How can a historic general store tell the stories of a small town while serving as its new municipal meeting hall?

The Town of Summerfield plans to renovate their signature historic property, the Gordon Hardware Store, for use as its public meeting hall. The building, largely vacant since the 1950s, would house a grand meeting hall with an addition for supporting functions. We engaged stakeholders to assess their needs and define the building’s history.

In its day the general hardware store was the social crossroads of this rural area - providing both necessary goods and daily conversations. Its reactivation would once again allow the citizenry to gather for town meetings and other events. The new supporting addition also adds flexibility for activities, and graphically displays the building’s social history through photographs and storytelling. These displays and the reuse of this building will preserve the cultural history of Summerfield for future generations.

H I G H L I G H T S

• Historic research and interviews

• Programming and needs assessment

•Cost estimating

C O L L A B O R A T O R S

Lynch Mykins | Surface678 | AME Consulting Engineers | Cumming Corporation

The design of this speculative development responds to the context of a vibrant downtown neighborhood with a high-rise building that nestles into the large infill lot with a strong presence.

Our charge was to design a building that complied with allowable zoning regulations and maximized value for the site. We explored a mix of various uses that would combine to shape the building’s form, activate the street and result in a dynamic structure that would recall the past with a contemporary sense of permanence. The building design responds to the context with significant retail and commercial opportunities on the first two levels which are pulled in from the property line to create a double height arcade along the street. The remaining upper levels of the building provide a boutique hotel with a sky-lobby, indoor amenity spaces, and various outdoor terraces. The modularity of the façade expresses the cellular nature of the stacked hotel rooms and is carried out down to the articulation of bricks.

H I G H L I G H T S

• Thin composite steel-concrete floor system to achieve shallow floor-to-floor heights.

How can a brick-and-mortar restaurant emphasize a brand identity?

The concept for Fresh Food Generation’s first brick and mortar space was developed around two driving ideas: garden and graffiti. Reminiscent of the brands emphasis on locally sourced food, the “garden” evokes a connection to nature while the “graffiti” was inspired by the local urban art scene and the owners desire to create a sense of community in a diverse neighborhood. Niches carved into the black stained plywood intervention and a live plant wall layer a rich natural garden aesthetic into the space. A hand painted urban graffiti wall greets customers upon entering the restaurant. These two elements combine to reinforce the essence of the delicious culinary experience rooted in farm to plate ingredients and the street vibe of their food truck origin.

C O L L A B O R A T O R S

One Way Development | TJM Consulting | Deme5

Can we compliment and contrast at the same time?

We honed in on three distinct aspects of the dense pine trees that make up this building site: ground, movement, and above. The GROUND is a thick mat of pine needles on gently sloping land; walking on them is very quite sound. The home is sliced into the land at one end while hovering slightly above at the other with garden and deck walkout areas.

The layout of the home meanders; drawing out an experience of MOVEMENT through spaces and views akin to moving around the Pines. ABOVE, a thick sculpted roof shapes interior spaces and floods the home with filter light through the high canopy of the pine trees. While the experience of the home compliments its place, the varied yellow exterior gives a modern pop contrast to an otherwise very brown and dark green natural environment below the treetops. Bespoke details throughout make for a warm modern home with a dash of playful fun.

Built in 1940, Liberty is Durham’s last remaining tobacco auction warehouse

The design integrates the Liberty brick facade at the corner of Rigsbee and Corporation into the new commercial and multi-family housing development. The historic facade is maintained and the new architecture takes visual cues to assimilate window patterns, locate entries, and program the corner with a restaurant. Fiber cement siding by Oko-skin provides a warm durable exterior that compliments the historic brick.

How can heavy metal become visually light and airy?

This retail center just west of downtown had not been renovated since it was constructed in the 1970s. New ownership desired a fresh public appeal for both potential tenants and customers.

As a budget conscious project, we choose to make necessary repairs and focus the majority of funds on adding a new metal marquee along the front. Our challenge was to create a fresh, light and airy feel. We did this through the interplay of perforated metal and light. The existing facade is painted as a backdrop with new perforated metal panels positioned in front. Different hole sizes are used for the perforation to vary the opacity. This allows sunlight through and the ability to see sky, trees, and layers behind - all are carefully detailed and choreographed. Custom steel frames bound each four foot panel and are hung off the building with structural steel. The ability to see through the perforated metal creates a fresh, light and airy feel to the plaza while providing a unique identity and branding opportunity.

