More IP Rating information

A friend my recent post and chart regarding IP Ratings and sent along some more information to share. Thanks Clint for your contribution.

http://www.2mcctv.com/blog/2011_10_11-ip-rating-chart/

Lighting IP Rating Guide

An architect has a huge opportunity to make a big difference on a project by choosing proper lighting....

I should really say that the architect has a RESPONSIBILITY to create that architecture with proper lighting. So many times we have had our projects cut short because an owner fails to see the value of quality lighting. There is a difference......and there will be a difference....just wait and see. Now I am all about understanding the budget and working within those perimeters. Not always is it about an expensive fixture....many times it is about creative design strategies with lighting. At IONIC, one of our huge strengths is using and understanding the principles of lighting, along with some help from our friends at First Light.

Let us help you on your next project. Here is a chart below for you to see when it comes to the rating system of fixtures......just one small piece in the puzzle of figuring out the right light for your project.

IPFirst number - Protection against solid objects

0	No special protection
1	Protected against solid objects over 50 mm, e.g. accidental touch by persons hands.
2	Protected against solid objects over 12 mm, e.g. persons fingers.
3	Protected against solid objects over 2.5 mm (tools and wires).
4	Protected against solid objects over 1 mm (tools, wires, and small wires).
5	Protected against dust limited ingress (no harmful deposit).
6	Totally protected against dust.

IP Second number - Protection against liquids

0	No protection.
1	Protection against vertically falling drops of water e.g. condensation.
2	Protection against direct sprays of water up to 15o from the vertical.
3	Protected against direct sprays of water up to 60o from the vertical.
4	Protection against water sprayed from all directions - limited ingress permitted.
5	Protected against low pressure jets of water from all directions - limited ingress.
6	Protected against temporary flooding of water, e.g. for use on ship decks - limited ingress permitted.
7	Protected against the effect of immersion between 15 cm and 1 m.
8	Protects against long periods of immersion under pressure.

Ionic DeZign Studios

www.ionicdezigns.com

D. Eugene Thompson, AIA

president + founder

Historic Home Renovations

Existing Restorations

IONIC is still forging ahead on the renovations and restorations of the historical home in Gloucester. Originally built in the 1700s, this home has been added onto over the years. The latest major addition was in 1920. Unfortunately much of the electric and plumbing added during those days needed to be replaced now. Pipes were crumbling and wiring inadequate. Very little insulation was provided in the old house that used 10 different fireplaces for heat. The central air is being replaced with geo thermal, the leaky basement is resealed and insulated, new lighting and replacement of a few rotten beams are a few of the pieces of work required. There are also some new features such as a new master bedroom suite, replacement of some millwork, finished third floor attic for guest bedrooms and rebuilt 6 bathrooms. Various members of the staff have worked on the project but currently Abby Hoffman has been diligently putting together the work necessary for permits along with Kilburn Nightingale Architects in London England. Her latest portion of the work involves the creation of a new verandah space that opens out to the Ware River. Dovetail Construction out of Richmond Virginia has been doing an incredible job on the renovations.

Third floor bedrooms

Re-building sunroom doors and windows

Powder room destruction....for now.

Wendy's on Independence Blvd.

For all of those fans of the cute little girl in red pigtails, IONIC is at it again with another renovation project in Virginia Beach. This has a little different style as we go thru the various levels of renovations for corporate. This one will be a Tier 2 Ultra Modern. Quality Builders is just beginning to build back some of the "blade" portions of the new design after all the demo has taken place from the front half. A ten foot addition onto the front will provide a bit more room for sitting around the fireplace. Be sure to watch as it goes up. It doesn't take long! Dahlia Pecka and James McReynolds are the two architects responsible for most all the Wendy's work in the office. Be sure to tell them what a great job they are doing as it certainly keeps them.....and that is an excellent thing!

Ionic DeZign Studios
www.ionicdezigns.com

Five Guys in South Hill

It is amazing how long some projects take to get moving....but once they are, it goes fast. Kenbridge Construction is progress quite well considering they have had 21 rain days since the first of January. Just a few quick shots of some of the construction during our site visit this month. Matt Mazzoni is our architect working on this one for us.

Ionic DeZign Studios
Www.ionicdezigns.com

It is Time for Your Home's Interiors

The IONIC Process
Building Dream Homes by Design
Architecture Interiors & Furnishings

Award-winning IONIC DEZIGN STUDIOS offers complete interior design and furnishings services to our valued clients as a compliment to our integrated design process. Timeless design, creative vision and an extensive resources network culminate in personal statements of distinction for you. After all that time and effort has been put into the architecture and interior planning, wouldn't it be a waste not to plan for the furnishings as well?

Interiors
IONIC is unmatched in providing comprehensive interior selection and finish services during the design and construction of your home. As an integrated part of our architectural services, our team of designers will work with you on the selections of appliances, lighting fixtures, mirrors, wall finishes, tile patterns and floor coverings... just to name a few! These are often incorporated into the interior three dimensional model. There may be other ways to accurately represent the design so that you can clearly see the design intent we are proposing.

We offer an in-house design center and an extensive network of resources to provide complete interior services to reflect your individual statement. Our team of architects, builders, project managers and interior designers work together to instill the "WOW” factor into each project. You can imagine the amount of coordination that is required for all of this work. We catalog everything and review it all so you don't have to do all the running around. Our reward is the satisfaction of our client's pleasant surprise when they walk into their newly finished home.

