O'Brien Newsletter 3rd Quarter 2016

NEIGHBORHOOD ADVOCATES

LOCAL ARCHITECTS PARTNER WITH MAYOR’S GROW SOUTH INITIATIVE

HEALTHY HABITS

O’BRIEN’S LATEST CORPORATE WELLNESS CHALLENGE FEATURING PERSONAL TRAINER FOOD

TRAVELGRAM

SHOWCASING MARK GUEST’S TRAVELS THROUGH THE MEDITERRANEAN AND REVISITING PAST MEMORIES

WHOSE PETS?

TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF OUR FURRY, FEATHERED, AND SCALED FRIENDS FROM OUR O’BRIEN FAMILY

O’BRIEN NEWSLETTER

ISSUE 04 | 3RD QUARTER 2016

PLACEMAKING ENGAGING IN DALLAS’ URBAN REVITALIZATION AND O’BRIEN’S APPROACH TO MASTER PLANNING

IN THE NEXT IS S UE : LEARN ABOUT O’BRIEN’S TRANSITION INTO REVIT; HOW COLLABORATION BETWEEN ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIORS SHAPE THE NEW PRIMERA OFFICE BUILDING AND HOW TEAMWORK HELPED PUT THIS FAST PACED PROJECT INTO REVIT.

MEET THE TEAM

ANDR EW FI N NEY CO-EDITOR/ CONTRIBUTOR

VAN IA FRA NCO CO-EDITOR/ CONTRIBUTOR

JOURDAN NEUSTA DT CO-EDITOR/ CONTRIBUTOR

PATRA PHILIPS COPY EDITOR/ CONTRIBUTOR

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NEIGHBORHOOD ADVOCATES

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MASTER PLANNING FOR MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENTS

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CANSTRUCTION 2016

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EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT: SCOTT SPEER

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TRAVELGRAM: GREEK SUNSETS & ANCIENT RUINS

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GUESS WHOSE PET?!

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

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PERSONAL TRAINER FOOD

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PUZZLE PAGE

DA NA RO GER S COORDINATOR/ CONTRIBUTOR

GU E S T C O N T R I BU TO RS LORELEI MEWHIRTER, MARK GUEST, SCOTT SPEER

ABOUT

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NEIGHBORHOOD ADVOCATES

by Andrew Finney

The consensus is clear: architects want to lead the way in Dallas’ urban revitalization efforts.

This year, AIA Dallas received an overwhelming response as local chapter architects teamed up with the mayor’s “Grow South” Advisory Council, which has a comprehensive strategy to build a foundation for sustainable growth by changing the image and perception of development in southern Dallas.

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Initially, they hoped for 10 volunteers to partner with their 10 Neighborhood Challenge grant winners – but over 20 design professionals showed up to the first meeting in July. Now the Grow South Council is combing through their expansive list of non-grant projects to pair with the remaining architects.

in what was once a thriving, walkable commercial district filled with shops and grocery stores.

The Grow South team organized a series of beautification projects including trash cleanup, landscape and tree plantings, and a large wall mural installed by a local artist.

Then they re-branded the center as Vermont Village.

neighborhood of Buckner Terrace is well positioned for significant redevelopment but is challenged in terms of infrastructure and basic city services.

Decaying infrastructure, a growing homeless population, and a business district dominated by low-end operations contribute to the perception that the area is unkempt and unsafe.

The Grow South initiative works to organize, inform and mobilize neighborhoods and community members. Partner architects are expected to assist the neighborhood or organization with communication and project implementation. Three major initiatives include

When the mural was vandalized the neighborhood rallied to have it repaired. After its completion, the adjacent empty lot was adopted as a public plaza where the neighborhood regularly gathers for planned events and spontaneous gatherings. During phase two of the project, other abandoned buildings were re-painted, and the city attorney’s office was able to evict a tenant who was responsible for attracting a significant amount of crime to the area. Seeing the changes being made, one of the adjacent shop owners initiated a significant remodel of his own property, complete with a new canopy, fresh paint and signage. All three initiatives were successfully implemented and the community responded and now has a “Place” that they can calI their own because they helped make it that way.

Despite that perception, the reality is exactly the opposite: the area has a low crime rate and many newly remodeled homes in well-maintained neighborhoods.

