Who’s the new face at SpaceLab. Madison joined us about 6 months ago as a high school intern and Mail Associate. She makes sure all of the mail we receive is sorted and distributed professionally. Madison is organized and very meticulous is her work and is a great addition to the SpaceLab team.
A rising senior in Detroit, Madison says math is her favorite subject, and she is an integral member of her school’s robotics team. Madison joined the team because she wanted to build something. “I wanted (my) creativity to flow on a physical project.” She wasn’t able to participate in robotics when she was in middle school, but was persistent in joining the high school team. She proudly reports that her Renaissance team has participated in state competition and world competitions.
Madison plans to combine her love for robotics and engineering with architecture. Since working at SpaceLab, she’s been introduced to many architects, real estate professionals, and others who’ve given advice and shared experiences that can help her along her career journey. Madison hopes to attend college in California or Florida, and one personal and professional goal is to have a hand in making her parent’s dream come true by designing a new home for them.
In this online panel discussion and presentation, branding experts, architects and designers answer business owners’ pressing questions about designing, building out and refreshing their commercial spaces.
Business owners with existing space and those who are in the planning stages pose questions to our panel of experts:
Meaghan Barry, partner and creative director – Unsold Studio (and recently named one of Crain’s Detroit Business’ Notable Women of Design): “With our clients, we talk about a priority list and a wish list. We identify what is the priority – what will make the most impact.”
Naomi Beasley-Porter, architectural designer – NSPIRD Design Studio: “(Designers) can work together to create a style guide so there are minimum standards in place. It pertains to finishes and quality, so the design is consistent throughout.”
Bryan Cook, registered architect – Berardi Partners: “It’s important to have good team members around you. (Architects and designers) can save you money because of what we know.”
Kenneth Crutcher, registered architect – Crutcher Studio: “If you have a budget, we can work with it, but you have to be upfront and honest about what that budget is.”
These experts have designed some of the best known small commercial businesses in Detroit. Watch to get helpful advice and tips before you build.
This program was featured as a 2020 Detroit Month of Design event with Design Core Detroit.
On Wednesday, June 17, 2020, the SpaceLab Innovation Center, powered by SpaceLab Detroit, hosted a timely webinar to discuss the role of architecture and urban planning in creating safe, healthy living environments: Toward More Equitable Living Environments: African Americans, Architecture and Planning in the Time of COVID-19. View the video replay of the discussion by clicking the link above. Show notes are below the panelists’ bios.
Cities with majority Black populations like Detroit, Baltimore and New Orleans have been greatly impacted by COVID-19. At the end of April, Data Driven Detroit estimated that about one quarter of COVID-19 cases in Michigan were in Detroit despite the city being only 6.7% of the state’s population. APM Research Lab in St. Paul, Minnesota reports that nationwide, African Americans are dying from the virus at three times the rate of white Americans.
Discussion topics included the value placed on Black communities, causes for the disparity in cases of the virus and death rates, ideas for changes to city infrastructure design during and after this pandemic, and how design professionals can adapt to changing environments.
Our Panelists
Kimberly Dowdell, a licensed architect and urban thought leader who is focused on building resilient, healthy and sustainable cities. A native of Detroit, Kimberly’s passion for design as a catalyst for urban revitalization was inspired by childhood experiences in her hometown. She went on to live in Ithaca, Rome, Washington, New York and Boston prior to returning to Detroit in 2015, where she worked on neighborhood-scale reinvestment efforts until her relocation to Chicago in 2019. Kimberly’s professional mission is to improve the quality of life for people living in cities. She believes in building diverse, cross-sector teams to solve our society’s most complicated challenges with a lens towards justice and equity. She is the 2019-2020 National President of National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) and a Principal in the Chicago studio of HOK, a global architecture and planning firm.
Andre Perry, PhD, a fellow at Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC., and author of Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America’s Black Cities. Dr. Perry’s research focuses on race and structural inequality, community engagement, education, economic inclusion, and workforce development. He is a frequent contributor to news programming on NBC, National Public Radio, TheGriot.com, CNN, and other national media outlets. (@andreperryedu on Twitter and Instagram and aperry@brookings.edu)
Donald Rencher, Director of Housing and Revitalization with the City of Detroit. Since 2015, he has served the City in multiple roles, including working on mixed income, mixed use development projects and financial underwriting. Prior to working at the City of Detroit, Donald was senior lead counsel to the Michigan State Housing Development Authority where he worked on large-scale, affordable housing development and served over its single-family housing portfolio.
Moderated by: Michael Randall, urban planner and Director of Community Impact at the American Heart Association Detroit. He has devoted his career and life to the development of communities around the country and the world. His expertise includes, but is not limited to, public health, urban planning, housing, community enrichment and financial capabilities. Michael has served on both public and nonprofit boards including the Ypsilanti Planning Commission, the Ypsilanti Library Board of Trustees and Legal Services of South Central Michigan. His entrepreneurial endeavors include co-owning and operating the community enrichment organization, Maureen James Community Enrichment.
