Collegiate Times

Virginia Tech students and alumni can now have homes designed in traditional Hokie style. Balzer and Associates, Inc., an architecture and engineering firm from Roanoke, teamed up with Tech and introduced a line of collegiate-licensed homes Sept. 9 at the Visitor Information Center on campus.

The event was referred to as ?Bringing the Hokie Home,? and featured representatives from Balzer and Associates. The traditional Tech architecture style was imitated on the plans presented at the event. Designs that are still in the works were displayed as well.

The idea for collegiate licensed homes came from Locke White, director of licensing and trademark at Tech.
?I like to think outside the box,? Locke said. ?I was thinking of any new ideas that could be more extravagant than the Hokie Ford Explorer. So I came up with the ?Hokie house? idea, where students or alumni could somehow incorporate the Tech logo into a room design or a home.?

At the time, White was working with Craig Balzer, president of the Balzer and Associates firm in Roanoke, on his own house when Balzer helped him with the idea that homes could be built in the style of some of the buildings on campus. Together, they worked on plans for collegiate-licensed homes.

Currently, about five specific plans for different collegiate-style homes exist, but designs can be customized according to what clientele want.

The range of styles for the project is diverse. Some homes are as big as mansions; some plans can be restricted to one room. Customers can also choose to have a room designed with a specific style such as, for example, a recreation room modeled after Lane Stadium. All plans will reflect the Gothic style of architecture on campus buildings.

Balzer and Associates provides home plans, not construction on the actual building itself, White said. The company?s business plan is to sell its designs.

?The houses are not restricted to the Roanoke/Blacksburg area,? White said. ?With plans from Balzer, a Hokie house can be built anywhere.?

As of now, Tech is the first university to offer a line of collegiate-licensed homes. Balzer and Associates will extend its network to other colleges because, White said, ?alumni everywhere have a strong connection to their colleges.?
?We are really excited about this project. It gives alumni and students a chance to stay connected with their school and the opportunity to enjoy the pride that comes with owning a Hokie home,? he said.

Within the first week of the project, 10 requests for plans were made. Tech receives 4 percent in royalties for each plan sold.