Architecture Archives - Shane Walters

2016 Gateway Dirt Pits – Behind the Scenes Photos

December 15, 2016 by Shane Walters

2016 Gateway Dirt Pit Stalls – Go Behind the Scenes on Move in Day

Take a look at the 2016 Gateway Dirt Nationals pit stalls ahead of the event. Today, dirt racing invades The Dome at America’s Center.

Last night teams from all across the country began rolling into the stadium. They unloaded their cars and setup pit stalls. I’ve been working on gathering an entry list, but apparently it’s a hard thing to come by.

I will say the Gateway Dirt Nationals is stacked with local talent and big name dirt late model drivers. A few of the drivers I’ve seen thus far; Scott Bloomquist, Bobby Pierce, Kenny Wallace, Gordy Gundaker, Kyle Steffens, Kevin Weaver, Ray Walsh and Lance Dehm. That’s a very short and incomplete list of the drivers I’ve seen. I couldn’t tell who most of the dirt late model drivers were last night as their trailer was not unloaded.

Most teams have rented a single car pit stall. Meaning, no trailer. The cars are dropped off and the trailer is parked across the street.

There are only a select few who purchased a pit stall big enough for their enclosed trailer rig. However, for those guys the rig must be detached from the trailer. They have the trailer only, with the hauler also parked across the street.

Many were questioning how the Gateway Dirt Nationals staff could fit 400 race cars in a single building. However, the room is there. The America’s Center Convention Complex has an amazing amount of space. A total of 502,000 square-feet in the L shaped building. The complex is attached to The Dome.

The convention center also happens to be one of the most beautiful modern minimalist interiors I’ve ever seen in St. Louis. I want to live in there.

Need something more exciting to look at? You can watch the ‘Gateway Dirt Nationals track test’ video here. Also, photos from the on-track test can be seen here.

You can view the Gateway Dirt Nationals event schedule for this weekends event here.

We’re based in St. Louis so you bet we’re covering everything for this event. You can view the full archive of Gateway Dirt Nationals news coverage here.

Take a look at the pit stalls for the Gateway Dirt Nationals below.

The Gateway Dirt Nationals event takes place this weekend at the Edward Jones Dome in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. To get tickets to The Dome Dirt Race visit GatewayDirt.com

2016 Gateway Dirt Pits – Pit Space Photos

Photos: Shane Walters

Chicago Architecture Photos

Chicago Modern Architecture Photos Radisson Blu 0879

November 4, 2015 by Shane Walters

Chicago Architecture Photos

Chicago architecture photography by Shane Walters. Check out photos of Millennium Park, Michigan Avenue and many popular buildings in Chicago, IL.

Modern Lego Table

May 10, 2015 by Shane Walters

White Modern Lego Table

This is my modern Lego table project. I needed a hobby that I could spend short periods of time working on. I’m a grown-man-child and I decided Lego was the answer. So, I built this flat white ultra modern lego table right in front of my desk, where I spend most of my life.

The table was built out of 2×4’s, drywall and grey Lego baseplates as you can see from the in-progress construction photos below. It sits on 4 wheels so I can move it around with ease.

Overall I’m extremely happy with how it turned out. The see-through construction layout is my favorite part. It was inspired by a modern building I saw. It would have been better if I painted the inside pillars light grey but I have an obsession with baby blue.

Next, I’ll be building up an entire Lego city on top of the baseplates. It will take years but I look forward to it. I’ll be posting photos on this website as I complete the custom Lego city build. I won’t be using any kits. Stay tuned.

Author: Shane Walters

Ultra Modern Lego Table Completed

Modern Lego Table Build

Bed In Floor Contemporary Bedroom Project

August 27, 2014 by Shane Walters

Bed In Floor Contemporary Bedroom Project

This is my bed in floor contemporary bedroom project. It stole three months of my life but the overall result I feel is amazing. I couldn’t be much happier with the way it turned out.

You can see the photos and videos of the extremely modern minimalist bedroom below. I also attached some before and after photos.