Community Partners
Thanks to our Community Partners for this event: City of Detroit Department of Civil Rights, Inclusion and Opportunity; Real Estate Association of Developers (READ); Detroit chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMAD); Design Core Detroit; Noir Design Parti; Detroit chapter of The American Institute of Architects; Urban Land Institute Michigan; and Urban Entrepreneurship Initiative.
page header photo credit: Mike Birdy
Purchase Know Your Price at Source Booksellers, a Detroit Small Business
Questions: Q&A (49:45 – 55:21): We see diversity in public spaces that have an attraction appeal. i.e..Millenium Park. How do we design parks inclusively so that level of diversity is co-existing in neighborhoods? Is this an opportunity for black/LatinX architects to enable this kind of participation? (via Michael R.)
Q&A (56:04): What will it take to provide more section 8 support for Detroit housing? will additional section 8 support encourage developers to invest in Detroit? (via Marla M.)
Q (57:04 – 1:00:42): At what point do we fund our projects with our money from our banks (Credit Unions as well)? One United Bank for example. (via Kendal B.)
Q&A (1:04:04 – 1:05:00): How do you recommend that we tackle explaining these histories and systemic racial practices within our universities architectural history classes? And make sure these community histories of disenfranchisement are kept in mind by designers even at the early stages of their education? (via Ramatoulie S.)
Q&A (1:05:45: 1:06:36): Are the panelists engaged in any real estate development or affordable housing projects? (via Vic B.)
Cost of homeownership (including insurance and utilities)
Practical money skills education
Organizations: NOMA: National Organization of Minority Architects (via Kimberly D.)
Community Development Advocates of Detroit (CDAD) Community Engagement policy committee is drafting legislation to improve Community Engagement. Too often the engagement process is wanting. If you’re interested in this process please feel free to contact Ruth Johnson of CDAD or take action here. (via Orletta C.)
Habitat for Humanity affiliates are certified credit counselors and assist people with credit repair. (via Elizabeth W.)
Education: Home Builders Association of Southeast Michigan (HBA) has scholarships for students heading to or already enrolled in any aspect of construction education. Deadline extended into July. (via Elizabeth W.)
Noir Design Parti: Important work and history of minority architects in Detroit is the focus of this Knight Arts Challenge award-winning project. Find out more about our work and support our mission! (via Saundra L.)
Got discussion ideas? Email us at info@spacelabdetroit.com
SpaceLab members are continuing to operate their businesses and serve their clients. Here’s some great news they’ve shared over the past weeks. We hope the good news motivates you to keep moving your business forward.
Member SDG Architects & Planners is architect for the Detroit City Council Committee of the Whole (COW) office renovation in the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center (CAYMC) – the first renovation of the area in over 40 years. SDG worked with LLP Construction Services on this Design-Build project.
photo by LLP Construction Services
Izzie LLC has contracted with the City of Highland Park to disinfect and sanitize the city’s four main buildings: Police Headquarters, Fire Department, Robert B. Blackwell Municipal Building, and the Ernest T. For Recreation Center.
Black Girl MATHgic reached a milestone with founder Brittany A. Rhodes giving her first-ever presentation as a full-time “mathpreneur” at the Mid School Math Conference in Santa Fe, NM, the largest middle school mathematics conference in the nation, in early March.
New members LottMetz Crutcher Architecture – a partnership of Grand Rapids-based Lott3Metz Architecture LLC and metro Detroit’s Crutcher Studio, Inc. – came together to propose larger developments in Southeast Michigan and plan to “positively contribute to Detroit’s urban revolution.” Read more on MiBiz >>>
Karen Burton, along with Saundra Little, AIA, spent time with Melissa R. Daniel on her podcast Architecture is Political. The conversation focused on architecture, their Noir Design Parti project, Detroit and entrepreneurship. Listen here >>>
Saturday, Feb. 22 is the Detroit Black Business Crawl! SpaceLab Detroit is sharing our space with makers, creators and vendors to showcase creative, unique home accessories, clothing, and gifts in our 9th floor event space. Interested food vendors, email karenb@spacelabdetroit.com.
Market hours: 10 AM – 5 PM.
Apply today! Vendors will be will be notified by email or phone call.
We’ll also have free open coworking. Reserve your seat, and bring your ticket. Drop in at a desk, the work bar or work café to work for the day, and network and collaborate with Detroit’s urban innovators, professionals and entrepreneurs.
Tash Moore, head blogger for Detroit Startup Week and founder of Catch-313 social media agency interview SpaceLab’s CEO Karen Burton on Medium.
