How can we innovatively reuse a significant mid-century building while respecting the sacred ground it stands upon?

Architect Richard Neutra’s Cyclorama Center, one of his most prized buildings, was located on the Civil War battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Its future was in doubt and debated nationally for decades.

Typically, preservation focuses narrowly on retaining a building as is or with minimal intervention, but there are degrees of preservation yet to be explored that lie between maintaining the original condition and demolition. We have devised the groundwork for a more nuanced form of preservation that addresses today’s societal needs while respecting our cultural heritage. Often, new pieces are added to old buildings, but why not invert the formula?

H I G H L I G H T S

• Project Preservation Document

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

Recent Past Preservation Network

In 2007, a demolition permit had been granted for Paul Rudolph’s 1960 Blue Cross Blue Shield office building to make way for New England’s tallest tower by Renzo Piano. Intrigued by the collision of new and old, and the lack of demolition alternatives, we set out to rethink the meaning of preservation using this project as an example.

The legacy of Rudolph’s building lies mainly in its innovative facade that contains the mechanical and structural systems, thereby freeing the interior floor space for office use. Drawing from the work of artist Gordon Matta-Clark, we hypothesized a series of concepts that reinterpreted preservation as: integration, anatomical exhibition, dissection, public art and remnant. In doing so, we revealed aspects of the building that prompted a new understanding of its cultural contributions, and began a new dialogue about how architecture should be preserved. These explorations led us to new projects and speaking engagements, as well as a successful stay of demolition for Rudolph’s building.

How can a café embody the values of one of the most prominent fair-trade brands?

The well-known Equal Exchange brand builds long-term fair trade partnerships that are economically just and environmentally sound, to foster mutually beneficial relationships between farmers and consumers.

Our facelift to their thriving upbeat café near North Station in Boston was a collaboration between the café staff, branding team and ThoughtCraft to get the most bang for their buck. In addition to designing the fit-out, we administered the entire construction effort and managed all of the subcontractors and fabricators. Thanks to the Equal Exchange Café team for giving us the opportunity to freshen up one of only two of their product showcasing cafés worldwide!

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

Matt Delphenich Photography

How can we weave together the space of home with community in a historic neighborhood?

With a view of the Durham skyline, this home sits on a corner in the historic Cleveland-Holloway neighborhood. Mediating between the public street and a private courtyard, it spills out in both directions.

A deep front porch continues the existing pattern of porches along the street and seamlessly extends the inside to the outside through a series of foldaway glass walls. Thermally modified wood slats weave the siding, railings, fences, and trellises together, creating dynamic patterns of light and shadow. The house and site are designed as one; weaving together inside and outside, building and nature, old and new. This home features a green roof and a 10kW solar array.

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

Tina Govan, AIA | Bob Wuopio, Contractor | Lysaght Structural Engineers | Laura Moore Landscape Architect | Mark Herboth Photography

Can we preserve a building through the act of demolition?

n 2007 Paul Rudolph’s 1960 Blue Cross Blue Shield office building was slated for demolition to make way for New England’s tallest tower by Renzo Piano. Intrigued by the collision of new and old, and the lack of demolition alternatives, we set out to rethink the meaning of preservation in the form of this animation.

The legacy of Rudolph’s building lies mainly in its innovative facade that contains the mechanical and structural systems; thereby freeing the interior floor space for office use. Drawing from the work of artist Gordon Matta-Clark, we hypothesized a series of concepts that reinterpreted preservation as: integration, anatomical exhibition, dissection, public art and remnant. In doing so, we revealed aspects of the building that prompted a new understanding of its cultural contributions, and began a new dialogue about how architecture should be preserved in the modern age.

H I G H L I G H T S

• Death By Preservation | Landmarks Testimonial

• Banker & Tradesman | Countdown

Inspired by the industrial history of the area, the project utilizes familiar masonry materials presented in new ways.

