You can’t predict the future, but you can prepare for it.

That’s the thinking behind the concept of “future proofing” in design, architecture, engineering and construction: Taking steps now to prevent or lessen building damage or structural challenges yet to come.

And though architect and 91Ě˝»¨ staff member Brian Rich doesn’t claim to have coined the term, he seeks to clarify future proofing, as it pertains to historic buildings, in a paper accepted for publication in the Journal of Preservation Education and Research.

Rich is an associate construction manager with the as well as a graduate student working on a master’s degree in with a . He has a professional background in preserving old buildings, especially theaters from the vaudeville age, and has his own architectural firm, called .

Future proofing, Rich said, is similar to the widely accepted term “resilience” — defined by the as “the capacity to adapt to changing conditions and to maintain or regain functionality … to bounce back after a disturbance or interruption of some sort.”

Rich sought a definition with a slightly different context. “Their understanding of resilience was very broad. I am looking more specifically at existing and historic structures — and how we can design interventions in those structures that would be beneficial, as opposed to causing more problems for the building.”

He reviewed literature on the topic from recent years, “focusing on how the term is used in a multitude of different contexts, and trying to put together a coherent theory of future proofing,” he said. “One of the cornerstones is flexibility and adaptability — leaving the building in a way that it can be changed in the future.”

Other basic principles of future proofing, Rich writes, include fortifying the “built environment” against climate change, considering long-term benefits and problems when intervening to improve historic structures, using nontoxic, and renewable materials, and staying mindful and respectful of the cultural heritage of the structure.

Rich added that the process seeks to accommodate coming challenges “both negative and positive.” An economic downturn might result in a building being left without occupants or maintenance for years, causing it to deteriorate more quickly. Conversely, an upswing could bring a different use for which the building is also well suited — if it has been designed to last.

In his paper, Rich used the iconic walrus heads that adorn the third floor of Seattle’s century-old Arctic Building as a case history, commenting on past rehabilitation efforts and suggesting 10 basic principles of future-proofing for historic buildings.

The building was constructed in 1917 as the headquarters of the Arctic Club, used for offices in subsequent decades and sold to the City of Seattle in 1988. Twenty-seven impressive terra cotta walrus heads with descending tusks grace the outside along the third floor, held in place with steel reinforcements. That steel began corroding by the late 1970s, and the tusks started failing.

Repairs in the early 1980s included anchoring new tusks into place with stainless steel rods drilled into place from the top of the heads, and a gypsum/Portland cement grout mix — but “cracks began appearing almost immediately,” Rich said. A 1995 investigation found that the gypsum had expanded in reaction to water that had seeped in from above. About a dozen of the walrus heads needed to be replaced.

Rich doesn’t lay blame, especially since research on the expansive properties of gypsum was still new when the repairs were made.

But it got him thinking: “How can we have a process — a checklist or some criteria to help us think through the issues involved, so interventions don’t damage buildings in the future.

“That’s all I’m espousing here,” he said. “People may shoot arrows at me, but that means they’re thinking about it, and that’s good. With the article I’m hoping to start a conversation.”

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For more information, contact Rich at 206-616-1404 or richaven@uw.edu.

Earlier this month the American Planning Association named the UW’s Rainer Vista to its annual Great Places in America , one of 10 public spaces on the list this year. That recognition highlights the campus landscape’s role in creating memories of place and providing a university identity.

Opportunities to take advantage of mountain and water views, possibly rethink areas of campus such as the cement wall along 15th Ave. NE, and take better advantage of underused areas of campus are among the starting points for the framework, which has been under development for two years.

The symposium is open to everyone, and those wishing to participate are asked to register by Oct. 15, however, walk-in registrants at the door are welcome.

The morning session will consider the importance of a campus investment in general. The afternoon will include a presentation about city-campus collaborations, and the discussion of the new 91Ě˝»¨framework from 3-5 p.m. The draft is expected to be available online that afternoon on the Office of the University Architect’s website.

Landscape quality is a consideration in the campus master plan, the agreement between the city and the 91Ě˝»¨about future campus development. The most recent master plan was finalized in 2003.

The landscape framework now being developed will be part of the next master plan and help guide landscape considerations for the next 20 years, although the effects could be even more long lasting, according to Kristine Kenney, university landscape architect. She led efforts on the framework with Rebecca Barnes, university architect and associate vice provost for campus and capital planning.

