SAS ORGANIZATION

SAS/ Design, Inc. is an Architecture + Urban Design firm whose pursuit is to advance the general knowledge of art and science in architecture based on four fundamental principles: innovative thinking, a total design integration, a collaborative team concept, and the appropriate use of technology in design - within the parameters of economic feasibility.

SAS was established in 1997 and incorporated in 1999. The firm is a SOMWBA certified MBE in the State of Massachusetts. Mr. Arturo Vasquez, AIA is the firm's Principal and Founder, and he is a Registered Architect in the State of Massachusetts (No. 8424) and in New York State. SAS’s primary office is located in North Quincy, MA, with a regional office in the Mid-Hudson Valley in New York State, dba RWF/Rock Wall Farm Architects, and a strategic international alliance with berg architekten in Munster, Germany.

SAS has been in business for over thirteen years creating places to live, work, play, and learn; integrating art, architecture, planning, urban design, and landscape design with sophisticated 3D technology for visual communication. The firm’s project experience includes: single and mixed-use multi-family residential, educational/institutional, and civic/cultural architectural projects; and comprehensive planning and urban design for streets, neighborhoods, districts, urban villages, transit-oriented development, high-density urban sub-centers, and private parcel development projects.

Core Principles: SAS’s professional focus is to design environments that establish a "sustainable balance" between the built form and the public realm. Our objective is to advance the general knowledge of art and science in architecture based on four core principles: innovative thinking, a total design integration, a collaborative team concept, and the appropriate use of technology in design; all within the parameters of economic feasibility and environmental sustainability.

Technical Expertise: SAS pioneered innovative visualization tools and techniques using various computer-based software and technology incorporating 2D and 3D imaging and visual communication for all phases of architectural design and drawing, production, and project documentation consistent with Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) methodologies.

SAS TEAM LEADERSHIP

Mr. Arturo Vasquez, AIA is the Principal and Founder of SAS/ Design, Inc. Mr. Vasquez has over twenty six years of specialized experience integrating civic architecture + sustainable urban design, and master planning for neighborhoods, districts, and cities alike. He is an accomplished architect, urban designer and educator with extensive knowledge in architectural and urban planning history and theory combined with a highly-skilled expertise for visual communication. A hallmark of Mr. Vasquez’s work is innovative thinking and critical discourse: with his firm he has established a reputation for merging architecture and urban design with advanced 2-D and 3-D visualization technology. His experience includes working with private and public sector clients, neighborhood organizations, non-profits, and city agencies for mixed-use, institutional and cultural architectural projects; and master planning for mixed-use developments, infrastructure, streetscapes and urban landscapes.

Ms. Laura Sfiat is an Artist + 3-D Design Graphics and Web Designer for SAS/ Design, Inc. Ms. Sfiat has over 20 years of experience as a professional artist, working in a wide-range of media, combined with 7 years of experience with computer-based advanced visualization and programming technologies for architecture and urban design. Ms. Sfiat is an artist assistant at the Museum of Fine Arts, the Massachusetts College of Arts, the Brookline Arts Center, and with professional artists in private practice. As an artist, she has exhibited extensively and lectured internationally, and her work is in private collections in Europe, Latin America and the US. Ms. Sfiat’s architectural visualization experience includes national and international, cultural architectural and landscape art projects, and 3-D imaging for high-density, mixed-use urban master planning projects. Her unique expertise using traditional architectural rendering techniques is combined with the use of advanced software to enhance presentation techniques and graphic design. Ms. Sfiat’s responsibilities for the firm include the design and implementation of 3-D graphics and web-based visual communication technology and software applications.

SAS PROJECT EXPERIENCE

SAS/ Design, Inc. recognizes the importance of working with community-based organizations, civic associations, and related development groups for the revitalization of urban neighborhoods and districts; the firm’s experience ranges from community charrettes, neighborhood planning, streetscape and urban landscape design, mixed-use housing, transit-oriented development, civic/community spaces and open space, to educational, institutional, and cultural projects.

SAS's recent architectural + urban design project experience includes the St. Kevin’s Area Planning Collaborative (SKAPC) urban design and architectural community-based master plan for the re-use of St. Kevin’s in Dorchester, MA; the Talbot Neighborhood Triangle Real Estate Development Planning and design guidelines for development near Talbot Avenue Station in Codman Square, Dorchester, MA; the 3Bays Green Communities-Green Buildings sustainable urban design and landscape master plan, in collaboration with Elton+Hampton Architects; and the 100-acre Wolfcreek high-density, mixed-use development master plan in Austin, TX; the Cabot Estate Lobby C-D Renovation project in Jamaica Plain, MA; the Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center New Emergency Department urban design, streetscape master plan, and landscape design in Brighton, MA; the Packard's Corner Gateway streetscape and landscape beautification improvement master plan in Allston, MA; the Chestnut Hill Park residential development in Brighton, MA; the Fairmount/Indigo Line TOD Master Plan comprehensive community-wide transit-oriented development master plans for Dorchester Bay, Codman Square, Hyde Park, and Mattapan in Boston, MA; the Chinatown Gateway Master Plan in Boston, MA; the Shurtleff-Bellingham Neighborhood Enhancement Strategy in Chelsea, MA; the Fenway Northeastern Planning Process in Boston, MA; the Rose Kennedy Greenway "Crossroads Initiative" in Boston, MA; the East Hollis Street Area Plan and the Historic Railroad Square urban design and architectural master plan in Nashua, NH.

SAS's additional master planning and urban design experience includes the Fenway Urban Village Charrette in Boston MA; the Citizen's Planning Charrette in Revere, MA; the Historic Rainey Street Neighborhood Preservation Charrette in Austin, TX; and the McAllen Vision 2000 Regional Urban Design Assistance Team (RUDAT) in McAllen, TX.

SAS TECHNICAL RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES

SAS/ Design, Inc. experience with computer-based technology in design incorporates traditional hand-drawing methods with a variety of digital tools and techniques for design production, graphic design, three-dimensional imaging and visual communication. The firm's technical expertise includes computer animations and web-based interactive media presentations.

SAS's efficient visualization in architecture and urban design is used to clearly communicate complex technical design issues and concepts. The integration of traditional design and innovative technology is fundamental to the success of the firm for implementing visualization methods with 2-D graphic analysis and documentation, and 3-D computer modeling and design.

Sequential Visioning: SAS's "sequential visioning" techniques are essential to clearly illustrate the design integration of public realm infrastructure and streetscape elements in the urban environment. SAS/ Design’s "before-and-after" visual effects (VFX) accurately demonstrate how sensitive urban places are transformed through the design process from existing conditions to a final cohesive vision.