily journey that provides meaning to our work. Shadow and light are our creative instruments. Together they bring life and meaning to the structures we create.
Our current period is a time of great change as we look at the impact on the environment of the buildings we create. It is a time of invention and exploration of the new, but also a time of revisiting some of the lessons of the past. It offers many challenges and opportunities and highlights the value of the work we do. I can’t think of a more important time to be an architect. But if I must choose, I would look to the time of Frank Lloyd Wright and his work breaking the bonds of formal classicism, and the opportunity to experience firsthand the shock of the new.
Stuart Christenson, 66, is president of Noelker and Hull Associates, Inc., an architectural design, master planning and interior design firm based in Chambersburg and Frederick, Maryland. With Noelker and Hull, he has been part of the development of several mid-state higher education, healthcare, religious and K-12 projects.
Christenson earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Iowa State and a Master of Architecture degree from the Yale School of Art and Architecture. He is also AIA and LEED AP certified. A Midwest native, he now lives in Boiling Springs with his wife, who is a psychologist. They have a daughter in college and a son who is a senior in high school.