Hoyt Architects & Hoyt Architecture Lab (HALVR)
Hoyt Architects is an architecture firm located in Sarasota, FL. Hoyt Architects has been solving architectural problems for over 25 years. They seek design solutions that acts as catalysis to energize urban settings. The result is timeless, efficient and modern architecture. Hoyt Architects takes on the challenge of bringing together often divergent public and private entrepreneurial interests in order to form a common vision though urban design. Utilizing visualization, they implement technology as an integral communication tool throughout the design process. All projects start with a problem to solve. At Hoyt Architects, they deliver results with innovative solutions based on sound planning principles.
Hoyt Architects Website
In collaboration with Gary Hoyt (Founder/CEO), he wanted to make the website as user-friendly and simple as possible, but also showing off everything that their company is known for. Using Squarespace as our platform, we updated the current site to make it more eye-catching to potential clients, employers and anyone that would visit the site.
We started off by updating the current photography that they had currently in place to keep it consistent with the photography they they were currently updating on the rest of the site. Then we updated the copywriting, the fonts/font heights & weights, giving a brief description about Hoyt Architecture LAB (HALVR) and how they collaborate together on some of the major projects, and adding new/upcoming projects to the “Work” section of the site
Website Pages
Aside from the homepage, the other two pages that we have on the site are “Expertise” and the “Work” pages. On the Expertise page, I’ve updated the photography with some of the most recent projects that Hoyt was developing or had already built, while also updating the current font choice with its height & weight.
The Work page is where we showed off all the projects that Hoyt has completed or is in the 3D modeling phase of the project. Me and Gary both agreed that we wanted to keep the “Work” page looking like a grid to show off as much projects as we could. We also have each project categorize by what the project is and if it falls under the appropriate category. (i.e. Mixed-Use, Residential, Retail & Restaurants, etc)
The last section of the navigation bar is the link to the HALVR site so that new users can find out more information about HALVR and their services.
Hoyt’s Social Media
To keep up with the current ways of how we advertise new projects to the public, I introduced Hoyt Architects to the idea of utilizing social media. It would help them showcase what they current have built throughout the city and what projects they have coming up. One of the big platforms we’ve decided to use to showcase their work was through Instagram. It was an easy way to showoff images and videos of what we had currently worked on or are in the process of developing and the announcement about new/future projects. Using the story feature to showcase projects, what awards or mentions in the media that they had and also to appeal to a newer and much younger audience that might be interested in working for them or it could be a good way for potential clients to visit their website for more information.
Hoyt Architecture Lab (HALVR)
Hoyt Architecture Lab (HALVR) is a multidisciplinary research/design studio specializing in virtual reality, 3D visualization & interactive applications for urban design and development. HAL’s experience-based urban design methodology “urban analog”, allows for real-time analysis of variables, solutions, and interactive visual communication throughout the design & development process. HALVR’s interactive dashboard allows users to develop analytical, block-by-block, plan alternatives while visualizing elements that influence the use and experience of urban places. HALVR is continuously developing applied artificial intelligence (AI) analytics/features; including traffic, crowd/pedestrian, time of day/year, and weather simulations – that allow users to experience, monitor, and analyze a full experiential environment in real-time. HALVR’s design/analytic software simulates the experience of movement around a site that integrates both existing context and future design. HALVR’s urban analog model allows users to develop a deeper understanding and s visceral connection to proposed designs and resulting “scenario test” alternate studies.
Website Pages
In collaboration with Gary Hoyt and Dorian Vee (CTO of HALVR), we wanted to keep it the way we created the Hoyt website, with the style but with some difference between the two. After users on the Hoyt Architects site will click on the “Lab” tab on the navigation, it will take them straight to the homepage of HALVR. On the homepage, you’ll get a look and feel of what HALVR does and what services they provide. On some of the Hoyt projects, you’ll see that they offer their services to Hoyt’s clients as well as Imerza’s clients.
Aside from the homepage, you have the “Work” page. It is very similar to Hoyt’s, but like we said we changed a few things so it doesn’t look exactly the same. On the work page, you have the same grid layout but it doesn’t say the name of the project until the mouse is hovering over it.
When you select a project, you’ll see that we have just a video and a brief description, the reason for this is because we really want this to be the place where our case videos really shine where it doesn’t have a chance to on the Hoyt Architects site.
HTML/CSS Formatting
Collaborating with Derick Vigne (Software Engineer) on the “Work” page, we rewrote the HTML/CSS for the project categories to make them fit in the correct section/category and to tell the page how many projects are allowed to be placed in each category.
For links to Hoyt’s code and other projects, Check out Derick’s Github!
