Archinect - News

Hawaii is still undecided on post-disaster building codes amidst challenges

2025-01-13T18:36:00-05:00

Hawaii's statewide building code has "absolutely failed to do what it was intended to do when it was created — to provide a uniform building code for Hawaii," a local critic of it tells the Honolulu Civil Beat. Officials there are mulling different changes to the three-year adoption cycle in the wake of the 2023 wildfire catastrophe that claimed 102 lives and 2,200 structures.

Some would like to see the timeframe doubled to allow for technological advances that could save lives, but, as another detractor to this plan puts it: "A six-year code cycle denies communities the opportunity to incorporate these advancements safely into our homes, businesses, schools and critical infrastructure."

Hawaii, which reports another 6,500 structures to be under the threat of sea level rise, is also currently facing a housing shortage of at least 50,000 units.

Calif. executive order clears path for rebuilding in LA County

2025-01-13T14:46:00-05:00

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order that includes two major stipulations aimed at rebuilding homes in Los Angeles County in the wake of the unprecedented fires that continue to damage homes and structures across the region.

The order clears the way for expedited construction delivery by eliminating all California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review requirements for builders—in addition to those included in the California Coastal Act—as they are so constituted at present.

The language of the order also calls for various state and local agencies to direct the streamlining or elimination of other building codes and requirements at their discretion. Protections against the price gouging of building materials have likewise been extended until January 7th, 2026. The most current estimates say that 10,000 or more structures have been lost to the blazes since last Tuesday.

Here are some more of the latest updates on the ongoing fire and recovery efforts in LA...

Nonprofit group releases National Zoning Atlas resource for 2025

2025-01-03T15:38:00-05:00

Here’s a useful tool for architects and planners as we enter the new year. The newly released National Zoning Atlas resource covers 30,000 U.S. municipal zoning codes and consolidates several different disciplines, representing the "most complex geocoded legal research project in the United States." The methodology for the atlas was first developed in 2020 by Cornell AAP professor Sara Bronin, who just announced her departure from the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP).

Authors from the nonprofit Land Use Atlas, Inc. state: "The National Zoning Atlas helps people better understand zoning, which in turn broadens participation in land use decisions, facilitates zoning reform, and narrows a wide information gap that currently favors land speculators, institutional investors, and homeowners over socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. It also enables comparisons across jurisdictions, illuminates regional and statewide trends, and strengthens planning for housing productio...

LA City Council approves changes to boost housing stock despite detractors

2024-12-12T15:57:00-05:00

The Los Angeles City Council has decided on regulatory updates to the 2021-2029 housing element that will center new development mainly in commercial districts and existing high-density residential neighborhoods while avoiding single-family zones in spite of the benefits proven to be offered by the latter.

The 15-0 vote allows for additional building in those areas provided a certain percentage of affordable housing units are included. Some have labeled the single-family zoning exception as 'exclusionary' as those plots cover 72% of the city. The update also allows for development on lots owned by public agencies or religious organizations. Los Angeles is currently facing an immense housing crisis and will have to present a plan to create an additional 255,000 homes to the state by mid-February.

(h/t Urbanize LA and the LA Times for the update)

Wealthier communities are cracking down on the size of megamansions

2024-08-12T19:37:00-04:00

The fight to curtail so-called megamansions was picked up recently by Realtor.com. They say the colloquial square footage "horse" has "already left the barn," adding the caveat that the typical American home size has increased by 150% between 1980 and 2018.

Some other choice takeaways include Paul Goldberger telling a Hamptons community meeting in May: "We want to be East Hampton, not Levittown-By-the-Sea." (The growth of estates there began back in the Gilded Age, however.) Zoning regulations in wealthy enclaves such as this tend to focus on a design's aesthetic features and proportions relative to its lot size. The phenomenon of "Iceberg Houses," e.g., where much of the home expands below grade, is another area of scrutiny as more scrupulous planning ordinances begin to take hold.

California environmental review process is hindering affordable housing development, according to new state agency report

2024-05-28T12:57:00-04:00

A new report on California’s entrenched housing crisis from the state's independent Little Hoover Commission has identified the 54-year-old California Environmental Quality Act (or CEQA) as the greatest barrier currently in the way of architects and planners looking to meet the demand for 2.5 million new units statewide by 2030.

LAist.com has more on the report, which took over a year to compile. Among its findings is the concerning fact that 25% of all lawsuits initiated under CEQA have been challenges to infill housing developments in densely populated urban areas (e.g., Los Angeles). Authors say this could grow into all-out “urban warfare” that, in turn, overburdens exurbs and more inland areas. LA has been more proactive recently under the mayorship of Karen Bass but must still overcome hurdles to meet its mandate to build 500,000 new homes before 2029.

Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies publishes research on the state-by-state effectiveness of ADU policies

2023-11-10T18:36:00-05:00

The publication of a new research paper from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University has provided policymakers with a useful nationwide assessment of different state-level policies regarding Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in the United States.

The paper centers on two markets – New Hampshire and Portland, Oregon – as a means of comparing measured and more aggressive approaches (the latter having already been long-established as a national model).

Researchers were seeking to combat the “self-reinforcing negative cycle” that is born out of patchwork regulations and has made market conditions even more challenging to their production. The results offer proof, according to the authors, that “robust changes can have dramatic impacts.”

Related on Archinect: A possible future for ADUs and its growing 'familiarity factor'. Image courtesy of Abodu.

Comparisons of the failures of different approaches to by-right approvals in creating new housing in the New England states i...

Specifying the future of steel construction could be your next job description

2022-10-05T13:37:00-04:00

Following last week’s look at an opening for a Senior Architect at CHECKSET, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore roles for a Structural Steel Specialist at the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC).

The successful candidate will support the AISC in its mission to write the specifications to which all steel buildings in the U.S. are designed and built, and to produce design standards that advance the quality, economy, and safety of steel bridges. The position, which is available in six different U.S. cities, requires a minimum of three years’ experience in building design and construction, with a preference for technical experience in structural steel fabrication.

Why the role interests us

The importance of effective building codes has been ever-present in our editorial over the past 12 months, whether in relation to the Champlain Towers collapse in Surfside, ...