The buildings are organized to form two community plazas that become the crossroads for resident activities, entry, and social gathering. Each building has a number of distinct live/work units allowing home occupations that reflect today's varied working lifestyle. The sawtooth roofs collect the suns energy to offset power usage while giving the building a unique identity. A Cross Laminated Timber structure (CLT) was explored for its sustainability aspects, exposed wood aesthetic, and speed of construction.

How can a small sales office offer an interactive client experience?

Insertion of a ground floor retail use into a newly renovated historically significant mixed-use building. New physical and digital interactive displays allow a unique home buying experience.

H I G H L I G H T S

• Built within the award-winning Hayden Building, LEED Homes Platinum

•Relocation and reuse of tower unit mock-up kitchen, bath and other components

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

CSI Engineering | Marc Truant & Associates | John Horner Photography

How can a home in one of the most densely populated beachfront communities feel both open and private at the same time?

The three-story residence is situated on a small corner lot bordered by pedestrian walks on the south and west. Natural ventilation, daylight and views are achieved by carving into the building’s mass. This process of choreographed subtraction provides a variety of spaces that connect to the surrounding context while maintaining privacy.

Open to the south, the courtyard defines the entry and provides daylight deep into the home’s spaces as the copper shingled walls articulate the movement of the sun. A reflecting pool reaches out from under a steel gate to lure visitors into the courtyard and up a delicately cantilevered staircase to the main residence. On the second level, the entertaining spaces open onto a large terrace overlooking the boardwalk, beach and ocean. Spaces become more intimate as one moves to the rear of the second level alluding to the private portions of the home. Access to the third or master suite level is subtly revealed behind a custom floor-to-ceiling storage and display cabinet. The master suite level includes the office, master bedroom, bath, closet and laundry. These spaces spill out onto outdoor terraces for distant views of the mountains, bay and ocean.

Chris Johns served as the Project Designer and Manager while working for ARCHITECTS hanna gabriel wells.

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

Mike Surprenant & Associates | Jamie Lievers Landscape | RGB Group, Inc. | Evanko Cabinetry | Vincent Designs, Inc. | Larry Stanley Photography | Studio 512

How can preservation maintain relevance to future generations?

All places are dynamic and living things. Our built environment is both witness and proof to history. The act of preservation is a necessity in maintaining the memory and authenticity of this record. The idea of preservation began in the late 18th century to preserve 2,000 year-old monuments.

Through the last century, the preservation movement has expanded its reach significantly: from monument to building to streetscape to landscape to urban sectors to government policy to tax incentives; everything is now potentially susceptible to preservation. With this environmental and cultural expansion comes exponential complexity and great responsibility, yet its curatorial principles remain overly simplistic. Concurrently with this expansion, the movement has embraced an increasing number of value propositions to rationalize its aims, yet its accepted outcomes remain singular in encapsulating our past. But all places and buildings have a continuing history; they are used, damaged, repaired, and bear the markings of actions and events throughout time. As modern culture moves forward, our environment expands, is re-inhabited, and is altered with invention. The 20th century in America yielded a great expansion in our built environment, much of it now coming due for renovation.

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that 17% (52 billion square feet) of our current building stock will face the prospect of demolition over the next 30 years, and half will be renovated. Today, America’s built environment faces a new challenge of ecological sustainability. This leaves the idea of preservation in a precarious state. To continuously encapsulate our built environment through the act of preservation is counter-productive; we face increasing risk of endangering invention and even forgetting the intentions of history. If we are to live with our history while embracing our future, we must rethink the very idea and standards of preservation. Ultimately, the act of preserving a thing in its original condition isn’t always the best solution nor is its full erasure from our memory. There are unexplored degrees of preservation between its ever-present all-or-nothing proposition. As preservation has embraced multiple value rationales, it must too embrace multiple outcomes. Preservation is often viewed antagonistically by developers in their efforts to modify properties, but it has the potential to become the catalyst for shaping vibrant and healthier communities.