A shift in perception will require brand positioning that highlights the neighborhoods’ strong roots in philanthropy, education, and late mid-century architecture.

1. Strengthening the neighborhood through community participation.

2. Creating a culture of clean.

3. Making a difference by being involved.

Individual projects vary in scope, but current projects include tree plantings, sign topper designs, and various neighborhood beautification projects.

How did small changes spark economic growth?

Let’s look at a completed project: Vermont Village One example of a Grow South success story is Vermont Village, a commercial district in the Brentwood Trinity Heights neighborhood of Oak Cliff. Having fallen into decay, abandoned buildings became the main anchors

How can small changes spark economic growth?

Let’s look at a current project: Buckner Terrace Sitting adjacent to several of southern Dallas’ urban revitalization darlings, the

Initially, our team was tasked with designing a new sign topper for the neighborhood. The neighborhood association secured excess funds so we jumped at the opportunity to do more than just a new sign topper. In order to properly equip the neighborhood to attract more attention from the city and developers, we have broadened the scope of our services to include other brand identity opportunities.

It is our hope that this will empower the neighborhood association as they continue to advocate for responsible development, improved city services and code changes that could help to clean up their business district.

(Previous Page) Volunteers prepping the mural at Vermont Village (Opposite Top) Completed wall mural at Vermont Village (Opposite Bottom Left) Phase 1 of “Strengthing Neighborhoods” in Vermont Village was a tree planting (Opposite Bottom Right) Map of Buckner Terrace Neighborhood showing two major axes where additional signage will be located.

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MASTER PLANNING FOR MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENTS

by Dana Rogers

Developing a master plan for a mixed-use development challenges architects and planners to be creative and imagine how all the pieces of a complicated puzzle will fit together to create a “Place” that appeals to a wide variety of tenants, visitors and residents. It’s more than designing a place to shop or live or work, it is designing an environment where people can be together and create their own unique experience.

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MASTER PLANNING

(Opposite) Master Plan of The Star at Frisco (Top) Initial rendering of The Star depicting the vision portrayed by our clients. This Master Plan was the beginning of the creation of an internatinal destination. (Bottom) Schematic View Diagrams done in the early stages of design. These visual connections throughout became a driving factor in planning and how the designs would later develop.

Our team of talented designers and architects begin with a compelling “Vision.” We study the local environment to see how the community and the new development will interact with each other, how vehicular and pedestrian movement will navigate safely, and how the topography or other natural features might influence design decisions. All of these factors are evaluated before we begin to design buildings or public spaces. We constantly ask if each design decision supports the vision, if the vision inspires the place, and if

the place will be memorable for the users.

Place making is an art form. People want to work, or play, or live in a place that meets their aspirational expectations.

The challenge is that everybody is different.

The aggregation of work, living, entertainment, shopping and dining all combine to set the stage for the type of place the development will be, but the real stage is the space we move through. Buildings, plazas, artwork, lighting, landscape,

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WE HAVE TO IMAGINE OURSELVES IN THE WORLD WE ARE CREATING—VIEWING IT AS STAGE AND OURSELVES THE ACTORS IN A PLAY.

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MASTER PLANNING

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(Above): Rendered images depicting Grandscape at the Colony. (Right): Master Site Plan.

sound and wayfinding all contribute overwhelmed by it: a tough challenge to “Place Making,” especially if they when you are working with one of are in support of the overall vision. the most recognizable brands in the world. Our solution was to keep the We have to imagine ourselves in the design for the buildings simple, using world we are creating—viewing it as natural materials and clean lines with stage and ourselves the actors in a little ornamentation. Overhangs for play. Ultimately, we are successful shade, subtle lighting for character if a guest can experience the vision and heavy landscape for texture without knowing it and adopt the framed a pedestrian environment place as their own because it is where subtle Cowboy moments could meaningful to them. be introduced in ways that inspire further investigation and exploration.

The Star The only major brand feature in Client: Bluestar Land, L.P. and the entertainment district is the Lincoln Property Company suspended overhead Ring of Honor, Location: Frisco, Texas a play on the Ring of Honor already Type: Mixed Use present in AT&T Stadium where the Year: 2013 (in progress) Cowboys play their home football games.

