Responding to Disaster: How Architects Can Help Communities Rebuild

As architects and designers, we’re often asked questions about creating new spaces and buildings or preserving hundred-year-old buildings. It’s less often that our role in rebuilding after disasters is discussed in classrooms and newspapers. But this is a critical role we can play to help families and businesses recover after their lives and livelihoods are upended.

On this episode, we catch up with Pendleton's Country Market owners Karen and John Pendleton to discuss their experience recovering from an EF-4 tornado that ripped through their farm in Lawrence, Kansas, in May of 2019. Joy Coleman, principal and architect at Treanor, assisted the Pendletons with assessment and renovations after the tornado and joins this episode to talk more about the project.

Architects have the opportunity to serve as emergency second responders by certifying as disaster assessment professionals through the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, which is the national standard for certifying architects, engineers, and code and safety professionals to provide assessment reports. Will Robarge, an associate principal and architect at Treanor, is one of just a few certified trainers through Cal OES, and he is currently serving his third term on the AIA National Disaster Assessment Committee, which is tasked with educating architects and engineers to be able to prepare and respond when a disaster occurs. Will joins us on this episode to share more information about these initiatives.

Resources:

• View photos from weather events referenced throughout this episode
• How to make a disaster preparedness plan for you and your family
• FEMA 
• Red Cross 
• Cal OES
• AIA Disaster Assistance Program
• AIA Reoccupancy Assessment Tool
• AIA Disaster Assistance Handbook 

Treanor is a national architecture, planning, and design firm located in the United States. The company holds a firm belief in sharing resources and insights with professionals, clients, and building users to shape the space we use to live and grow as people. For more information, visit www.treanor.design.