For preservation to maintain relevance through future generations it must:

Embrace outcomes beyond the curatorial.

Embrace overlapping histories beyond the physical artifact in its regulations.

Embrace technology and the human needs of the day.

Embrace new architecture with the authenticity of artifact.

Define varied levels of significance with varied standards.

H I G H L I G H T S

• NTHP JetModern by Seth Tinkham

• The Architect’s Newspaper, Preservation is a Moving Target

• The Fate of Cyclorama as National Implications, UrbDezine Magazine

How do we activate one of Boston’s busiest street corners while preserving the integrity of one of America’s most preeminent landmarks?

Since the 1773 mass protest meetings that led to the Boston Tea Party, Old South Meeting House has served as a gathering place for discussion and celebration and a haven for free speech.

The museum has rented the street corner to various market stands over the years as a source of income. The new market enclosure will bring a new sense of transparency to the corner of this historic building and better activate this pedestrian center in the downtown crossing district. The structure is designed to be free standing with no attachment to the historic building. For the market vendor it will provide a new security enclosure and better visibility and interior organization.

How can an urban infill project assimilate into the historic Boston context while simultaneously differentiating itself as a unique living experience?

Located in the historic Downtown of Boston, this 4 unit multifamily infill building establishes itself as the missing link in the surrounding urban fabric. The contemporary insertion mimics it’s neighbors in height, window alignments, and color tone. A weathering steel skin differentiates the building and imbues it with a contemporary flare all the while maintaining the rich warm red coloring of its surroundings. The thickened façade responds to the program behind it: the retail ground floor offers ample glazing, while the next floor above offers privacy for residents with tall and narrow windows. With each successive level from the street, wider windows are provided. A mechanical parking system, accessed from the rear alley, provides each unit with one parking space, a highly sought-after commodity in the city.

H I G H L I G H T S

• Weathering Steel Facade

• Mechanical Parking System

• Ground Floor Retail

How do we create urban furniture with a collective identity while maximizing flexibility for arrangements and vendors?

Too often preservation is a curatorial act focused solely on the physical building and not the ideas and stories that shaped it over time. New architecture can have a dialogue with old architecture to evoke story, memory, and solidify identity and meaning. Doing so reveals deeper meanings and heightens awareness of history. This approach can be realized in five key phases:

1. TRACING TIME: Move beyond the physical building to uncover the ideas, stories, and events that first brought it about. This approach can move buildings beyond it’s “a good example of…” to it’s “directly connected too the story of…”

2. UNCOVERING THEMES: By mapping overlapping historic influences such as the construction methods, the occupants, the architect, the neighborhood, the economy, the cultural influences, and the news of the day, we can compare and uncover the unique threads and themes.

3. STRATEGIZING APPROACH: Based on historic significance, regulations, and project goals, define the intent: should the building be fully preserved, an archeologically interpreted site, partially preserved, transformed, minimally preserved, or some hybrid approach?

4. CONCEPTUALIZING DESIGN: The rehabilitation, renovation, alterations, or additions are born out of the findings such that they help to activate and heighten the awareness of the building’s overlapping historic influences.

5. CRAFTING THE DETAILS: Careful detailing between old and new elements can heighten awareness, and integrated graphics can support the story.

How can we shape a building with light and water to create a vibrant social experience?

On a limited bay front site, the Garty Family Rowing Pavilion was designed to honor the competitive history and celebrate the future of the San Diego Rowing Club. The pavilion contains a century’s worth of artifacts and acts as an event space for parties and other social events. The building references the old craft of boat-building and the sleek lines of contemporary rowing shells. Defining the main event space, the elongated hull-shaped ceiling is held away from the walls to reveal the sky, exhaust heat through operable skylights and allow daylight to penetrate the space.

Chris Johns served as the Project Designer and Manager while working for ARCHITECTS hanna Gabriel wells.