The Star is a partnership between the Dallas Cowboys, the City of The entertainment district is the Frisco and the Frisco Independent centerpiece of a development that, in School District. It was to be the addition to the Cowboys, will become headquarters of, and practice facility home to other major corporations, for the Cowboys, home football a hospital and other high profile stadium for the Frisco High School users. Many signature elements football teams and the cornerstone of originating in the entertainment the Frisco sports scene. O’Brien was district will be continued throughout the 91 acre Master Plan Architect as the development, and will contribute well as the Architect for the 200,000 in a subtle way to reinforce the overall sf entertainment district. vision.

The vision was for an entertainment focused destination where the Cowboys brand and history were present, allowing all ages to experience it without being

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Grandscape Client: Nebraska Furniture Mart Location: The Colony, Texas Type: Mixed Use Year: 2015 (in progress) Size: 433 acres, 2.9 million sq. ft. restaurant and retail When completed, Grandscape will be a virtual city at the edge of Dallas. It will include a convention center, a hotel and spa, an outdoor amphitheater, residential units, one-of-a-kind retail, office space, and unique restaurants anchored by Nebraska Furniture Mart who alone will bring in a projected eight million shoppers annually.

Nebraska Furniture Mart and its parent company, Berkshire Hathaway, are family businesses that had a vision for a destination that expressed their desire to give high value at an affordable price.

Another tough challenge as this desire is easy to wrap your arms around but not easy to express as a place.

Working together with the stakeholders through an interactive design process, we created a little city divided into four “villages,” each with its own unique character. West Village is a Main Street, designed so one can enjoy a peaceful outdoor

stroll along an intimate street and small unique shops originating at the front door of Nebraska Furniture Mart. Central Village retail and shop buildings frame a large park designed to host concerts and other planned or spontaneous outdoor events.

East Village surrounds a quieter and more intimate outdoor room with an atmosphere designed to inspire the out-of-town traveler and conventioneer. The Boardwalk is a district of restaurants connected via a real boardwalk set along the edge of a small lake. This concept allowed us to focus our attention on the uniqueness of each village and highlight its value and character while making a very large development feel smaller and more personal for visitors.

and continues to plan will be the crown jewel of Grandscape. They, along with Nebraska Furniture Mart, will comprise about 60% of the 450 developable acres. The office, residential and other uses will eventually surround the villages, making them feel like their own little island destinations waiting to be explored and enjoyed.

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WHEN DEVELOPING THE MASTER PLAN [FOR GRANDSCAPE], O’BRIEN PAID CAREFUL AT TENTION TO THE SITE PLAN TO CREATE ONE COHESIVE DEVELOPMENT THAT ALLOWS VISITORS TO SEAMLESSLY TRANSITION BETWEEN SHOPPING, RESTAURANTS , AND ENTERTAINMENT.

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The four villages which O’Brien has

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CANSTRUCTION 2016 CELEBRATING OUR PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

by Dana Rogers, Vania Franco, and Lorelei Mewhirter

This year, O’Brien Architects teamed up with Henderson Engineers and Crossland Construction to participate in Canstruction, an annual design competition where teams create giant sculptures out of donated canned foods to benefit the North Texas Food Bank.

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Dana Rogers, Vania Franco, Jourdan Neustadt, Amador Saucedo, Matt Crowley, Lance Lilly, Andrew Finney, and Billy Batac formed our O’Brien team and made us proud!

This year’s theme was “Celebrating Our Past, Present, and Future”. Our team wanted to illustrate the passage of time through mankind’s history, named “Mankind: From Primitive to Innovative.”

The design has a central wall with two different scenes on each side, meant to encourage visitors to walk around and experience the structure from all angles. On one side, a caveman emerges from a backdrop of grass, sky, and fire to represent the primitive aspect of mankind. On the other side, a robot is superimposed in front of the Dallas skyline background to celebrate the innovations mankind has made and the possibilities of the future.

The design used 12,683 cans of diced tomatoes (4 varieties), yams, sweet peas (2 varieties), refried beans, beef ravioli, mixed vegetables, black beans, and whole potatoes. The team even came up with several interesting recipes for well-balanced meals!