Tash Moore: Thank you so much for chatting with me? You run SpaceLab Detroit, the coworking space downtown geared toward architecture, community development, and like-minded firms. How did you discover coworking?
Karen Burton: Thanks for the opportunity, Tash. I opened my first design and drafting business years ago in Flint. I started in a 70 square foot office in an incubator just north of downtown called the Oak Business Center, which is still operating today. There were a variety of businesses there — professional services and retail with a conference room to share — but at the time everyone seemed pretty disconnected. I thought there could be a better way for businesses to share resources and collaborate.
I see [Detroit] as a top-tier entrepreneurial hub for the country. There are so many resources available and a wealth of opportunities for innovation. – Karen Burton
Freelancing as an architectural designer, the traditional “third places” like coffee shops and libraries didn’t always fit my needs or my colleagues’. We’d need a place to print construction documents and large tables to lay them out for review when meeting with clients. There were many of us solopreneurs who wanted to collaborate on larger projects, and we needed somewhere to come together. The idea for our design and construction-focused coworking space began to develop some time ago, but the timing was perfect in 2015 after I left a job. The following year, my husband Bobby left his, and we decided to pursue the SpaceLab concept together.
TM: With associated partnerships with NOMA Detroit and AIA Detroit, your space really highlights inclusion in a field that doesn’t showcase as much diversity nationally. Besides our majority-black population, what else do you believe makes Detroit special?
KB: I’m proud of my connections with those organizations, as well as with NAWIC and NABWIC, the women in construction groups. We want to highlight that professionals of color and women working in these fields that are so-called non-traditional for us are just as educated and qualified and can lead and work alongside majority companies to get the projects done. SpaceLab is a diverse shared office space with members of all backgrounds and age groups. We’re thankful that people choose to grow their businesses with us.
As part of Detroit StartUp Week, SpaceLab’s member architects and designers tell how to get the most out of a relationship with these professionals and answer questions at “Ask the Architects and Designers.”
You’ve decided that you want to build out your restaurant or retail space. Should you hire an architect? What do architects do? Representatives of Detroit-based architectural firms share information on the best design practices on for your project and how to engage professional services to make your space the place that you love to come to work and welcome your customers.
Moderator: Doreen Hunter, ASID – Owner, HDesigns Group, LLC and Library Coordinator, SpaceLab Detroit
Panelists:
Wes Sims, Vice President – SDG Associates
Paul Carr, Architectural Designer – SDG Associates
Kevin Boyle, AIA, NCARB – BASIC Design
Bryan Cook, RA, NOMA – Detroit Director, Berardi + Partners
Doreen owns HDesigns Group and is Design Library Coordinator at SpaceLab Detroit. She has a degree in Interior Design (with a minor in Business Management) from Central Michigan University and has residential and commercial experience in her portfolio. Doreen was recently elected Finance Director of the Michigan chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers.
Kevin Boyle, AIA, NCARB, EDAC
Kevin, a licensed architect, holds both Bachelor of Science in Architecture and Master of Architecture degrees from Lawrence Technological University. Early in his career, Kevin worked on construction documentation for renovations and additions to several historic Detroit Public School structures and loft conversion projects. Significant past work includes single family residences in coastal Long Island towns, commercial projects in New York City, twin 37-story condominium towers at CityCenter in Las Vegas, and expansive work in the senior living and healthcare field.
Bryan Cook, NOMA
As the Director of Berardi Partners’ Detroit office, Bryan is instrumental in overseeing business/client development, new market sector initiatives, and talent acquisition. He also serves as Project Manager and oversees multiple projects while working directly with the client and development team in producing quality design and documents from schematic design through construction administration. Bryan is current treasurer and past president of the Detroit chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects.
Bruce Kopytek, AIA, NCARB
Bruce has 40+ years of architecture experience. His specialty in the field is creative design, for which he has received several awards and accolades, including the prestigious “Ceramic Tiles of Italy” honorable mention for his work in the financial facilities market. Bruce has designed all types of structures; from banks and retail stores to custom homes, hotels and high-rise apartments. In addition, Bruce is an author and educator, having taught for Wayne State university’s interior architecture program and counts four (a fifth is on its way) published titles and a major article in Michigan History magazine.
Building out your brick-and-mortar business – restaurant, retail or office – is a gargantuan task, and can sometimes feel overwhelming. How do you come to an agreement with a building owner, or buy your own building? Who do you call first after you secure the space? How much should you budget for design and construction costs? We’ve assembled an expert panel of Detroit professionals to help navigate the process and answer your questions.
