Beers, a principal with HKS Health and the Florida Health Group Practice Leader at HKS Architects Inc., says his firm works on large and complex projects: stadiums, office buildings, performing arts centers and more. However, health and wellness has always been a personal focus for him “because it’s spiritual…places of worship, long-term care facilities, hospitals, places that are center to the core of what we are about as humans.�

Beers provides Â鶹ԭ´´ architecture students a semester-long masterclass on where healthcare architecture has been and where it is going.

“He has a wealth of information to share. He’s at class every day,� says , director of the program. “He’s helping students understand that healthcare spaces are not just hospitals—they’re doctor’s offices, clinics, drugstores, spaces around and outside these buildings—and to help them think broadly and holistically.�

The most gratifying part of the partnership, he says, is the ability to help inspire the next generation of design and nurture new talent.

“He’s helping students understand that healthcare spaces are not just hospitals—they’re doctor’s offices, clinics, drugstores, spaces around and outside these buildings—and to help them think broadly and holistically.â€� – Allen Watters, director of Â鶹ԭ´´’s architecture program

“We call it ‘sharpening the sword.’ It makes us sharper and it reminds us of the passion and why we got into architecture,� Beers says. Linking a world-renowned firm to an academic program teaches students not only the foundations, thought process and aesthetics of architecture needed to make the world a better place, but how to do it.

Both Watters and Beers agree that examining healthcare facilities is one of the best ways for students to learn. Those facilities combine construction requirements and codes found in every building imaginable:  Hospitals are hotels, medical offices, restaurants and more combined into one complex. Added to that is the fact that metrics and new research create opportunities for innovation in these spaces. The healthcare needs are always changing, and Watters and Beers say architecture plays a large role in responding to those needs.

The health and wellness course is hands-on, and includes drawing, digital work and model-building. Course topics include healthy eating, exercise, integrating existing facilities into urban fabric, and field trips to hospitals under construction.  Students in the course are taught that “healthcare isn’t just about big hospitals. It is an expanding field of architecture that deals with all facets of life,� according to Beers.

Former student Savannah Heipp is an architectural intern at HKS in Orlando. She says she already held a personal interest in healthcare architecture before taking the course, but soon felt the course become an important asset to her curriculum.

“The one thing that set this class apart was having a helpful leader in the healthcare industry teaching the class,� she says. “The first-hand knowledge and real-world approach Carl provided, along with the amount of passion, knowledge and excitement he brought to the class, definitely impacted me personally and drove me to focus strictly on this field of study.�

Beers says he welcomes the opportunity to influence students and their architectural projects to be “as positive and uplifting to them as I can.�

Studies have shown that more comfortable and artistically focused patient rooms lead to lower stress levels, requests for pain medication and reports of pain.

Beers and Watters say they ensure the students understand this balance. “Architecture and design does have an impact on us that we don’t often realize,� Beers says. “You’re creating a space that is artful for everyone, which is like paying it forward to society.�

The Â鶹ԭ´´ Architecture program is a 2+2+2 program where students earn their associate’s degree from Valencia College, bachelor’s from Â鶹ԭ´´ and master’s from the University of Florida. Students travel, take classes and are provided internship opportunities. To learn more about the bachelor of design in the architecture program, visit .

All the designs will be open for public viewing at 500 W. Livingston St. from 5 to 6 p.m., after which the projects will be reviewed from 6 to 9 p.m. by practicing architects who will give their opinions.

“They will say what they liked and what they wished the students had done. The idea is to have a continuing discussion about the process of design,� said John Maudlin-Jeronimo, director of the Architecture program. “Plus, it puts our work out into the public, and the profession knows what kind of students we have.�

The 34 graduates in the senior class began at Â鶹ԭ´´ in 2010.

Â鶹ԭ´´ created the Bachelor of Design in Architecture in partnership with Valencia College and the University of Florida as part of a 2+2+2 program for students to be able to complete a National Architectural Accrediting Board program in Central Florida. The local chapter of the American Institute of Architects helped develop the program.

Students take two years of classes as Valencia students and two years as Â鶹ԭ´´ students at the University Center building on Valencia’s West Campus in Orlando. Students then can move on to obtain their master’s degree, potentially by staying in Orlando and enrolling in the University of Florida College of Design program at Â鶹ԭ´´â€™s Center for Emerging Media.

The work that has been done by the graduating seniors – called the Design 8 Studio – has been noticed.

