DAI -- Architects With A Blending Style
April 7, 2003
by Freda Parker
Renderings provided by DAI
What does Lucia Fredenburgh, president of Design Associates International, Inc. (DAI), particularly like about Monolithic Domes? At the Ninth Annual Monolithic Dome Conference this past March, I asked her. She said that after meeting David B. South, Monolithic's president, almost three years ago, she became "fascinated with the Monolithic concept and its energy conservation." She added, "I wanted to understand more: the construction and the how and why it was effective because I'm very concerned about ecology and energy."
Recently, Lucia and her associates at DAI, an architectural and interior design firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas, have been working on projects that combine or blend Monolithic Dome and traditional architecture. One such project is Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Ferris, Texas.
DAI designed Corpus Christi's dome (108' x 32') as a multipurpose center whose interior will be built in three phases. When completed, it will house eight classrooms, a basketball court, offices, a meeting room and a kitchen. The church's 800 parishioners plan to begin using their center, which will double as the community's designated tornado shelter, in June 2003.
In a way, DAI's Monolithic Dome design was the answer to a prayer for Corpus Christi. Lucia said that when DAI began doing designs for the church, it became obvious that "cost effectiveness was very important to them." She said, "The project was limited by money, but, at the same time, they wanted to have various components in their facility. We realized that Monolithic was going to be the answer to their needs.
"We introduced the Monolithic Dome concept to the church," Lucia continued. "They had no idea. So we gave them a tour. We took them to the Monolithic offices in Italy, Texas and the Italy High School multipurpose center, and the one in Avalon, Texas that was under construction at the time. So they began to understand and be appreciative."
Lucia Fredenburgh
Lucia was born in Bogota, Columbia. At 21 years of age, she moved to Providence, Rhode Island, where she completed studies for degrees in architecture and interior design and where she lived for the next ten years. Lucia then moved to Texas where she has lived and worked for the past 25 years. Her reasons for the move varied. Lucia said, "The weather was one factor. The cold was not good for my daughter's health. The economy was another reason. At the time, there were no jobs in the New England area."
In 1992, Lucia's firm won a small contract in a $275 million bond package for the Dallas Independent School District. Although small, the successful completion of that contract gained creditability for the firm and bidding opportunities on other projects.
Since then, Lucia's work has been recognized by the Minority Business Development Administration's 2000 Regional Director's Award for Outstanding Commitment to Excellence; the National Register for Who's Who in Executives and Professionals; and the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Steve Oyer
Steve Oyer, an architect with a listing in NCARB (National Council of Architectural Registration Boards) works closely with Lucia. Currently, Steve is Project Architect at Corpus Christi as well as several other churches, three schools and a shopping center. He said, "I spend a lot of time on site at Corpus Christi. In fact, I'm heading for Ferris right after this (the Monolithic conference)."
Asked what he's impressed about and what he's worried about in relation to Monolithic Domes, Steve said, "It's an interesting building technique that I'm learning. The way it's designed and the way it's constructed is very well thought out.
"What worries me is that it is new and people are not used to it," Steve continued. "We had a steady stream of people at the site during construction -- especially during the Airform inflation -- people coming by and asking and really very curious. We could have sold tickets."
Fernando Rojas
At Corpus Christi, Fernando Rojas is DAI's job captain. He said that he works closely with Steve and looks after the technical aspects of the project. Like Steve, Fernando too was amazed by the amount of spectator curiosity the dome's construction generated. He agreed that they "could have sold tickets."
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