The framework identifies existing features to highlight, including formal quadrangles such as the Liberal Arts Quad, informal greens such as Denny Yard, wooded areas, views of the water and mountains and canopied areas such as Memorial Way. The consulting firm on the framework, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, determined that the mosaic and variety of open spaces is what gives the 91Ě˝»¨its distinctive beauty, Kenney said.

It’s not a completed plan, but rather a way of looking at opportunities, Kenney said. Once the draft is finalized, it is hoped that a steering committee might develop guidelines, set priorities and find ways to fund the work.

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Work started the week of Jan. 13 on the project that includes a new way for pedestrians and bicyclists to head up onto campus from that corner. The project has been the subject of planning, public documents and design for seven years.

Trees are being cut down from areas where as much as six feet of fill will be added and work on seismic upgrades got underway in a portion of the Triangle Parking Garage as part of the work on a new pedestrian route from the corner straight up Rainier Vista. Once completed, people will no longer walk at street level across Northeast Pacific Place but will instead walk over it on what’s called a land bridge.

The land bridge entails lowering Pacific Place 18 feet as well as adding fill so the ground from the corner slopes up over the land bridge, essentially creating an extension to the existing Rainier Vista.

A total of 228 trees are being removed. Most – 140 – are from the densely planted grove over the triangle garage. The total also includes 24 cherry trees that arborists and 91Ě˝»¨staff advised project planners were in poor condition and too stressed to transplant successfully, according to Andy Casillas, Montlake Triangle project manager with the 91Ě˝»¨Capital Projects Office. The trunks from the cherry trees will be provided for 91Ě˝»¨furniture-making and art projects, and other logs greater than 12 inches in diameter will be stored to be used as lumber for future 91Ě˝»¨projects.

Landscaping when the Montlake Triangle Project concludes in 2015 will include 180 new native trees on the site, according to Kristine Kenney, 91Ě˝»¨landscape architect. The other 48 trees being lost will be made up with trees planted throughout campus as a separate project.

The Burke Gilman Trail detour starting in February and lasting through March – the exact dates are still being determined – will skirt around the existing lower Rainier Vista.

In addition to the land bridge, a pedestrian bridge already partly constructed  by Sound Transit will take people from the light rail station at Husky Stadium to the foot of Rainier Vista.

Students living in the 91Ě˝»¨’s Terry Hall will get a new home after the holidays without doing any moving – that part’s on the house, you might say.

After housing 91Ě˝»¨students for six decades since its 1953 opening, the well-worn is being closed and its 600-some student residents relocated to the new opening nearby. (Terry Hall still has a few adventures in store, though — more on that below.)

And while students are used to schlepping their belongings from one place to the next, for this holiday-timed move all they had to do was pack. The Boyce Moving Company, hired by the , is taking care of the rest.

The students had to be out of Terry by Saturday, Dec. 14, and the movers started working the next day. When the students return to school on Jan. 4, 2014, they’ll find their boxed belongings — and even the contents of their closets — waiting in assigned rooms in the new Lander Hall.

“They’re pretty excited to be able to do this,” said Susan Sherbak, Terry Hall resident director. “Many of them picked their rooms in Terry knowing they’d be able to move to the new Lander.”

Computer science sophomore Heather Huizenga gave the process a good review as she prepared to exit her Terry Hall room for the holidays with a hamper of laundry to do at her Bothell family home over the break.

“It wasn’t too bad,” she said. “You just shove everything in boxes.”

The same was true of freshman roommates Ben Ferrara and Evan McAuley, though with an extra twist: They were allowed to paint a huge Seahawks logo on the wall of their room in water-based paint.

And since the room rate for the new Lander is a bit more than for the old Terry — which the students knew when they signed up — the two roommates said they also like the $500 “inconvenience credit” that the housing office will apply to their account after their move is completed.

It’s all part of the UW’s ongoing development of the West end of campus. The new Lander Hall will feature big rooms with configurable furniture, lots of windows for natural light and a new permanent restaurant to replace the Eleven O1 CafĂ© in the old Lander Hall.

“Our primary mission was to make this as seamless for the students as possible,” said Josh Gana, assistant director for facilities and operations for Housing & Food Services. “To give them the best service — and let them focus on academics and not worry about their stuff.”

Then early in 2014, Terry Hall will have a few final adventures before it is demolished to make way for the new Maple and Terry residential halls.

The 11-floor building will become a training structure for area fire and police departments, who will bring in bomb squads, K-9 units, SWAT teams and more before the building is brought down slowly over the course of a few months.