September 24 at the Science Plaza building at Fair Park. Volunteer turnout was great and the build went well, but it was not without its challenges.

For one, the weather was hot and humid, and the building they were in did not have air conditioning. It was like working in a sweat locker, but everyone had great attitudes! They encountered some problems with the support boards for the structure and they were forced to cut some of the boards by hand on site. Unfortunately, that meant they were waiting for each board before they could add the next layer of cans, which really slowed the process. The team completed their build in in the nick of time, though, with just 6 minutes to spare!

If you’d like to go check out all their hard work, along with all the other entries, you can visit the Canstruction exhibit at the State Fair of Texas, which runs from September 30-October 23.

The exhibit will be held in the Science Plaza building and will be on display daily from 10:00am to 7:00pm.

Don’t forget to vote with a donation for the North Texas Food bank! Visit: https://canstructiondallas2016.causevox. com/team/och

Build day took place on Saturday,

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SCOTT SPEER EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT

by Lorelei Mewhirter

Scott’s work encompasses master planning, site planning, building layout, and planning. His formula for success involves creating thoughtful, dynamic plans that solve complex problems with unique and viable solutions. On August 1st of this year, he began his 20th year at O’Brien Architects.

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Scott has a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Texas at Arlington. He grew up among the pineywoods of East Texas, in the community of Pollok.

What made you want to work in the architectural field?

I always liked drawing buildings as a kid. I remember in Houston, I would see downtown and I was always fascinated with the big skyscrapers. Also, I made a trip to New York in 1989 and I think that, along with being somewhat artistic, sort of solidified me wanting to get into architecture.

like us eventually, but they still messed with us pretty hard.

tell us about your family.

I’m divorced, but I have two amazing daughters; Lindsey is 15 and Natalie is 13 (pictured below). I enjoy hanging out with them, doing anything they like to do. That can range from going to Anime Fest or the movies. We just went to The Perot Museum; they also like playing video games, we do that a lot.

how did you get into the site planning aspect?

I guess I was shoe horned into it my first year in Design.

That was back in the days where Jack pretty much designed everything, so the site plans were what still needed to get done. Back when Lisa Swift was heading up our Design department, she also needed help, so I kind of picked it up from her too. I started site planning and they said “You’re doing a good job, keep doing it!” You know how it is when you start doing one thing—that becomes your niche. But I really enjoy it. I hate doing code research though. You might think I would be good at code research, but I’m terrible at it.

what was o’brien like back in the day?

Well, definitely a lot smaller. When I first started, we only had one email account. It was a CompuServe account and it was on one computer off to the side. If you needed to share files with any consultants, you had to go to that computer, and of course it was dial-up. Back in that day, we didn’t have a network, so we usually had hard discs couriered between us and the consultants. You had to make sure that when trading discs back and forth, no one was overriding the current files. It was fun though, because that’s when we first started to jump into technology.

WHAT IS THE ODDEST JOB YOU’VE EVER HAD? I had a really memorable job when I was 20 years old. I worked down in the refineries on the coast. A friend’s dad from high school was superintendent out there and got me and my friends summer jobs. We wound up building a structure for a tower that makes a liquid form of PVC. We were just helpers, and wound up helping a welder and a pipe fitter. I’m sure I deserved it, but they were pretty rough on us. They got to

WHAT ELSE DO YOU DO FOR FUN? I play electric guitar. I’ve got two guitars, a bunch of amps, and couple of effect pedals. I haven’t been the most disciplined player—I tend to get distracted pretty easily and start messing around with whatever sounds good to me.

Don’t tell Jack, but I haven’t been practicing as much as I’m supposed to. Whenever I’d play in front of him, he’d give me a look and say, “You haven’t practiced at all!”

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WHO DO YOU ADMIRE AND WHY? It sounds pretty cliché, but I do admire my dad because he is so honest, has an incredible work ethic, and always sacrificed to make sure we had whatever, beyond whatever, that we needed. I never realized it when I was younger, but I see it now. I’m still learning stuff from him too. Whenever I ask where be learned something, he always has a great story. My aunt is actually making him write his memoirs because he’s 83 now and he’s so full of good stories that we want to make sure we get as many as possible.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WON THE LOTTERY? I’d make sure that my family and I are secure. But I wouldn’t make it too easy on the girls, because they still have to know what hard work is—I wouldn’t spoil them too much.