Moderator: Lynnette Boyle – Principal, Beanstalk Real Estate Solutions
Lynnette has worked in the Detroit metropolitan commercial real estate industry for over 25 years. As Vice President of Property Management with Bedrock Real Estate Services, she worked on the acquisition, development and management of over 7 million square feet of downtown Detroit high-rise and mixed-use property. Lynnette has managed assets and operations of over 20 million square feet of real estate, developing and overseeing operating budgets, implementing multi-million-dollar renovation programs, helping mitigate risk of legal and financial issues, and negotiating vendor, supplier and union contracts.
Erin Bonahoom
Erin’s law practice is based in Detroit and dedicated to providing comprehensive legal services to established businesses, startups, and nonprofits in Southeast Michigan. She advises small businesses, startups and nonprofits from across a wide range of industries on formation, governance, employment, general operations, commercial real estate, construction, and contractual agreements. Erin is also a facilitator and a member of the Board of Directors for the Build Institute in Detroit, a nonprofit focused on economic development empowering the citizens of Detroit and other cities to start their own businesses.
Sean Kelly
Sean Kelly is a construction industry professional representing the LLP Construction team. Sean’s project portfolio includes commercial and industrial projects throughout the U.S. His responsibilities include; estimating, project management and business development. Sean received a bachelor’s degree in Construction Management from Michigan State University and holds the designation of “Associate Constructor” through the American Institute of Constructors.
Troy Puste
Troy is founder of RISE Real Estate & Co., a full-service Real Estate Brokerage. The firm handles residential and commercial sales and leases. Their emphasis is on Detroit’s real estate market, however they sell throughout all of Southeast Michigan.
On this Earth Day, we’re sharing a case study blog post by Vivian White at SpaceLab’s architects Centric Design Studio from their blog, Inside the Studio
Sustainable design also means healthier design – and healthier processes. Most of us spend over one-third of our lives inside office buildings. This makes the design of buildings and office space very important to our environment and our health. Creating healthier workplaces is a central part of Centric Design Studio’s sustainable design strategy. The ways in which we use energy, and our choices of materials and processes, are the most effective way to reduce fossil fuel emissions and contaminants released from materials and processes.
Take a look inside one of our (recent) design projects. SpaceLab Detroit opened their doors for their first public grand opening June 8th, 2017. SpaceLab Detroit is a co-working office space in downtown Detroit area, conceived by husband and wife team, Bobby and Karen Burton. It is a state of the art, efficiently designed work space for today’s entrepreneurs, architects, engineers, and construction service providers.
Natural Lighting
On this project, the south facing windows maximize the benefits of daylight from both the morning and evening sun. Sunlight is a natural source of vitamin D and is critical for facilitating vision and our bodies’ ability to regulate hormones, which in turn keeps processes related to alertness, digestion, and sleep functioning properly.
LED Lighting
Prioritizing around natural light minimizes electricity usage, the largest source of carbon emissions. In addition, most of the lighting used in the space is LED, which uses energy more efficiently than traditional lighting and emits less heat. Motion sensors cause the lights to turn off when there is no movement in the room. Using less electricity helps us keep our environment healthier and adds up to big financial savings for the owner and tenant.
Ventilation
Adding to the comfort level and energy efficiency of this space was a switch from steam heat to gas, allowing the occupants more control over temperature. The radiators were kept to maintain the character of the space, however, the duct work was reconfigured to facilitate the new system.
Use of Materials
Acoustical ceiling tiles are used in the offices for noise reduction. Environmentally-friendly materials were used for the carpeting, which also utilizes processes to maintain clean indoor air quality. Designer roller shades will give occupants maximum control over the amount of natural light to allow in, while also providing protection from UV light.
Located in the heart of Detroit, SpaceLab is a model for the future of design and economic growth. Design challenges within the city’s 2030 District consist of a delicate balance between maintaining buildings historical intellect while deploying healthy, sustainable, aesthetically pleasing key elements. All of this adds up to a reduction in fossil fuel energy use and costs. LED lighting also qualified the business owners for a sizable rebate from DTE Energy. What is not to like about implementing sustainable design?
Fieldstone Architecture & Engineering is a full-service A&E firm focused on providing tailored services to the most trusted builders and developers in the United States. The company focuses on Residential & Golf Communities, Commercial, Clubhouse & Amenity, and Luxury Custom Homes.
They have dedicated their efforts to finding and developing the most talented people in the industry, and they’ve built a team that understands the full build cycle.
With their new office at SpaceLab Detroit, the company now has six offices in Michigan, Minnesota and Florida. In 2015, Fieldstone was listed in Inc. magazine as as one of America’s 5000 fastest-growing privately held companies due to their 600% growth over 3 years time.
Welcome, Bruce Kopyteck, AIA, Ryan Rassmussen, PE, Allan Djordjevic, and the entire Fieldstone A&E team!
With their new office at SpaceLab Detroit, the company now has six offices in Michigan, Minnesota and Florida. In 2015, Fieldstone was listed in 
SpaceLab Detroit 