H I G H L I G H T S

• Perforated metal panels, steel structure, and phenolic resin slats

C O L L A B O R A T O R S

Lynch Mykins | Engineered Designs | Wilson Covington Construction | Design Element Signs

How can the experience of moving through a home enhance your connection with the nature outside of it?

The design for the Phase 1 addition emerges as a response to the nuances of the site. On one hand, there is a need for a relationship between the master suite addition and the nondescript existing house. The existing house is conventionally clad in stucco and penetrated by generic windows.

The addition mimics this idea as an autonomously clad enclosure of raw steel punctured by windows that filter light, air, external views, and views to adjoining spaces. The Phase 2 addition is a bold mediator between the home and its complex natural surroundings. It features a double height living and dining room overlooking the gracious backyard poised at the head of a dynamic canyon landscape and large Brazilian pepper tree. The raw steel skin mediates between the front and back of the house by creating an overhang in the back yard for shade and an upper porch in the front yard.

H I G H L I G H T S

• ASID San Diego Design Excellence Award, 2nd Place, 2020

C O L L A B O R A T O R S

Ian Mellor | Vincent Designs, Inc. | Richardson Steel Inc. | California Sheet Metal | Studio 512 | K-CO | Arise Interiors

The goal of this project is to create a new typology for urban housing that helps address the problem of homelessness in urban centers by providing a stable dwelling place for those coming out of homelessness. Community is fostered through common activities and interactions that build and strengthen personal relationships.

The project provides a core space to foster these relationships and an adaptable framework as community grows and contracts. 12 prefabricated dwelling modules are arranged adjacent to one another to form a central community porch. From street side this gives the appearance of a human-scaled urban building, rather than loosely organized mobile dwellings. The community porch is centralized to increase resident interactions, provide visual and sound connections, and create a sense of safety. A simple wood trellis roof with clear plastic covers the dwellings and community porch like an umbrella. Rainwater is collected from the roof and stored in an underground cistern where it’s used to flush toilets and water the garden. The umbrella roof reduces heat gain from the sun and keeps the rain and snow off the dwelling units. This increases the energy efficiency of the dwellings and extends their lifespan. The trellis and units may be added to or subtracted from as necessary to accommodate the residents.

H I G H L I G H T S

• 144 sf prefabricated dwelling modules

• Rainwater collection

• Sustainable site strategies

• Flexibility for expansion and adjustment

• Communal gardens

How do we design a flexible urban space that encourages community participation?

Kendall Square has become as mecca for companies making tremendous advancements in technology and science but the recent commercial development has followed the status quo. This project proposes to play a unique role of enlivening a dead zone in the urban fabric by establishing an adaptable urban event space and an adaptable light filter to create opportunities day and night for organized events or low-key spontaneous gatherings. It is formed by two parts that establish its identity in the urban fabric. The ground level adaptable urban event space is defined by large bi-fold and swing doors that allow the Adapter to fully open up providing for a multitude of programmatic options. The upper section is an adaptable light filter made up of periscopes to choreograph the seasonal southern daylight, project light and graphics at night, and provide unique views into and out of the Adapter. The space is a brand, it stimulates interactive experiences and encourage users to observe space, light and material in unanticipated ways through its extreme adaptability.

H I G H L I G H T S

• Adaptive reuse of an underutilized MBTA utility space

• Flexible furniture components such as stages, bleachers, service counters, bike rack bartops, and display shelves adapt to various programmatic uses.

• Use of bi-fold hanger type doors.

We collaborate with our clients in the pre-design phases of a project to help them evaluate the opportunity of a given site. We often do this before land acquisition. Our expedient, thorough, and collaborative process allows our clients to be better informed of their investments.

Pre-design service, often prior to land acquisition

• Quick evaluation of massing strategies on a given site

• Accurate data analysis of square footage and building efficiencies

• Analysis of the urban context to identify mixed use opportunities

• Sustainable site strategies

How can a home be private and flooded with natural daylight?

The Raleigh Residence is a two-story contemporary home nestled on a steeply sloping site and closely surrounded on three sides by neighbors. Wall, movement, light, and envelope were shaped to create a simultaneously warm but private residence, while still maintaining connection to the site.

