Goings On

So this is a typical slow time of year for cj architects. What I've found is that starting right around Thanksgiving and running through the few weeks following the New Year, clients are rarely interested in pursuing new design projects or even concentrating on existing ones. It seems there is a "shut-down" in this period where most everyone (including myself, admittedly) is distracted and loses focus for a bit. The most obvious reason is the holiday lull where folks are visiting with family and friends, entertaining, short on cash, etc, etc. Also, I attribute this to the weather - the gloominess of winter and fear of the snow/ice effect on construction, commuting, and feeling good. 

Things start to pop back up right around now, early-to-mid February. I think the prospect of warmer weather and the knowledge of time-lag for the permitting and bidding processes gets potential and current clients motivated. They seem to want to get design projects underway in time for that first Spring thaw where digging and opening-up of walls can occur without much issue. I like this time of year. It starts to get crazy and gets me back into the swing of things. It's a good time to release all of those creative juices that have been stored up over the winter and it gives me a lot of confidence about the direction the year is going. 

Of course not the entire Winter season is spent thumb-twiddling. There are always usually loose-ends to tie up on existing projects, small tidbits here and there to pass the time, and the occasional under-construction project where the design is complete and construction is in full swing. I find that unlike design-time, clients will focus on projects during the heavy construction phase through the winter/holidays because there is some momentum and a light at the end of the tunnel. 

The photos above reference one such project. These are recent pictures taken of a new home construction in Schaumburg. The exterior was completed int he Fall allowing for the interior to be weather-tight for rough-in and drywall to continue over the winter in a space that will retain the adequate heating level to do so. This is a sweet project, because cj architects was virtually given carte blanche on design. The front entry opens up to an large 2-story hall/vestibule open front to back with a curved, central grand staircase. This is coupled with several other architectural features that will make this home one of the more prominent designs in the cj architects portfolio... 

It's experiences like going through homes like these in this phase that make the slow time of the year bearable.