That would also be an opportunity to travel. Getting married so early, I didn’t travel very much. I would love to go to the Maldives, Seychelles, Hong Kong, Australia, and Thailand.

WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN THE MOVIE ADAPTATION YOUR LIFE?

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Definitely Tom Cruise, before he went crazy. It would have to be somebody funny, because I’m not funny.

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TRAVELGRAM GREEK SUNSETS AND ANCIENT RUINS

by Vania Franco

Traveling allows us to experience different places and cultures while creating amazing memories. This series of photographs are shared by Mark Guest, who recently traveled to Greece and Turkey. His photographs capture the beauty of the Mediterranean and tell a unique story from Mark’s perspective. This trip was special for him and his wife, Eva, who made new memories while revisiting past ones.

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UNBEKNOWNST TO EVA , I ARRANGED A RENEWAL OF OUR VOWS , AGAIN ON THE STERN OF THE SHIP.

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This is our ship the Star Clipper, a four masted sailing ship on which we traveled through Greek and Turkish waters, from Athens to Mikonos, Patmos, Dikili, Kusadasi, Canakkale, and Istanbul. I took this picture from the tender as we circled the ship.

In 2005, I was in Graduate School at the University of Maryland. I was planning to ask Eva to marry me during Christmas break. When I found out that we were going to take a church trip to Greece on a clipper ship, I changed my plans and proposed on the stern of the ship at sunset between Mykonos and Santorini. I had her ring made with a diamond flanked by two blue topaz stones, her favorite stones, which happened to match the Greek flag. We married seven months later.

This past year, we found out that the church was taking the same trip and decided to go for our anniversary. Unbeknownst to Eva, I arranged a renewal of our vows, again on the stern of the ship and with many of our fellow church members in attendance.

During the trip, we visited the Acropolis in Athens, Ancient Corinth, and the cave where the Apostle John received and wrote Revelation. In Turkey we were able to see Pergamum, Ephesus, Troy, and Istanbul. In Istanbul, we toured Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and the Grand Bazaar.

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Though not historically significant Mykonos is a favorite island for vacationers for its charm and shopping. The streets are narrow and filled with great stores and cafes. This photograph was taken beneath the famous windmills of Mykonos.

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Pictured is the Library of Celsus, Ephesus. Ephesus was one of the great gateway cities of the Roman World. The Original library was built in 135 AD. The façade as photographed was painstakingly rebuilt from fragments from 1970-78.

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On a dreary day, we ascended to the Acropolis of Pergamum.

Most cities in ancient Greece were built around a hill upon which they could build their own acropolis, their home of the gods.

Pergamum had one of the largest outside Athens. The theater built into the hill is breathtaking and the acropolis has a commanding view of the entire valley.

Here, photographed between downpours, is the temple erected to the Emperor Trajan during the Roman occupation.

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Mykonos architecture is highly regulated by the government. On the public face along the streets, everything is mandated to be clean and only white and blue colors may be used. However, on the back of the buildings, some people use other colors to differentiate their homes from the others.

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The horse is at the entrance to the historical excavations at Troy. The historical Troy is a fascinating site because of its importance controlling the only water passageway from Europe to Asia and was destroyed and rebuilt nine times. Archeologists have uncovered nine distinct foundations. Some Scientists believe that they have uncovered the remains of the actual Trojan horse. They have found a brass plate with the inscription “For their return home, the Greeks dedicate this offering to Athena”.

This plate is in fact described by Quintus Smynaeus is his epic poem “Posthomerica”. The horse used on the movie Troy was actually donated to the site, but was placed in the main square in Canakkale, the modern town.

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Zazhi

T-Rex

Annie

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Macey

Fabian

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Duke

Mowgli

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Ace

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Einstein

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GUESS WHOSE PET?!

An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language.

- Martin Buber

Can you guess whose pet is whose? Take a look at these adorable animals from our O’Brien family and take your best guess! You’ll find the answers on page 26.

