What is a Trilobite?
A trilobite is a prehistoric underwater creature, and the official state fossil of Ohio. They used to live in the shallow ocean the covered the Midwest, and fossils are prevalent in the limestone found throughout the Ohio River valley.
In addition to simply liking the animals, the word “trilobite” means three body parts, which I’ve always connected to Vitruvius’ ancient writing about Architecture. He defined Architecture as having three elements: firmitas, utilitas, and venustas, translated as Firmness, Commodity, and Delight. Briefly, this helps identify the Architect’s goal of creating space that has structural stability, useful function, and inherant beauty.
Who are you?
Scott Hand is the Principal Architect at Trilobite Design. He receieved his architecture education from the University of Cincinnati, and has worked in New York and Chicago honing skills in on architectural acoustics before returning to Cincinnati. Trilobite Design is an architecture firm foused on providing carefully designed building solutions for sustainable facilities and performing arts projects. Residential, cultural, and many other buiding types fall under these specilties.
Expect high quality outcomes with personal attention. We strive for design solutions that work for you and for future generations. Our goal is for all of our projects to be built to Passive House standards. Our unique specialties tend to attract unique projects. And we LOVE to learn about you and your organization and how we can be a part of your next steps.
Do I Need An Architect?
Working with an Architect can often make your project easier and less expensive through a whole host of reasons. Trilobite Design may not be the best fit for you if you’ve simply been told by the building department to find one, though. I sincerely love working with clients who are excited about building something unique, sustainable, and important. After honing a variety of expertise over time, I try to take on projects that will benefit most from that careful attention. Trilobite Design was formed to help develop extremely energy efficient buildings and build spaces that sound incredible.
In general, you’ll benefit from hiring an Architect if you are tackling a building project of nearly any size. A skilled contractor will be able to walk you through a small renovation or deck project, but a licensed Architect can coordinate design, function, and structural elements before the construction begins.
Scott Hand is a licensed Architect in Ohio, Kentucky, and Illinois.
What is a Passive House?
Passive House, or the German Passivhaus, is a building standard, similar to a LEED certification. Some of the characteristics overlap with LEED requirements, but the primary goal of a passive house is for the building to use as little energy over time as possible. So focusing heavily on insulation, the air/water-tight skin, proper ventilation, and sun/site orientation, it’s possible to build a structure that maintains a comfortable interior temperature without the need for extensive heating and cooling systems. Through the use of electric heat pumps and careful selection of other equipment, we can detach the entire facility from fossil fuels, as well. Through our experience and other studies, it can cost as little as 8% more than “typical” code-compliant construction to build to Passive House standards initially, with the maintenance and operations cost savings throughout the entire use of the building far exceeding that (plus the environmental benefits of reducing our overall energy use).
How did you get into acoustics?
My love of music and the performing arts led me into the specialty of architectural acoustics. I’ve always played music, and during my college education, moonlighted nearly all of my electives at the university’s conservatory of music. My remaining classes were physics and the science of sound. I found ways to interweave these pieces together – designing a concert hall for my Masters thesis, and build full-scale acoustic diffusers and a functional, expertly tuned marimba in the university woodshop.
I interned at an acoustic engineering firm, and then landed a dream job at Morris Architects Planners in Chicago designing theaters and performing arts centers. I have worked on projects of all sizes and collaborated with incredible specialists around the globe. Learning how the professional performers prepare and use a space, working alongside them, and then attending countless recitals, shows, and performances led to a deep understanding of the way an audience can interact with a performer.
I’ve also founded, owned, and operated a music venue, recording studio, radio station, record label, and reception hall. I’m proud of the success of these endeavors, and the balance the business perspective brings to the construction, management, and maintenance of a facility is insight unlikely to be shared by many other Architects.