Kermit Baker Quotations

We're seeing regional design activity very strong here. The strongest sectors seem to be on the institutional side, education and health care.

My suspicion is, this 'staying within the footprint' idea has to do with zoning. If there are restriction setbacks in a community, or floor area requirements, there's an incentive to do this. You can't build on, so you build within. That would generate some pretty creative solutions.

Over the last 10 years, we've seen a fairly significant core of the population spending more than half the value of their home on improvements. Some of that is because buyers increasingly are moving into older suburbs convenient to their jobs in the city, and they're renovating smaller Cape Cod and ranch-style homes.

Firms really niche themselves on a thin slice of remodeling activity.

We expect that share of activity to grow.

As the residential market shows signs of softening, the nonresidential market is in excellent position to pick up the slack in construction activity. Nonresidential construction not only represents billions of dollars in economic activity, but also generates a lot of related spending in furnishings and interior decor.

After six years of recession-like conditions in the industry, 2006 is shaping up as the year that will launch a non- residential expansion, picking up some of the slack from a cooling residential market.

Architects design a fairly small percentage of homes, but they really are the trendsetters. It helps us find out early what the key trends are.

This is a generation that has wealth and longevity. And most aging people don't want to move.

There's a lot of energy and money going here.

There's a strong concern in that area, which has been heightened over the last four to five months. There's more emphasis on technology to ensure that homes are as energy efficient as they can be.

It's a harbinger of slower growth. Both home-building and remodeling helped carry the economy through slower times. Now it will be the reverse, or at the very least it won't be a source of propping up the economy.

For consumers, this means they are going to get contractors who return phone calls, and they are going to be able to get two or three bids, instead of just one.

It's hard to predict when or how market remodeling trends change. Trust your instincts and you'll be able to enjoy all the changes you make.

Not bigger, but better - that thought has caught on in some places.

They want the top-line appliances in their kitchens. They want the fancy countertops.

If you need to build a hospital, you're going to build it. But things that are really maybe more spec -- office, retail and things like that -- might be more susceptible to sharpening the pencil to make sense.

Homes have been getting bigger and bigger for some while. The last time we looked, room additions were still a real important part of the remodeling market.

If I live in a neighborhood that has homes that routinely expect to see two-and-a-half or three baths, and my home has one-and-a-half baths, by adding that second bath I'm going to get a real phenomenal return. On the other hand if I have four baths and I add a fifth, I'm probably not going to get much return at all.