The residence is characterized by a delicately skinned living volume lightly resting on heavy masonry walls. The main living spaces are open and directly connected to the landscaped interior courtyard via full height windows that run along the length of the residence - creating a sense of private sanctuary on an otherwise hemmed in site. Movement from outside to inside and through the home is defined by warm wood elements weaving throughout the house. The expansive window wall is then shaded with the same wood slats, extending from the interior wood-wrapped staircase. While on the stair landing, residents experience the courtyard from the unique view of a worm.

How can we define a differentiating identity for an aging office building?

The client’s primary goal in repositioning this low-grade office building was to achieve greater exposure and presence for its ideal commercial location along a major thoroughfare. We elevated the market status of the property by re-designing the parking and procession to a new lobby and canopy serving as a visual landmark and creating a strong identity for the building. The new facade and face-lift reveals the interior through a large transparent glazed wall framed by the folding canopy. Exterior surfaces overlap and appear indoors to blur the boundary between inside and out. Visitors are greeted within the space furthermore by modulated materials, reveals, colors and rhythmic lighting.

H I G H L I G H T S

• Elevated market status with cost-effective design

• Rainscreen facade

C O L L A B O R A T O R S

SGH Structural Engineers | CSI Engineering | Erland Construction

Developed on a parking lot located at a prominent historic intersection, this modestly scaled 12-unit multifamily project takes architectural cues from surrounding historic buildings to respect the neighborhoods past but reinterpret the elements in a contemporary way. Respecting critical sightlines of a neighboring historic house, the project pulls back from the highly commuted corner while the roofline subtly slopes to reveal the house behind. Fronting the more residential scaled street, the visual scale of the building is diminished by breaking it into four equal parts and revealing seams between, reminiscent of the side yards seen throughout the neighborhood. It steps down the sloping site with small, gated yards, and entry porches recalling Victorian and Craftsman houses on the block. Building materials, balcony bays, and window proportions and compositions articulate the apartment building to further assimilate it with its century-old neighbors.

H I G H L I G H T S

• Slate tile facade

C O L L A B O R A T O R S

Longwood Properties

How do we reinvigorate an existing home while respecting a memory of the past?

Located directly off a harbor in New Hampshire, the existing home was in the client’s family for the last 80 years. Preserving the main volumes of the existing house and using its framing as a skeleton, an internal renovation and addition was proposed. By providing additional space and light into the current property the home is adapted to allow aging in place and year round inhabitation. Salvaging materials from the current property and reimagining their relationship to the house ties the memory of what once was to the redesigned spaces.

C O L L A B O R A T O R S

Dockham Builders

How do we create a brand culture centered on people, food, and place?

This was the vision presented by the Steel String Brewery founders for their new production facility at Pluck Farm. After operating since 2011 in a small storefront in downtown Carrboro, the founders were ready to scale up production and expand their community on a 70-acre farm tract 15-minutes down the road. Our team began with a phased masterplan vision for the property, followed by a deep dive into the production facility for phase one. Steel String is hyper-local, centered around growing a portion of their ingredients for a truly farm-to-brew experience. Over time, this property will grow with the community offering a series of outdoor activities, events, and educational opportunities.

The production facility is the heart of the operations. Its placement on the land sets up future uses at the macro scale, while simple recessed porches organize outside gathering spaces and pathways at the micro scale. The brewery is constructed using a classic metal building for economy of scale. A separate pavilion bookends a seating and activities courtyard in between and organizes food truck parking. This 7,000 sf facility had to meet the many requirements for beer production, storage, shipping, and management. Inside the use of skylights and clerestory windows allows natural daylight throughout, reducing energy costs and making for a pleasant space to work.

C O L L A B O R A T O R S

CHADCO BuildersH I G H L I G H T S

• Elevated market status with cost-effective design

• Rainscreen facade

C O L L A B O R A T O R S

SGH Structural Engineers | CSI Engineering | Erland Construction

How can we foster community and family gathering through a collection of individual dwelling units?

Nestled within a dense forest on the client’s existing property, the Guesthouse was designed to house their visiting family during the warm summer months in North Carolina. Comprised of 3 distinct pavilions: a large living volume and two smaller sleeping suites, the pavilions are stitched together by outdoor spaces and a single butterfly roof overhead.

In its day the general hardware store was the social crossroads of this rural area - providing both necessary goods and daily conversations. Its reactivation would once again allow the citizenry to gather fThe pavilions tread lightly on the ground, held up by four single large concrete columns like tree trunks. Simple wood structured volumes are stitched together by large sculptural trusses carrying the roof.