All 12 of the students who applied to the University of Florida for the master’s program were accepted, and others were accepted at schools such as the University of Southern California, Art Institute of Chicago, University of Oregon and Northeastern University.

The juniors – called the Design 6 Studio – were given the task to envision the new SVAD building next to the Visual Arts Building, where there now is a parking lot.

To see a Â鶹ԭ´´ TV video about the architecture program, go to .

Â鶹ԭ´´ architecture students, city planners and other agencies have partnered to create the Orlando Virtual City, an interactive project using technology to help prepare for the future while preserving history for generations to come.

Electronic 3-D representations of downtown buildings will be combined with historical photographs, written and oral histories, cultural information and infrastructure images to create a rich repository of information.

“This project represents a unique experiment in integrating the preservation and display of cultural heritage with urban planning and facilities management,â€� said Thomas McPeek, assistant professor of architecture at Â鶹ԭ´´â€™s School of Visual Arts & Design. “It will provide the public with a means of experiencing the life of the city across time – ‘looking over the shoulders’ of the city’s planners and managers.â€�

Both the city and Â鶹ԭ´´ started working on independent projects to achieve similar architectural goals before they discovered that their paths crossed about a year ago. They then teamed up to develop the city’s virtual world through 3-D technology.

The project gained international exposure this week when several of McPeek’s undergraduate research students presented their progress at a conference in Orlando before about 300 professionals from around the world that create and work with three-dimensional data.

Yuly Mojocoa, Diana Ariza, Trevor Stephens, Terrance Perdue, Massey Brooks, Natalia Savorotca and Lucas Najle discussed the team’s work during the FARO 3-D Documentation Conference. FARO develops products that create 3D representations.

“We would like to have a virtual representation of the city to be used for planning purposes for everything across the board: infrastructure, street drainage, fire rescue, police training,� said Holly Stenger, a city project manager and architect. “It’s a planning tool.� The images also could be used to refurbish buildings if they are damaged by a hurricane, fire or some other disaster.

“First responders would have access and would benefit,� Stenger said. “Part of what we envision is to locate an incident and see what and where it is, and how to respond.�

The exteriors of about 75 downtown buildings so far have been modeled to create virtual 3-D images, and some have been supplemented with interior images made by laser scanners. Examples of the early models include the 29,000-square-foot Orlando Public Library, the Sligh Boulevard train station, and Howard Middle School, which at one time served as Orlando High School. The images will be able to be viewed from all angles on a computer screen.  

This semester, the project turned its focus on the Church Street tourist and commercial area, and its nearby Interstate 4 overpass; next on the agenda is the landscape along Orange Avenue.

“Before I came here I had some preconceived notions of what Orlando was, and most of them were about Disney and theme parks,� McPeek said. “I didn’t realize what a wonderfully historical and cultural city it is.�

Najle, a Â鶹ԭ´´ junior working on the project and a graduate of Winter Park High School, said metropolitan Orlando has changed dramatically just since he was a young boy, and that this project “is a really great way to preserve the way Orlando is now. This is a new take on how you can go about preserving historical buildings.â€�

Stenger said Orlando’s urban-design objectives call for 3-D modeling, and the city is among the pioneering few to tackle the concept.

“Los Angeles and Disney and Universal have similar models for their use,� she said. “We are kind of a hub with the digital and gaming industry, and we have the talent and information to pull it all together.�

Najle said it is exciting to be on the front edge of the new applications.

“A couple cities in Europe have virtual cities and we’re bringing that technology here,� he said.

Najle said that working on the project has already helped give him some insights that will benefit him as a professional architect.

“This really connects me to the building process,� he said.

The project is still in its data-acquisition stage and no specific date has been set to post all the collected images and cultural information online.

In addition to the City of Orlando, the project’s partners also include FARO, the Orlando chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and the Â鶹ԭ´´ Synthetic Reality Lab.

 “This is something that we will continue to add to,� McPeek said. “It will be an ongoing repository.�

The event will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 21, at Â鶹ԭ´´’s 500 W. Livingston St. campus. It is free and open to the public.

Selected undergraduate and graduate students in Art, Digital Media and Architecture will exhibit their creative media projects in “science fair” style. The projects span a wide range of areas, from creative interactive art and novel mobile media to new applications of video game technology. Some of the work on display will include experiments in innovative approaches to learning, wearable computers, GPS-based projects and explorations of digital cultural heritage.