Furnishings
Team IONIC is available to assist in the procurement of fine furnishings and accessories, custom upholsteries and draperies for your new custom home. It is always a pleasure for us to assist in the final step of the creation of your family's new sanctuary. This isn't an easy process but we have found after all the time spent together developing the architecture of your home, we typically know much more about your likes and dislikes. As always, we pledge our highest commitment to serve your best interests during this intimate process.

The IONIC goal as your furnishings designer is to streamline and greatly facilitate the overwhelming task of furnishing your new home.

Our furnishings designer begins working with you from the preliminary stage of architectural design, cataloging existing furnishings and determining the optimum furniture layout for your new home. The team will present fabric and furniture options, as well as window treatment solutions for your consideration.

Refinement of selections and timely order processing is managed for you during construction to insure timely delivery and installation concurrent with construction completion. After all we wouldn't want you to have to sit on the floor you first week in your new home.


D. Eugene Thompson, AIA
President
Ionic DeZign Studios, Inc.

www.ionicdezigns.com

Net-Zero Architecture

Market for net-zero energy buildings expected to soar
Construction of zero-energy buildings, or structures that produce all of the energy that they use, is expected to grow over the next several years, in large part because of mandates in the European Union. The market for net-zero energy buildings is small today, but it could reach nearly $690 billion by 2020 and almost $1.3 trillion by 2035, according to projections by Pike Research.

Check back soon to see how Team IONIC will be reaching for this goal.

Where Art and Architecture come together.
Www.ionicdezigns.com

What's Next? Design & Cost of Your New Home

The IONIC Process
Building Dream Homes by Design
Architecture -Design and Cost

Upon acceptance of the Pre-Construction Agreement, Team IONIC will begin the process of design. Over a period of approximately 6 months, our architects and designers will schedule periodic design meetings with you to review the plan in progress and receive additional feedback. Long distance communication is not a problem; electronic files and overnight mailings work great. With today's technology we are able to hold Internet meetings and communicate digitally without delay. We have worked with consultants in England and France on past projects and met with great success.

In addition to visiting with our architects, you will also be meeting with our interior designers at intervals to determine selections and finishes for costing purposes. IONIC will prepare periodic cost updates during the design process if desired.

Construction Documents

As design development continues and is completed, IONIC will prepare final Construction Drawings, Specifications and Selections for Final Cost Analysis. These Construction Documents are very comprehensive, engineered and detailed while representing our collective collaboration to prepare your dream home. These documents also represent our commitment to you for a successful construction experience. They will be attached as exhibits to the construction contract along with proposals for the contract price by qualified general contractors or by our CA management division. We will be ready for a quick construction start without delays of re-design due to cost overruns.

From the earliest design stages to the final construction Team IONIC will provide first rate services in every way. We want you to thoroughly enjoying the building process of your house all the way until the time you walk thru its doors and it becomes your home. This is what sets us apart from other competitors.

D. Eugene Thompson, AIA
President
Ionic DeZign Studios, Inc.

www.ionicdezigns.com

So you want to build your own home?

The IONIC Process
Building Dream Homes by Design
How To Get Started?

We begin the design process by sitting down with you to discuss your lifestyle and how you will live in your new home. For instance, do you do a lot of entertaining? Do you enjoy theater sitting for movie watching? Are the outdoor living spaces a high priority? How many bedrooms? Are you big into cooking? Exercise? All of these things help us to formulate a home....which is far more than just a house.

Once we understand what your needs are, we will begin the preliminary design process. First, IONIC will create a preliminary floor plan and site plan for your consideration and feedback. This first step represents a large portion of the creative design time to create a customized, thoughtful and functioning plan that may require as much as 8-10 weeks. We also begin the three dimensional massing of the home during this period to insure everything fits aesthetically on the outside as well. Once the preliminary plans are tweaked, based on your comments and feedback, IONIC will move on to CAD drawings and design development.

As drawings proceed, IONIC will then begin meeting with you to discuss preliminary selections and finishes for your home. Our interiors designer will prepare a comprehensive package for your review, inclusive of all selections such as hardware, plumbing, tile, appliances and lighting. We will include color photos of all selections to best convey the essence of our design direction, including vignettes of individual rooms with selections juxtaposed to help you visualize final results.

An important aspect of construction documents are the specifications, which detail the written word of the "sticks and bricks" methods of construction. A complete set of specifications, inclusive of all selections, will be prepared and presented with each design revision. These specifications are progressing to completeness as each of the design phases develop further with more detail. A significant amount of design time is dedicated to selection specificity prior to construction. Only larger scope areas of improvement, such as landscaping or audio/visual, may be reflected as allowances. Even so, our company will lead the conversation with consultants and contractors with supervised management during construction.

Together with the plans and selections and specifications, if requested, IONIC will also prepare an estimate of cost. This cost estimates will be a well studied estimate, based first on preliminary plans and specifications, and updated with each presentation of revised drawings and selections. Unless there are major changes to the overall scope of the project, we can expect that the preliminary cost that we provide at the beginning of design will be very consistent with the final cost at the completion of construction documents. This would only change if the scope changes or selection of materials and finishes become different in quality or quantity.

The entire creative process requires anywhere from 6 to 8 months, depending on how extensive the level of customization and the scope of project. Yes, that is right. It takes a long time to do a fine project. We want to be as thorough as possible because this is YOUR DREAM, and we want to do it right.

Our customers choose IONIC not only for the high level of detail and quality that is evident in our work, but also for our unique process of creating a custom home that truly sets us apart from other architects.

Where Art and Architecture Come Together
D. Eugene Thompson, AIA
Ionic DeZign Studios, Inc.

www.ionicdezigns.com

 

http://www.ionicdezigns.com/homeArama.html