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DK

Maggie

Sysco

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Bruno

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Jackson

Rosie

Calypso

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Opie Daisy Mae

Max

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Bailey

Scout

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Pumpkin pets 21

OCTOBER Shakespeare Dallas presents “Shakespeare in the Park.” View The Tempest at Addison Cricle Park.

WHAT TO TRY AT THE STATE FAIR: FRIED JELL-0: Won Big Tex Choice Awards “Best Taste” State Fair Cookie Fries: Won Big Tex Choice Awards “Most Creative” Funnel cake: You can’t go wrong with this classic, topped with powdered sugar. dr. pepper chocolate chip ice cream: This delicious concoction is making its debut at the state fair this year. deep fried cannoli bites: Enough said.

september 30th - october 23rd

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october 6-16, 8:00 PM-10:00 pm

AIA DALLAS TOUR OF HOMES is a self-guided

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tour showcasing the finest residential architecture in the Dallas area, as designed by Texas architects. The event happens Saturday the 29th.

Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door.

Visit www.hometourdallas.com for more information.

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ROXANNA GUTIERREZ VANIA FRANCO VIDAL ZUNIGA

birthdays The 20th Annual Pug-O-Ween will be at the Grapevine Convention Center October 23rd, from 11:00AM 4:00PM. Proceeds benefit the DFW Pug Rescue.

costume winners 2015...who will the winners this year? dress up on oct. 28th and find out!

DALLAS HALLOWEEN EVENTS Halloween Double Feature: Lakewood Theater will show “Repo! The Genetic Opera” and “Rocky Horror Picture Show” with a shadow-cast. Oct. 27th at 9:00pm.

Halloween nights at the Dallas zoo: Come dressed up and enjoy candy stations, a Monster Mash show, Animal Adventures shows, Professor Magic’s show, and more. Oct. 22-25 at 5:00pm.

Autumn at the arboretum: Trick-or-Treat throughout the Dallas Arboretum garden with costumed characters, enjoy the Pumpkin Storybook Village, plus more! Oct 24-25 from 9am-5pm.

halloween

22 calendar of events

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NOVEMBER Texas Chili Festival

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Granada Theater presents the inagural Texas Chili festival, featuring select North Texas chefs who will each create unique versions of a Texas classic. Come taste chili while enjoying a combination of Americana and Texas Country music. nov 6th, granada theater parking lot. visit texaschilifestival.com for more information and tickets.

Daniel Hernandez

birthdays 40th Annual Lakewood Home Festival

This years theme, “Explore Lakewood,” showcases homes that accentuate breathtaking interiors while bringing the outside in, drawing attention to the mature trees, rolling hills, and creek views that have made this neighborhood a sought-after oasis.

nov 11-13. visit lecpta.org/lakewoodhomefestival for times and tickets.

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YMCA Turkey Trot

THANKSGIVING

Come run in the 49th annual Turkey Trot, benefitting the various YMCA programs in Dallas. Children and dogs are welcome to join!

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visit www.thetrot.org for registration and information.

O’Brien & Manhattan are

competing in the 2016 Bark + Build benefitting the SPCA of Texas.

Come to NorthPark Center to see our MVPup Clubhouse, designed for the sports loving dog and owner.

The structure features a lounge area with artificial turf, an interactive storage bin to hold all the “game-day equipment” a pup could want, and a covered sleeping area that will provide protection from the elements. It will be the perfect place for mans best friend to “call the next play.”

nov. 14-dec.4

DECEMBER Gaylord Texan Resort presents ICE! and Lone Star Christmas.

Get in the holiday spirit with over 2 million twinkle lights, a 54’ tall christmas tree, and Santa’s Wild Workshop Snow Tubing.

ICE! features more than 2 million pounds of colorful, hand-carved sculptures, and a huge ice slide to ride down.

hanukkah dec 24-jan 01

N O V. 1 1 DEC. 31

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christmas day

Join the Emerald City Band to welcome 2017 at the Intercontenental Hotel in Addison

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Richard Nordyke Gary Angle 06 Ryan Gathmann 02 05

birthdays

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SPOILER ALERT! THERE ARE A LOT OF VEGETABLES!!!

