Iconic San Diego structure will soon be restored to its original condition…plus a few improvements By Sandra Gramley, AIA, LEED NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, principal at Platt/Whitelaw Architects, Inc. Restoration is underway on the Botanical Building in Balboa Park! If you’ve been following our news site, you know that we’ve written about this building before…and […]
Sandra Gramley
What’s Old is New: Historic Preservation Architecture
By Sandra Gramley, AIA NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, principal at Platt/Whitelaw Architects, Inc. When you think of historic San Diego architecture, what comes to mind? Craftsman? Victorian? Mission? Modern? San Diego has a rich diversity of architectural styles, and preserving those buildings is some of our favorite work. We’re taking a look back (and forward!) […]
PWA Project Profile: Park de la Cruz Neighborhood Park & Therapeutic Recreation Services
By Sandra Gramley, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C Civic projects are the crux of what we do. Designing Park de la Cruz Neighborhood Park & Therapeutic Recreation Services (TRS) in City Heights was especially rewarding for us because we were truly designing for universal use. The intention of our client, the City of San Diego, […]
Rooted in Nature: Biophilic Design Advances Health, Wellbeing
By Sandra Gramley, principal at Platt/Whitelaw Architects, Inc. The built environment plays a critical role in people’s health and wellbeing. We are just beginning to find that when lacking natural elements, the spaces in which we live, work and play can foster fatigue, impair performance and spark symptoms of disease. However, by simply introducing natural […]
Aspects of Creativity in the Architectural Design Process
Architecture is unique for its blend of art and science. Architect Antonin Gaudí, for example, is world famous for his unconventional shapes, colors and textures. But, at the end of the day, his designs for the Sagrada Familia, Parc Güell and other noted structures had to be technically sophisticated enough to reach into the sky […]
What Does a Return to Work Look Like – One Year Later?
By Sandra Gramley, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, and Naveen Waney, AIA The one-year anniversary of California’s initial lockdown has come and gone. With its passage, we at Platt/Whitelaw Architects are reflecting on the impacts the past year has brought to public workplaces and what a return to work could look like for those working […]
Hello, Sunshine! Platt/Whitelaw Architects Helps SDUSD Schools Go Solar
By Sandra Gramley, AIA, LEED ap BD+C At Platt/Whitelaw, we’re helping empower schools in more ways than one. While school design and modernization have long been part of our work product, some recent San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) directives have us literally powering schools. As of September 2020, 7,332 K-12 schools throughout the nation […]
Unique Design Considerations for Temporary Homeless Shelters
By Sandra Gramley, AIA, LEED ap BD+C & Keiko Newton Our moderate climate and high cost of housing result in San Diego grappling with a large homelessness problem. A 2020 count found nearly 5,000 people experiencing homelessness in the City of San Diego. Platt/Whitelaw has been helping both the City of San Diego and the […]