Mar 16 2018 · 0 comments · Uncategorized ·

Architecture Omi – Residency 2018

I had the honor and the pleasure of recently being invited to the Art Omi Residency program for architects in Ghent NY.  With nine other architects from around the world we worked for two weeks on projects of our choice.  For me, with my recent work in the Hudson Valley, I decided to explore a few common local materials; brick, wood and glass.  Sounds pretty straightforward enough.   Most importantly, having the space and the time, away from the office, it allowed me to pursue other directions at my own pace and have fun doing it.  The Residency program is terrific; they offer a chance to get away for artists, writers, translators, musicians , dancers and architects by offering room and board and a chance to think in a lovely setting in Columbia County, NY.  Thank you New York State Council for the Arts for supporting this great program.  Below are some shots of my final presentation.

http://www.artomi.org/residencies/architecture/2018

  

Aug 09 2016 · 0 comments · Uncategorized ·

Newburgh Architecture

We are currently involved in a handful of great projects in the Hudson Valley city of Newburgh.  We have re-purposed historic warehouses to live-work studios for artists and taken on completely gutted single family renovations.  We love going across the river to help bring back some of these beautiful buildings.

color rendering

Jan 19 2016 · 0 comments · Uncategorized ·

House of an architect(s) – Part 7

Despite the weather, buy viagra progress is picking up again on the exterior. Our thinking has always been to construct a well designed home that is simple and efficient using off-the-shelf components. With an aggressive budget we took an economical approach with a kit of parts that was easy and affordable to construct as well operate over the years to come. Another example is the exterior wall assembly. Much like the interior, cialis buy we went with a layered approach of exterior, water-resistant insulation under a latticework of sub-framing. This will then be covered with pine-tar coated tongue and groove pine siding. In themselves, all of the materials are very straightforward and affordable. No composites, no plastics, no cements or special things we can’t pronounce. In the end, we will have a layered sandwich of a wall that can breathe and drain moisture that is also fairly easy to maintain every 7-10 years with a coat of natural linseed oil. We also want it to look nice; accentuating the hillside and opening to the views over the valley.

exterior 1

exterior 2

Sep 21 2015 · 0 comments · Uncategorized ·

House of an Architect(s) – Part 5

Still Framing. This week we got a roof. Two roofs exactly. The first is a membrane attached directly over the rafters and then a layer of plywood and a conventional roof. The two layers are separated by a 2×4 on its side. What this creates is extra insulation space on the inside of the membrane and a nice clear venting channel on the outside. The venting channel keeps the heat of the roof to the outside by keeping a clear route for circulating air and condensation. The membrane is waterproof but allows vapor than may be inside the house a way to escape. It’s nice to see it all coming together.

Meanwhile the final framing details are ongoing and all ‘on-site changes of heart’ are being added for the upcoming framing inspection. The detached garage will start going up this week. It is great to be in capable hands of a good builder. Thanks Nick.

Also upcoming this week are windows and the final trenching for all of our services.

Summer 2015 276

Summer 2015 259

Summer 2015 238

Summer 2015 247

Sep 10 2015 · 0 comments · Uncategorized ·

House of an Architect(s) – Part 4

Framing! This is where things really start rolling. The original idea was to have a one story house that would be barrier free (no stairs), cialis sale as well as a home where we, or extended family, could age-in-place with ease. Because of this we, rather, Randy the excavator, spent some good long days digging us out. We also subjected ourselves to hearing a lot of “it’s so big!!!’ comments. After a fair amount of self doubt we moved into framing where our trusted framer Nick, assured us it would again feel ‘not so big’. So after a week of heavy lifting the form is really taking shape. The simple asymmetrical gable roof is the most prominent feature: the low slope mimics the slope of the hillside while the steep side anchors the house into the land. ‘Like a rock outcropping’, an astute visitor noted. The roof profile is repeated inside (another nice thing about a one story house) as every room has a higher than normal ceiling.

While this is happening, we are staging for the next steps: air infiltration strategies, heating, plumbing, electrical, solar, siding etc. Plus all of the finishes and cabinetry is waiting in the wings.