PERSONAL TRAINER FOOD: WELLNESS CHALLENGE

by Patra Philips

Back in July 2016, eighteen employees embarked on a wellness challenge put forth by Personal Trainer Food. Personal Trainer Food, or PTF, is a 28 day, healthy weight loss meal plan designed to help 24 personal trainer food

you lose weight by providing natural foods and none of the processed, startchy fillers. One that you can customize to suit your personal tastes. It offers great tasting food (seriously) with only meats, vegetables, eggs, cheese and nuts. The food is freshly cooked then flash frozen to lock in the tenderness and great taste.

“With over 800 meal combination possibilities, you will not get tired of our food.”

JUST IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING...

why did we do this?

Because work makes you fat.

OK, that’s not true. However, O’Brien Architects has been working towards making our work environment a place that encourages healthy lifestyle changes.

When PTF approached us with this challenge we were very excited about it. A few of us had actually tried the program previously so we were able to encourage the skeptics that the food really is that good. It’s not Jenny Craig. There are no TV dinners. It’s not Weight Watchers. You do not calorie count. It comes in frozen plastic bags that you pop into the microwave for a few minutes to heat up. Kind of like popcorn.

That’s it.

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O’BRIEN ARCHITECTS HAS BEEN WORKING TOWARDS MAKING OUR WORK ENVIRONMENT A PLACE THAT ENCOURAGES HEALTHY LIFESTYLE CHANGES .

our results?

We lost a combined weight of 187.7 pounds. That’s a whole person! In addition to the combined weight loss, the O’Brien team’s Waist-Hip Ratio, or “WHR,” improved.

We went from having 43% of participants considered “high-risk” to only 14%. Those considered “normal” rose from 14% to 37%. Great job everyone who participated in this challenge! And keep up the good work!

BY THE END OF THE 28 DAY CHALLENGE: Women lost an average of 8.7 pounds Men lost an average of 13.2 pounds Average weight loss was 10. 4 pounds BMI average reduction was 1.5 points Average waistline reduction was 3.4 inches Is this program right for you? In my opinion it’s right for everyone. All you have to do is:

1 Order the food.

Shipping is free and it’s delivered right to your door.

2 Follow the Plan.

You’ll be given the Personal Trainer Food Guidelines to Success which include healthy eating instructions plus easy daily exercise advise. And they only want you to walk 2,000 steps a day!

3 Ignore the Noise.

Confusion is the #1 cause of weight loss failure. PTF offers one on one trainer advice free of charge.

4 Keep it simple.

If you would like to see the video of our results, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDlw2grSZxA

Stay with the plan and keep consistent routines. Routine leads to habit and good habits are how you keep the weight off!

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WORD SEARCH

solutions: 1. Lance Lilly 2. Jack & Victoria O’Brien 3. Dana Rogers 4. Roxanna Gutierrez 5. Stefan Haessig 6. Lorelei Mewhirter 7. Stefan Haessig 8. Gloria Prentiss 9. Stefan Haessig 10. Ashley Acuff 11. Robert Evans

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12. Jourdan Neustadt 13. Dana Rogers 14. Holly Sumruld 15. Vania Franco 16. Richard Nordyke 17. Dana Rogers 18. Cade Hammers 19. David Hoff 20. Lance Lilly 21. Richard Nordyke

HAVE A CREATIVE MIND? NEED A CREATIVE OUTLET?

THEN HOP

WE NEED WRITERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, AND DESIGNERS TO JOIN OUR TEAM! IF INTERESTED, CONTACT:

patra.philips@obrienarch.com

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CR ED ITS: A special thanks to the following: The Grow South Initiative for the opportunity to partner with them as they strengthen Dallas neighborhoods. Mick Granlund for his expertise and last minute editing.

PHOTOGRAPHY/GRAPHICS: Miscellaneous photographers with Vermont Village and Grow South (p4/6) Mark Guest (p18/19), and Personal Trainer Foods (p24/25). ICONS: All icons from The Noun Project by the following artists: Maico Amorim, Sascha Elmers, Natasha Fedorova, Christopher Holm-Hansen, Tommy Lau, Olyn LeRoy, Lukasz M. Pagoda, and Laurent Patain.

LIKE WHAT YOU READ? FOLLOW US /OBrienArchitects www.OBrienArch.com info@OBrienArch.com