The AJO Blog

Florida's Coastal Architect recognized for redefining beachside construction of resilient homes

Architecture Joyce Owens’ founder and principal, Joyce Owens, FAIA RIBA, is the recipient of AIA Florida's 2022 Gold Medal award, recognizing her leadership and impact as an architect.

Southwest Florida’s historic, vernacular architecture included design elements that worked well for this Subtropical environment, long before air conditioning. How do we adopt these features into our approach to designing Modern Tropical homes? How do the ideas of the past help us design for greater energy efficiency and comfortable Florida living today?

When it comes to taking on the needs of a whole-house remodel for a large, waterfront home, there are plenty of surprises you want to be sure you avoid.

Shortly after I moved to Fort Myers, my brother asked me to design a house for his family on Sanibel Island. I had just graduated from architecture school, and together we decided that his family needed a contemporary house that would fit into the island surroundings and respond to the local climate.

There’s plenty of talk about climate these days and lots of questions are being asked, especially in Florida, across the southern coastal states in the United States, and in other subtropical and tropical environments around the world. Some examples of questions being asked are: Is the weather changing? Were the king tides higher this past month? Has rainfall increased? Should we anticipate greater storm surges during hurricanes? And, are these potential changes a result of greater greenhouse gases?

FORT MYERS | TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (July 14, 2020) — The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Florida/Caribbean has awarded architect Joyce Owens the 2020 Medal of Honor for Design , the pinnacle design award for the profession, recognizing her as one of the most influential architects in the state. The annual AIA Florida/Caribbean Design & Honor Awards recognize architects for their significant contributions to the architecture profession, their communities, and architecture at large. Several juries comprised of past honor award recipients and member architects convened to confer eight honor awards in May, including awarding Owens for design.

Too many people still think architects are necessary only for designing the big building projects — museums, schools, baseball stadiums, hotels, or corporate headquarter buildings.

Lessons in Resiliency

In the process of figuring out the best way to build (or re-build) your home, the first step is to find your flood zone. This process can be complicated, but this series on FEMA Flood Zones is here to help walk you through it.

Our series of "Rebuilding Stronger Smarter" focuses on the "smarter" aspects of architecture and construction. Series FEMA 50 breaks down the complex FEMA 50% rule and explains how it works.

Our series of "Rebuilding Stronger Smarter" focuses on the "smarter" aspects of architecture and construction. Series 3B continues the discussion about the importance of windows, by talking about how window flashing is (usually) a hidden component that is CRITICAL to the longevity of your window and ultimately the building as a whole.

Our series of "Rebuilding Stronger Smarter" focuses on the "smarter" aspects of architecture and construction. Series 3A discusses why windows are critical to the life of your building, and how you can tell if your windows are in good shape, or need to be repaired or replaced. Click to learn more!

Our series of "Rebuilding Stronger Smarter" focuses on the "smarter" aspects of architecture and construction. Series 3A discusses why windows are critical to the life of your building, and how you can tell if your windows are in good shape, or need to be repaired or replaced. Click to read more!

The process of permitting can be confusing, even for professionals!