Before this project even started I needed to change the floor. Carpet is a no go for me in every sense of the phrase. I torn it up. I then rented a concrete grinder and went to smoothing the concrete floor which was rough, un finished and filled with carpet glue.

Once I was done grinding the floor it was time for stain. I didn’t want one solid concrete color. I wanted a two tone concrete stain. So I bought two colors, putting down the lighter grey first, several layers, over several days. Then, I came back with a slightly darker grey concrete stain. I painted slight streaks all over the room.

Finally, I sealed the entire floor with a high gloss. The idea was that when it dry’s it would still look a bit wet, it did just that. It helps reflect the lights a bit in the darker room.

The walls were then painted a matte neutral grey. I choose a flat color here so the things I hang on the wall stand out a bit more. I needed mostly neutral colors because the lights will change colors. So, even the pictures on the wall are greyscale photos. The single painting I have in the room features most colors, that way it would match with any color I set the lights to.

I wanted to build my bed into the floor. I have concrete floors, so unless I get out the jackhammers it wasn’t possible. My solution was to raise half of the floor, wall to wall on just one side.

I left 4 inches between the wall and the bed. This was to put in the cove lighting on the floor. Hiding the edges, this idea actually came from looking at an infinity pool. Usually, cove lighting is used on the ceiling. I wanted it to be on the floor and around the headboard of the modern bed.

The lighting is 3 stands of RBGW LED light strips from St Louis based SuperBrightLEDS. All 3 sections can be controlled from a single remote. These lights can dance and change colors, similar to what you would see in a nightclub. The strips could be attached to music and change with the beat, though I don’t intend to do that. Those fast changing nightclub lights do bad things for anxiety. I can set the fading colors to whatever speed necessary, it could take 15 seconds or a tenth of a second to fade in and out of color.

However, I tend to just pick a specific LED light color and leave it there without a fading change. The light strips also have a set of white bulbs next to each colored bulb, this means I can set it to any color I choose then add white to it as well, making it a bit brighter. I’ll change it to white without a color if I really need light to read a book or something of that nature.

Half of the raised floor features the built in bed. The bed has a raised edge, those are 4×4’s with the sharp edge cut on the outside so I don’t hurt myself getting to bed. The cut out section for the bed and nightstands is lined with sky blue microfiber. I used microfiber only because it’s easy to clean.

Half of the raised floor features the built in bed. The cut out section for the bed and nightstands is lined with sky blue microfiber. I only used microfiber only because it’s easy to clean.

The other half isn’t wasted space, it’s used for storage. I wanted all clutter of any kind hidden from plain sight. I don’t need things on display that don’t need to be. I wanted anything most people store on shelves behind a closed cabinet door.

The bed was then painted matte white. The idea here was to have darker walls and a dark floor with a bright white bed. This was to help the bed illuminate with the color of the led lights while everything else remained a bit darker.

I actually went into this entire project with extreme minimalism in mind. I hate clutter, anywhere. I wanted to walk in my room and see no type of clutter whatsoever. Most people have dressers and shelves, these flat surfaces become clutter magnets. It sure helped that I already have very little to store.

I work from home so my home, bedroom included doubles as an office. I work from whatever room I feel like working from that day. They all need to be work ready.

To me clutter fills your brain when unnecessary distractions, wether you are aware of it or not. When I walk into a bedroom like I built it allows me to think clearer. It allows me to create without mental distractions.

Even the sky blue microfiber boxes to the left and right of the bed where designed to hide clutter. Those are basically my night stands. I built them recessed into the bed to hide the objects placed on them. It’s only recessed about 2 inches but that’s enough to hide books and remotes from the eyes as you walk in the room. While the objects are there they don’t attract your attention.

I don’t want to say how much this total project costed me, it was too much. Far more than I expected. However, if I had a contractor build and design the bed in floor contemporary bedroom project it would be at least 4 times higher in costs. Besides, where’s the fun in that anyway. I had a blast building this myself, despite the headaches as shown below.