Three short animated films produced by Â鶹ԭ´´ students will be premiered. Â鶹ԭ´´ faculty, alumni and industrial affiliates will also attend to discuss their media-related creative work and research.  The studios of the MFA in Studio Art and the Computer program will be open, and the MFA students will discuss their work with the public.

The event provides an opportunity to meet potential future employees, see and experience leading-edge experimental media and catch up with old friends.

Awards for the best student projects and presentations will be made by Â鶹ԭ´´ alumni, industrial partners and the Young Architects Forum of the American Institute of Architects.

The event is co-sponsored by the SIGGRAPH Orlando Professional Chapter and the Digital Media Association of Florida. Additional support is being provided by the American Institute for Architects.

SVAD combines the former Art and Digital Media Departments with the new joint Â鶹ԭ´´, Valencia Community College and University of Florida program in Architecture. More than 1,500 students pursue BA, BFA, Bachelor of Design, MA and MFA and degrees in Art, Digital Media and Architecture.

For more information, contact Dr. J. Michael Moshell at jm.moshell@cs.ucf.edu or 407 694 6763.

Forty-one students are enrolled in the 2+2+2 partnership program. Students take two years of architecture classes at Valencia’s West Campus and receive an associate’s degree before completing the Bachelor of Design in Architecture program at Â鶹ԭ´´ Valencia West.

Graduates can then remain in Central Florida to pursue a master’s degree in Architecture by enrolling in the University of Florida’s College of Design research center, Citylab-Orlando, in Â鶹ԭ´´â€™s downtown Center for Emerging Media.

Â鶹ԭ´´ Provost Tony Waldrop, College of Arts and Humanities Dean José Fernandez and Architecture Program Director John Maudlin-Jeronimo also attended Friday’s celebration. They recognized the region’s growing architecture community in addition to the Valencia-Â鶹ԭ´´-UF partnership.

The local chapter of the American Institute of Architects has worked closely with Valencia, Â鶹ԭ´´ and UF to develop the program, which will prepare students for a variety of careers, including professional architecture, construction management and industrial design.

For more information, visit .

The inaugural class, which began Aug. 23, has 41 students. Students in the program take two years of classes as Valencia students and two years as Â鶹ԭ´´ students. They then can move on to obtain their master’s degree, potentially by staying in Orlando and enrolling in a University of Florida College of Design program based at Â鶹ԭ´´â€™s Center for Emerging Media in downtown Orlando.

The Valencia and Â鶹ԭ´´ classes are taught at the University Center building shared by the two schools at Valencia’s West Campus. The local chapter of the American Institute of Architects has worked closely with Valencia, Â鶹ԭ´´ and UF to develop the program.

Source: Orlando Business Journal,

Created in partnership with Valencia Community College and the University of Florida, students in the program take two years of classes as Valencia students and two years as Â鶹ԭ´´ students. They then can move on to obtain their master’s degrees, potentially by staying in Orlando and enrolling in a University of Florida College of Design program based in Â鶹ԭ´´â€™s Center for Emerging Media in downtown Orlando.

The Valencia and Â鶹ԭ´´ classes are taught at the University Center building shared by the two schools at Valencia’s West Campus. The local chapter of the American Institute of Architects has worked closely with Valencia, Â鶹ԭ´´ and UF to develop the program.

The partnership between Valencia and Â鶹ԭ´´ allows students to take two years of classes as Valencia students and two years as Â鶹ԭ´´ students. Students then have the option to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Florida (UF) College of Design program based in Â鶹ԭ´´’s Center for Emerging Media in downtown Orlando or at another institution.

Admission decisions for the Bachelor of Design in Architecture program will be announced on April 30. The program starts this fall at Â鶹ԭ´´ Valencia West with a class of at least 32 students.

For more information, visit.

Students will take two years of classes as Valencia students and two years as Â鶹ԭ´´ students. They then can move on to obtain their master’s degree, potentially by staying in Orlando and enrolling in a University of Florida College of Design program based in Â鶹ԭ´´’s Center for Emerging Media in downtown Orlando.

The Valencia and Â鶹ԭ´´ classes will be taught at the new University Center building shared by the two schools at Valencia’s West Campus. The local chapter of the American Institute of Architects has worked closely with Valencia, Â鶹ԭ´´ and UF to develop the program.

For more information, visit .