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"With a giving spirit, over 30 talented architects from the Lowcountry area met for a design charrette on October 19, 2012 to volunteer their time to aid Trident Habitat for Humanity. Benefitting the tri-county area was the real goal of the design charrette, and these architects were thrilled to have the opportunity to use their skills and specialized knowledge to give back to the Holy City"... Read More

This past Fall, members of AIA CRAN Charleston gathered at the Charleston Civic Design Center with sketch paper and computers in hand to create new concepts for Trident Habitat for Humanity. Teams consisting of architects, interns, and HFH project managers spent the morning brainstorming new efficient, beautiful and affordable home designs and the afternoon finalizing construction drawings for 6 different homes in the lowcountry. In early December, East Cooper Habitat for Humanity unfortunately had many items stolen from their jobsite trailer. As a response, CRAN Charleston donated $1,000 to help buy new tools that were stolen in order to keep Habitat [...]

This is a link to a great article, answering the question: "What does an architect do?" Most people do not understand the full scope of the architect's profession. Our members may laugh at the author's comment that the stereotype of an architect as "a person who make blueprints." But hopefully this article will increase your understanding of what we, as architects, do everyday and help you get more value from your architect. http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/4578490/thumbs/What-the-heck-does-an-architect-do-anyway-

Darryl Cobb, Martin Cizler, and Trevor Draper in full protective gear at the Buckhannon Plant. Earlier this week, Southern Lumber and Weyerhaeuser sponsored a trip for several members of CRAN. This educational trip included visits to two separate Weyerhaeuser engineered wood plants. The first stop was the OSB (Oriented Strand Board) plant in Elkin, North Carolina. OSB is a sheathing material commonly used for many wall, floor and roof framing applications. The second plant was to the LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber or Microllam) and PSL (Parallel Strand Lumber or Parallam) plant in Buckhannon, West Virginia. LVL and PSL products [...]

Affordable Housing Project - Work Day On April 28th, members of Charleston CRAN-AIA met to complete the construction drawings for the first City of Charleston affordable home designed during our annual Design for Affordable Housing Charrette.The Charrette produced six innovative designs for future use by the City. The first home chosen for construction by the City of Charleston Department of Housing and Community Development was designed to fit on the smallest urban infill lots. With many such lots available, this design offers the possibility for housing to be constructed in different locations for many families.As a group of local [...]

Charleston CRAN welcomed home buyers and local residents at the 2012 Daniel Island Home Show at the Family Circle Cup, Saturday April 21st - Sunday April 22nd. Current and future home owners walked through a bountiful  maze of vendors, all pertaining to residential construction. The CRAN booth offered attendees a list of all registered CRAN members in the Charleston region as well as advice on the importance of hiring an architect for projects big and small.

At our annual business meeting on January 19th the membership of Charleston CRAN-AIA was honored to accept a Certificate of Appreciation from the Charleston Region American Red Cross for our donation to the Heroes for Fire Victims Campaign. Thanks to the generosity of our Corporate Sponsors and members, we were able to provide support to a family with two young children whose home was destroyed by fire on Halloween night 2011. The Heroes for Fire Victims Campaign provides immediate assistance in the form of monetary support, clothing, shelter and essential items to fire victims. We would like to thank our Sponsors [...]

What does it take to become an Architect? This is a question often asked of us. While the answer is straightforward, the requirements to become an Architect are by no means easy. By law, individuals may only represent themselves with the title “Architect” if they meet very specific requirements set forth by the licensing board of their state. In South Carolina, for instance, the Labor and Licensing Board mandates the following requirements before they will grant an architectural license: Complete a professional architecture degree from a college or university whose program is accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) or [...]

Entry By: Bill Huey The Steering Committee has been busy planning a revised format for 2012 CRAN meetings and events. The objective is to have more topical, practice relative, open discussions amongst CRAN members. The business meeting this month, January 19 2012, will consist of the slating and election of 2012 CRAN Officers and Steering Committee members, review and member discussion of the proposed 2012 events, and discussion about any topics or events that members may wish to see addressed by CRAN this year. Our Profession (and livelihood) is currently assailed from many fronts. As a Community of Professionals, together we [...]