These trusses, known as stressed skin trusses, are widely used in aircraft construction for their minimal weight and high strength attributes. This allows there to be far fewer structural elements carrying the tremendous load of the roof while also permitting that roof to feel as light as possible.

Experientially, as tall sculptural vertical elements, the trusses are analogous to the wooded site, mimicking the way trees modulate space, light, and view. Their precise construction and furniture grade finish marry both function and craft, akin to the structure of a boat. or town meetings and other events. The new supporting addition also adds flexibility for activities, and graphically displays the building’s social history through photographs and storytelling. These displays and the reuse of this building will preserve the cultural history of Summerfield for future generations.

How do we design a flexible kiosk that thrives in both summer and winter?

In contrast to the typical kiosk, we sought to create an architecture that is light and transparent. Located on the heavily trafficked North Avenue beach in downtown Chicago, the identity of the kiosk is twofold: an expression of the elements of architecture and the vendor who inhabits it. The transparent skin blends with its context like a chameleon, as well as showcasing the vendor. Two opposite sides have two doors each that fold up, permitting the kiosk to become a gateway that visually and/or physically forms a framed connection between two places, such as the city and lake. The flexible framework allows the kiosk to operate functionally in a multitude of ways. We imagine anything from a food vendor or hot chocolate station to a community performance stage.

H I G H L I G H T S

• Adaptable framework

• Rainscreen facade

• Flexibility for unique vendor identity & graphics

• Rainwater captured for use as a washing station or irrigation

• Solar panels to power an outlet and LED lights

• Folding panels allow natural breezes to circulate through

• Interior sun baffles and panels folded up provide shade beneath

• Durable and maintenance free materials

How can the peacefulness of nature entwine with the experience of living?

The house and its pavilions weave between the massive live oak and palm trees on this waterside property.

Pavilions for writing, woodworking, and music recording dot the property and choreograph walking paths. These paths unfold with a sense of discovery as one moves around the property. Each room responds to the owners’ lifestyle and working habits while engaging the surrounding nature, bringing the outside in and the inside out.

H I G H L I G H T S

• Acid-washed metal exterior siding

C O L L A B O R A T O R S

Tina Govan, AIA | Lou Pontigo & Associates | Aria Homes | Nick Renard

How can a startup incubator become a hive of collaboration and galvanize change in its community?

The redevelopment of 259 Quincy Street is conceived as a bustling hive for collaborative, interdisciplinary exploration and creation focusing on integrating technology into all aspects of problem-solving – an innovation laboratory that serves the community. Marked by canopies, living walls and interactive murals, the building design fosters a dialogue with the community as a collection point for local artists and not-for-profit startups accessible to the public. The end of the building features a community meeting hall with amphitheater seating that can be fully opened to the sidewalk and adjacent plaza for events as an extension of the pedestrian realm.

C O L L A B O R A T O R S

Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation | FAB Labs for America

H I G H L I G H T S

• Adaptable framework

• Rainscreen facade

• Flexibility for unique vendor identity & graphics

• Rainwater captured for use as a washing station or irrigation

• Solar panels to power an outlet and LED lights

• Folding panels allow natural breezes to circulate through

• Interior sun baffles and panels folded up provide shade beneath

• Durable and maintenance free materials

How do we turn a second-row beach lot into an oceanfront living experience?

Inspired by the beach jetties, the linear body of the home is used like a camera lens to foreshorten the viewing distance to the water. The design diverts from the neighborhood’s ubiquitous built-on decks and pitched roofs by treating the roof as an occupied surface, and using negative space to carve out balconies shielding the interior from the summer sun.

Inside, an open staircase with integrated shelving stretches three-stories and choreographs movement through the house to maximize the visual experience of the site. Moving between the first-floor office and the dining room above, one sees primarily water and foliage. Selectively placed windows on the east and west walls reinforce telescopic views while providing complete privacy. The staircase culminates at the roof deck, which appears to merge with the ocean from the house’s master suite.

H I G H L I G H T S

• Custom Home Magazine | Design Merit Award

• Waterfront Home & Design | Launching Pad

• Metropolis | View Finder

• 1000 x Architecture of the Americas

C O L L A B O R A T O R S

JR Broadway Company | Rampart Construction | Gorman’s Cabinet Works | Richard Leo Johnson | Matt Silk Photographics