320 FRont yard

320 North east yard

320 Northwest yard

Jul 20 2015 · 0 comments · Uncategorized ·

House of an Architect(s) – Part 3

The weather is perfect for building. Over the past 3 weeks, viagra sales sick we have only missed one day due to bad weather and that could have gone either way. The building team has been busy excavating, generic viagra here removing lots of rocks, locating utilities, building and pouring footings. Things are moving along. All of us, and now the contractor, has built this house a hundred times in our heads. It is now just a matter of seeing it through and dealing with any surprises; rock ledge (none), excess of water (none), buried tanks (none). So we are onto the next step: trenching for utility hook-ups, foundation and double checking our framing drawings. Meanwhile, in the background, we are sourcing our kitchen, tile, heating system, plumbing fixtures so it can all be ready when the time comes. Exciting stuff.

photo 1

photo 2

photo 3

Jan 20 2015 · 0 comments · Uncategorized ·

House of an Architect(s) – Part 2

It’s too cold to start any ground work at the site.  We need approvals from the city, cialis a working budget, and foremost, some plans.  A bit of work ahead of us.

In the meantime, a demolition crew came in one morning and took down the house.  Here are some nice shots by photographer Isaac Diggs.

Demo

Interior Demo

Demo shed

Jan 06 2015 · 0 comments · Uncategorized ·

House of an Architect(s)

We are about to embark on a new project, cialis a house.  A house for us; architects (2), cialis buy and family, that is kids (2), cats (2) and feathery friends (3), here in the Hudson Valley.

Ever since we started working on single family homes, we have tried to bring a careful level of thought and design to every project, no matter how big or small.   We have tried to achieve a sensitive solution that balances design, economy, and environmental concerns.  We will do the same here.  Not everything will be the perfect solution that achieves all of those goals.  I’m sure there will be plenty of, “Why the heck did they do that?” moments.   What we promise is that every problem and decision will be carefully considered, and we will do our best to explain it here.

I will skip over the part about husband and wife architects working together in harmony and understanding, and try to stick with the facts and other happy thoughts as we move through the process.  It should be fun so check back here every so often for updates.

All of our projects start with a goal: ours in the end, is to have is a home that reinforces our sense of family, one that promotes community and communication.  It is a house that celebrates our togetherness while respecting our privacy for each other.   It is a house that can adapt to our changing family and one that we can easily adapt to as we age.  Our intent is to build a contemporary home with simple construction principles that integrates with the landscape in a thoughtful way.  We will aim for a highly insulated and efficient house that  could eventually require zero energy to operate.

So here we go.     The land we found has a small farmhouse built in the 1870’s that has been abandoned since the previous owner passed away a number of years ago.  The house has a footprint of about 500 square feet and seven foot ceilings.  Besides some vinyl siding and new roof added in the 1980’s, the house has not changed much.  We found there was too much to work around in order to .  We have worked on houses in much better condition that owners have later regretted not demolishing, so we are skipping right to that.  In the meantime, the Fire Department is going to use it for staging drills and rescue practice.

CB

320 EAST MAIN STREET Blog

Aug 21 2014 · 0 comments · Uncategorized ·

Staking out the site

Stake out

Staking out the site and locating the future building in the landscape is our first physical marking of the land.  Up until now we have been observers; walking the property, cialis canada imagining, hypothesizing, drawing.  Our engagement with the site has been fairly abstract.  The staking of the building is real.  It is both exciting and sad.  Exciting because it marks the future potential of a place, exciting because it records a mark on a field where there was previously little to distinguish.

It is sad because there is no going back once this is done, at least for the near future:  Nature has it’s way, eventually.

So it is on this occasion that we tread lightly, making our mark as carefully as we can.  We return to our drawings and double check our initial assumptions.  We move and adjust the siting of the house, tagging the trees to save while considering the fate of others.  We take care to balance our plans while respecting the land that we are inhabiting.

CB.

Jul 31 2014 · 0 comments · Uncategorized ·

Asplund Inspiration

This house has always stuck out as something special.  Built in 1917 in Djursholm, discount cialis Sweden and designed by Erik Gunnar Asplund it has a timeless quality that we are always seeking to obtain.  The house is unique, viagra generic simple and slightly quirky.  Not to say that simple is easy.  It’s much easier just to keep adding space than it is to toil over the plan and make it work within a set envelope.  CB.

Gallery05_Snellman_01_800x600

the approach

Gallery05_Snellman_02_800x600

public side – entry is the door on the left

Snellman Plan

the plans