H I G H L I G H T S

• AIA San Diego Design Award | Citation

• San Diego Architectural Foundation | Orchid Award

How can a home enhance the closeness of family, engage the outdoors, be aging friendly, and sustainable in under 1800 square feet?

The client asked us to create a home that was modern, green, affordable, and designed for aging. The property is a beautifully wooded half-acre lot in Carrboro. For accessibility, we responded with single-level living that incorporates universal design principles and easily adapted amenities for future aging needs.

To control costs, we kept the plan compact and simplified the details. The form of the house shifts to create multiple yards and mediate privacy from neighbors. A vertical zinc wall, inspired by tree bark, visually anchors the house and signifies entry while separating private and public spaces inside. Movement throughout the house (down the hall, through a doorway, or across the room) is always toward a view of the outdoors or natural daylight – creating a connection between inside and outside 24-hours a day.

H I G H L I G H T S

• AIA NC Honor Award, 2015

• George Matsumoto Prize, 1st place, 2015

• AIA Residential Tour Award, 2014

• NC Modernist Houses Modapalooza Tour, 2014

• Designed for aging [single-level & accessibility]

• Geothermal, solar, radiant floor, rainwater capture, superinsulation, cool roof

P R E S S

dwell, Light-Filled Home, 2017

Chapel Hill News, Aiyyer House nods to Japanese sensibilities by Sally Keeney

Raleigh News & Observer, Small and Customized by Jody Brown

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

Excel Engineering, Structure | Laura Moore, Landscape Architect | MCF Builders | DLSS Manufacturing, zinc siding | Lazarus Renovations, cabinetry | Michael Cincala (bedroom, kitchen photos) | Mark Herboth Photography

Once the site of World War II naval shipbuilding, the redevelopment of the Hingham Shipyard presented an opportunity to explore the intersection of past and present through three condominium buildings.

These buildings, located within a new mixed-use development of retail and parks, position themselves at the water’s edge, capturing views and creating a visual backdrop to the boat-filled marina they overlook. Material cues are taken from the metal-plated hulls of WWII naval ships, the clapboard hulls and mahogany trim of old sailboats, and the brickwork of former industrial buildings. This contextual palette creates a dialogue between building and boat; materials visually organize the building facades with rhythms following the marina docks and patterns reminiscent of ship hulls. Each of the 92 living units is individually connected to the landscape, water, boats, and sunsets of the shipyard.

Jason Hart served as the Project Architect and Manager while working for DiMella Shaffer.

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

L.A. Fuess Partners | RDK Engineers | Building Envelope Technologies | Collective Wisdom Corporation | Robert Benson Photography

How can a café embody the innovative and community spirit of its brand?

Designed as its first brick and mortar location, Third Cliff bakery anchors and activates the corner of a new mixed-use development at a busy corner along Washington Street in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston. Inside, a warm and light filled space is carefully articulated with birch plywood millwork to form the heart of the café. With limited space, the heart organizes the cafe into three distinct seating zones for individuals or smalls groups. This central hub is engaged by employees and customers alike fostering an open sense of community where one of many innovative baked goods can be enjoyed.

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

Wylie Design+Build

How do we craft a contemporary home informed by its pastoral setting?

Located in a rolling meadow surrounded by hammocks, horse farms, and estates, this home is designed to enhance the owners’ love of living in nature. The house is nestled into the sloping site and positioned in proximity to an existing barn. This grouping of buildings and spaces creates a territory in the rural setting.

The house itself emulates the agrarian structures that mark the region with the living area and garage connected by a floating glass bridge. Placed directly between an existing farmer’s pond downhill and a grouping of hardwoods on the adjacent horse farm uphill, the house’s great room opens up with large sliding glass doors on both sides to take in these picturesque site features. Selective placement of windows in other spaces reinforces the immediate and distant connections with the landscape when moving through the house during daily routines. The two-story house is designed for aging-in-place with the upper level as the primary living area for the owners and the lower level provides guest quarters, storage and utilities.

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