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New
Co-op Architect Profile: Dan Mullen
By Susan Simonds, from the May 2005 Newsletter
As
we all eagerly await the opening of the new Co-op, Dan Mullen
and his associates
are hard at work behind the scenes crafting
plans to bring the dream into reality. An architect on the faculty
of the
University of Idaho and principal of Daniel K. Mullen Architects
on Main Street in Moscow, Dan has over 15 years of experience as
a working architect. According to Kenna Eaton, the Co-op’s
General Manager, Dan’s firm was chosen because the Co-op wanted
to work with local architects, Dan had worked successfully with the
Co-op before, and he asked lots of questions to understand exactly
what was envisioned. In addition, Kurt Rathmann, an associate in
Dan’s firm who also teaches at the U of I, was the architect
for the Co-op café and outside pergolas. Other important selling
points for Dan and his associates: they can follow the project through
from design to completion and are well acquainted with ‘green’ aspects
of building. While some architects specialize in designing, Dan’s
firm will not only do the design but also be the project manager,
supervising the nitty-gritty of renovation and construction, with
the ability to be on-site to make adaptations as needed.
What
do architects actually do? In a full-service firm like Dan’s,
they gather information, design, draw, coordinate, negotiate, oversee,
and supervise. According to Dan, the information gathering can take
up the bulk of architects’ time, although this is the part
of the job that is usually the least obvious to us non-architects.
They must acquire knowledge about the project’s intended
use; the appearance; the technical details of construction including
painting,
lighting, electrical systems, plumbing, and landscaping; the hiring
of contractors and subcontractors; the legal quagmire of zoning
ordinances and building codes; and the costs based on 16 different
categories
of construction. Accuracy in predicting a budget is vital to the
successful completion of a project.
About
80% of Dan’s practice is “adaptive re-use” meaning
that he tries to find new uses for old buildings—another
reason his firm was hired to renovate a building that was originally
a supermarket
and then a sporting goods store.
Seventy
percent of the firm’s work is out of town. Dan does
a lot of coffee shops, jewelry stores, and houses, with current work
going on in New York City and New Jersey. One newly completed local
project of Dan’s which has created quite a buzz in all meanings
of the word is the One World Café, a coffee shop on the
corner of Sixth and Main Streets, which has brought a wonderful
cosmopolitan
feel to downtown Moscow.
Dan
grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, earning both bachelors and masters
degrees
in architecture from the University of Nebraska.
As a graduate
student, he spent a semester in London at Regents College. From
Lincoln, Dan and his wife, Linda, moved to San Francisco where
he worked for
several firms, eventually starting his own practice. He then returned
to Lincoln so that his children could be closer to their grandparents.
When the University of Idaho came calling with a teaching position,
the family moved to Moscow, preferring life in the West. Dan deems
Moscow a good town for a small architecture practice and a great
town for kids, of which he and Linda now have four: Alaina, age
11; Ian, age 8; Claire, age 5, and Talia, age 3. Both Dan and Linda,
Co-op members themselves, are what Dan dubbed “amateur musicians” with
a small recording studio in their home. They are very involved with
the music program at the Christian Life Center. Dan has played shortstop
for the Red Door Cowgirl Team, although this year he will have a
tough time choosing between attending Ian’s games or his
own.
Susan Simonds has been writing this column for one year. |
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