Meet our New Board of Directors

With a mix of experience, passion, and a shared commitment to making things happen, our Board of Directors is hard at work keeping us true to our roots while taking us to the next level. On top of spreading the BVH love for our core values—Commitment to People, Pursuit of Knowledge, and Sense of Wonder—they’ve got 4 big themes they’re dedicated to for the year ahead:

Culture of Care
We’re all about growing and serving with a heart. That means looking out for our people, clients, and communities. We’re sticking to what’s worked for BVH—great design, taking care of each other, and doing what we love. They will help us keep it real and share the love.

Design Swagger
We’re here to protect what makes BVH… well, BVH. Back in the day, our founder, Deon Bahr, dared to prove that bold, innovative design wasn’t just a coastal thing—it could thrive right here in our backyard. The BVH Board is helping us hold true to our roots of pushing boundaries and shaking up the status quo.

Intentional Growth
We’re focused on growth that stays true to our core values, our people-first culture, and keeping that purpose-driven design integrity. It’s all about finding the right balance to keep us healthy and strong.

Excellent Client Service
We do what we do because we love it, and we really love it when our clients adore what we do for them. We’re here to delight, and when that happens, everything else falls into place.

Thank you for leading the charge Mark Bacon, Dennis Coudriet, Cynthia Ray, Cleve Reeves, and Ed Vidlak.

PULP: Previously Used Lumber Products

By Deon Bahr

In the early 70s, a young BHVH was working on a huge landscape master plan for the Lincoln Airport Authority. Over the course of this work, our client revealed his plan to burn down 34 three-story, Air Force barracks. This delighted the fire department and left the rest of us absolutely appalled at the amount of smoke that would introduce into the atmosphere.

Hat in hand, I presented a scheme to get rid of the barracks, salvage the high-quality materials, preserve the atmosphere, and return a profit for our client. We divided the buildings into groups of four and prepared plans and specifications that allowed contractors to bid on them.

I was very excited about this project and wanted BHVH to have an opportunity to be involved. To avoid exposing the firm legally, we formed the PULP Partnership: Previously Used Lumber Products. To make sure we would win a group of buildings, we bid high on one group and low on another group. We won both bids. So now we had eight huge wooden barracks to salvage.

I still don’t see how we were able to recruit firm partners. From 1974 to 1976, we bought a dump truck, hired a contractor, and rented a storage building. All partners were required to work to complete the task. Then, off we went, completely underestimating the amount of effort it would take to salvage the materials.

Major value in the materials consisted of Number 1 Structural Grade Douglas fir 2 x 12 and 2 x 14 (no knots) with lots of 16p nails. Susan Bahr is now an expert at pulling nails using two crowbars.

Partners:  Deon Bahr, George Haecker, Lynn Vermeer, Jim Handeland, Bob LeZotte, Bob Hanna, Stan Milles, Bob Findley, Bob Kalkowski, Craig Wanamaker. After paying expenses, and a lot of hard work, we netted about $1,900/ partner and avoided lots of smoke.

PULP 1974

BVH Sustainable Action Plan

Our fundamental value lies in our dedication to people and the creation of purposeful, context-specific architecture. One salient purpose revolves around safeguarding our planet, its communities, and the environment by integrating climate-sensitive architectural solutions. Demonstration of this is our Sustainable Action Plan, which outlines three key goals:

  1. Fostering a sense of wonder through highly sustainable design solutions that evoke awe and appreciation for the natural world.
  2. Seeking the pursuit of knowledge by meticulously tracking the emissions generated by our work, enabling continuous improvement and minimizing environmental impact.
  3. Demonstrating our commitment to people by actively tracking and reducing our operational carbon footprint, contributing to a healthier planet for present and future generations.

View our Sustainable Action Plan (SAP) here.

HIGHLY SUSTAINABLE PORTFOLIO
BVH seeks to deliver high performing buildings. For example, recently completed and located on the MCC South Omaha Campus, the new MCC Auto Tech Facility is a 100,000 sf building that serves as home of the College’s Automotive Technology and Automotive Collision Technology programs. This highly sustainable community focused project achieved LEEDv4 Silver certification through the purposeful incorporation of nature and biophilic elements. The program facilitates key partnerships between the college and private industry partners such as Toyota, Scion, and Lexus.

MCC Case Study

COMMITMENT TO CARBON NEUTRALITY
Authored in 2017, our SAP has driven changes to our design process, approach to project delivery, and grown into six years of actively reporting our portfolio to the AIA 2030 commitment. BVH is proud to be part of the small percentage (1/3!) of 1,300 signatories that report project data.

OFFICE OPERATIONS
When it comes to making a difference, BVH believes in leading by example. 

As architects, designers, and community leaders it is our responsibility to be stewards of our social, financial, and environmental resources. Today’s buildings demand smart solutions to foster a better quality of life as well as the responsible use of finite resources. As communities, owners, and occupants demand higher standards we must rise to the challenge—providing innovative, creative, and data-rich solutions. We cannot remain complacent with the status quo, but rather lead in our profession to set a new standard.

 

 

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