Flush in a time of drought: Even when water is plentiful, it’s important to control and protect it

Central Virginia is paradise compared to the parched, burning lands of California, Texas, Nevada, and Oklahoma. Here on the verdant side of the great river, our groundwater is replenished and streams run high, but everybody has to worry about water in the 21st century. The click-click-click of irrigation heads keeping time for twilit suburban idylls […]

From the editor-at-large: Of the hand

There is a long out of print volume published by Princeton Architectural Press in 1992. Its spare black and white pages brought together a seminal collection of 18 highly individualized and speculative or research driven houses designed entirely by what was then the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Architecture. Now 22 years […]

The big picture: A condo goes oversize—and back to basics

Buying a condo might seem to be an exercise in ceding control—one has little prerogative to alter the building’s exterior, and a condo association has veto power over many other changes a homeowner might desire. Yet one resident of the Belmont Lofts, which were developed on a city brownfield near the railroad tracks in 2003, […]

Around the edges: Views light up a Staunton blade factory

Innovative companies may start in garages—or, in the case of one local concern, an old dairy building—but the successful ones will eventually need a proper home. Cadence is a Staunton company that manufacturers blades, needles, and other sharp components for medical instruments. Since its founding in 1985, it has graduated several times to larger workspaces. […]