• Ground-Breaking for Ridge Center and Amenity Park at Ocean Ridge

    January 12, 2023

    Congratulations to the Ocean Ridge Community on their ground-breaking this week for the Ridge Center and Amenity Park.  This has been a long…

  • The Cost of Surprise

    July 21, 2022

    Coming to the end of my glass. Spend most of my sitting-time getting right with the whirlwind, listening to the noise. The louder, the better, it…

  • Not Just a Shopping Center

    June 30, 2022

    To talk about architecture, remembering Jack Alphin.https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/newsobserver/name/william-alphin-obituary?id=34294966

  • AIA Convention 2022 Chicago - A Review

    June 24, 2022

    Returning from the 2022 AIA convention in Chicago. When they ask, "How was it?" It certainly had ups and downs, hits and misses, the…

  • Bullet Proof

    June 2, 2022

    It’s that part of the week when I want to talk about Architecture, where I wrestle with the dialogue of the week and wonder what to bring…

  • Winning Awards

    May 13, 2022

    We think a lot about how to grow the firm, and it’s not that there are so many options: Hiring is difficult and rare. But more, we want to grow…

  • Big Project Workflow

    May 5, 2022

    Thinking about workflow this week, project scale, perhaps, but also style and decision making. We’re partnering with another local firm, and I…

  • From Ground Up

    April 14, 2022

    We have several projects that are starting from zero, starting from ground up. It’s exciting, its new, it's important, it’s the…

  • New Year - Design or Project Management

    January 6, 2022

    New year, finding words is a challenge, these first days with so much potential, trying to dodge all the standard tropes and mind-ruts. I’ve…

  • Traveling

    November 9, 2021

    Traveling, even for work, certainly has a feeling of skipping work. I get to see new places, meet new people, drive a rental car, go out to eat. I…

  • Architecture that already happened

    November 9, 2021

    To write about architecture is to write in the past tense. There’s a very real position that architecture has already happened, that it's…

  • A new coat of paint and a new elevator

    September 3, 2021

    In 2019, we did a small project, but we did it pretty well: Client had to update their elevator to meet inspections > they had to update…

  • Friday Variables and Whether to Build

    August 20, 2021

    Just a minute to write, thinking through this week, and Friday tomorrow. We like to put deadlines on Fridays, working toward a goal, checking things…

  • Picking Paint Colors

    August 6, 2021

    Another friend reminded me to write this week. My still-standing favorite lecture in college was only that "Architects write."  That…

  • FINDER

    FINDER

    November 2, 2018

    We have an ad in this year's INDY FINDER, a guide recommending where to eat, drink, shop and explore in the Triangle. Not a bad place to be…

  • Renovating a Landmark

    Renovating a Landmark

    September 27, 2018

    Osterlund started marketing the space last year as part of a feasibility study for the project after reaching an agreement to with the Friends of…

  • Welcome DECO

    July 21, 2018

    DECO and DECO Home have completed their move to downtown Raleigh. The gift and home shops will have a grand opening on Aug. 3. It's always…

  • A Sacred Space

    A Sacred Space

    July 20, 2018

    “Ebenezer.” It’s a word both familiar and unfamiliar to me – familiar because I grew up singing “Come Thou Fount of…

  • Ebenezer Chapel in the News & Observer

    Ebenezer Chapel in the News & Observer

    July 16, 2018

    Raleigh local Mark Boone envisions a chapel where people can put down their phones and reconnect with each other in a building that will last…

  • An Underground Chapel

    July 16, 2018

    "I want people to experience peace and tranquility and a calmness regardless of what their faith may be." Local Mark Boone wants to…

  • Architecture By Train

    Architecture By Train

    October 13, 2017

    Watching architecture from the train always gets to me.  Riding through Spain, rolling through olive groves, we looked out and see castles on…

  • Hospitals and Airports

    Hospitals and Airports

    January 27, 2017

    Hospitals and airports – these places don’t feel like Architecture.  Being in an airport is more like swimming.  The scale,…

  • EBZ

    EBZ

    September 4, 2016

    Place-making is among the more helpful definitions of what Architects do.  Had a conversation with a good friend this week, who…

  • You're a Terrible Architect

    You're a Terrible Architect

    February 13, 2016

    That was the first sentence of an email I received from a client, after two years of project changes, stalls, and billing issues brought me to…

  • Window in a Tall Building

    Window in a Tall Building

    January 20, 2016

    My mind tends to be over-introspective by habit, and a new year is the time to endorse that habit, to hide away in a warm corner of a quiet…

  • Open House

    October 27, 2015

    Our 7th anniversary and our new office space. Plenty to celebrate, and we’d like to celebrate with you! We’re having an…

  • Desert Life

    Desert Life

    October 8, 2015

    Some people plan for vacations, perhaps most people do.  In our family, it’s more abrupt.  Vacation starts when the TTA recommends…

  • The Drawing Board

    August 25, 2015

    During an interview last week, I discovered that our website was down.  Some kind of bug in the machine.  Our website showed the customer…

  • Empty Raleigh - Coming Soon

    August 25, 2015

    Starting to get excited about an upcoming performing arts / photography partnership with Urban Garden Performing Arts.  These are the…