Gana reiterated that moving boxes on behalf of the current Terry Hall residents
“reflects our values of really supporting students in any way possible.”

The newest research building at 91Ě˝»¨Medicine South Lake Union is completed, and is now undergoing commissioning and certification. Several 91Ě˝»¨biomedical research laboratories will be moving in from April through June.

Occupying the seven-story facility will be lab groups involved in kidney research, vision sciences, immunology, rheumatology, and infectious disease investigations.  These scientists are advancing the understanding of multiple sclerosis, blindness, malaria, lupus, renal failure and many other conditions.

The construction is the third stage of development of 91Ě˝»¨Medicine’s facilities between Dexter Avenue North and Ninth Avenue North and between Mercer and Republican streets.  The Jeffrey and Susan Brotman Building (converted from the former Washington Energy “Blue Flame” building), an administration building and another laboratory building comprise the rest of the present complex.  A companion building, South Lake Union, 3.2, will be built west of South Lake Union 3.1 along the Dexter Avenue North.

The faculty, staff and students relocating to South Lake Union 3.1 will join a dynamic community of scholars. Already at 91Ě˝»¨Medicine South Lake Union are well-established programs in regenerative medicine and stem cell research, lung inflammation, cancer vaccine development, diabetes and obesity, mitochondrial medicine and several other fields. The move adds 300 to 325 more people to the workday population at 91Ě˝»¨Medicine South Lake Union, and raises the total to between 1,000 and 1,200.

“The people who will conduct their research in this building have been deeply involved in its design,” said Dr. John Slattery vice dean for research and graduate education in the 91Ě˝»¨School of Medicine and professor of pharmacology and of medicine. “As we get to the end of construction they have streamed to visit their new home.

“It is very rewarding to all of us,” he added, “to see how excited they are to move in and put the building to work. Through the process the researchers have come to know one another better, plan their community and interactions and initiate new projects made possible by this facility.  It is wonderful to see – just what we had hoped for.”

Jill K. Morelli, director of facilities for the Office of the Dean of Medicine, defined the purpose of the new building as “100 percent research.” She explained that the move will bring together scientists from different but related fields.

“The new building was designed to facilitate collaboration,” she said. The building has several gathering places for cross-disciplinary conversations. It also has a casual conference room with comfortable furnishings. Morelli called it “the living room of the building.” The building contains two large seminar rooms with videoconferencing capabilities, as well as a lobby and reception desk.“

Morelli described the design of the laboratories and their support areas as innovative and creative.

“They are models for the future and a great addition to the School of Medicine’s research portfolio,” she said.

The grounds for the new building will complement the existing inner plaza at 91Ě˝»¨Medicine South Lake Union.

“The landscaping,”  Morelli said, “will suggest the same sense of calm and quiet in the midst of busy city as does the plaza outside of South Lake Union I and II. “A water feature, crossed by a footbridge, will create the illusion of a stream flowing through the plaza and around a corner of the building . The setting will create an oasis from the intensity of the research endeavors occurring inside the building.”

There also are plans for a convenience store staffed by 91Ě˝»¨Housing and Food Services near the new building. Results of a contest to name the compact-size shop dubbed it Micro[scopic] Market.

The cavalcade of events and celebrations held at 91Ě˝»¨Medicine South Lake Union, and the free bus shuttles that carry people back and forth from Campus Parkway,  91Ě˝»¨Medical Center and Harborview Medical Center a few times an hour, are dispelling the notion that 91Ě˝»¨Medicine South Lake Union is an island apart from the university. Many lectures take place in the large Orin Smith Auditorium, and several local researchers and national figures have attracted large audiences. Even an enterprising boat company has been ferrying people to and from South Lake Union to a Portage Bay dock on the 91Ě˝»¨west campus for a small fee.

“The additional videoconferencing in three rooms in the new building,” Morelli said, “will complement those elsewhere on the site and further 91Ě˝»¨Medicine South Lake Union’s connection to the 91Ě˝»¨Health Sciences and to the world.

A few building facts:

• Board of Regents approval April 2010
• Construction started July 2011
• Architect:  Perkins+Will
• Contractor: Sellen Construction
• Research and research support space:  188,000 gross square feel
• Total space: 330,000 gross square feet
• Parking: 266 spaces plus 2 bays in loading dock
• Cost of construction: $113 million
• Total project cost: $164 million
• Project is on time and on budget