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| PORTFOLIO |- commercial |- recent

209 Elmwood Avenue

July 5, 2009 – 12:00 PM

Location| Providence, RI
Type| alterations, renovations
Area| 4,536 sf
Association| SPM Design

Status| 90% complete

 

04_209 ElmwwodDesign and drawings are recently complete for the Elmwood Adult Day Care on Elmwood Avenue in Providence. The Owner, who currently owns the building next door, is looking to expand his business by connecting the two buildings and providing extended care services to the area.

The existing building was once use as a Divers Retail Store complete with indoor pool and oxygen apparatus. While maintaining the exterior shell of the building the design involves providing amble space for 100 occupants with necessary amenities and accessibility. The exterior of the building will be cleaned and have its windows replaced with aluminum frames and low-E glazing. A new roof will replace the existing 50 year old roof system and provide extension thermal insulation. The exterior 8″ concrete masonry unit (cmu) walls will be furred out on the inside and insulated to meet current energy code requirements. Lighting for the facility is also carefully selected and designed to maximize brightness levels needed by the occupants. Three new skylights compliment the lighting design providing natural light during the day and reducing energy consumption.

The project is currently being reviewed by the State Fire Marshall’s becuase of its use group and will then proceed to local review by the Building and Fire Department, and later by the Health Deptment prior to occupancy. Demolition will begin in the next two weeks…

 

design models and renderings|
[svgallery name="209 elmwood design"]

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| PORTFOLIO |- photography

On Benefit Street

July 3, 2009 – 2:14 PM

09_benefitThe rain here in Providence has been a steady issue for the last couple of months and finding sunny days to run outside and photograph the city are limited. A few weeks ago on a cloudy but dry day I found myself taking pictures on Benefit Street. I was excited to use a friend’s camera to take these pictures since I have contemplated a real camera instead of a point and shoot for a long time.

I enjoy Benefit Street for it’s true historical charm of residential buildings, it’s elevated stance overlooking the “downcity”, and it’s academic proximity. I find walking around with a camera is more interesting for finding unique details and views that are consistently abundant throughout this area of Providence. I hope you enjoy these photos and leave your comments.

Please take note that because of my new-found interest in photography all my images shown here will also be available for viewing on Flickr.

 

 

[svgallery name="benefit 062509"]

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|- photography

Reconnecting with Providence

May 13, 2009 – 11:33 PM

dscn7223Today I was downtown (downcity) to run a few errands and took my camera along to snap some pictures on what turned out to be a picturesque spring day in New England. I have always admired these older buildings within a limited concentration of the downtown area. One aspect of the architecture reminds me of travels through Europe and the classical styles seen throughout.

Although I describe myself as a modernist with a deconstructive background, the beauty of these buildings are apparent and extremely inspiring to just about anyone. The buildings speak of skilled laborers and artists that collaborated for endless hours on every detailed inch of facade. The richness of detail is best viewed at the top of these buildings and accounts for the creation of a city as each building attempts to be more important than the previous. I can image a time when only the first building was in place and the glamour of viewing such an art piece from afar.

I have been connected with Providence since my childhood and then later interested in the city as a student of architecture. In my time I have seen the city transform with the additions of hotels, a mall, office and luxury apartment buildings. My first architectural reaction happened during the construction of the first Westin Tower One over a decade ago. As I recall my architectural criticism along the lines of “why not design a building to make a statement, why something that merely copies it’s context”. Since that time I have seen various other building styles come to fruition in the area and contrast the classic buildings I photographed today. The Westin Tower Two was just completed last year and is more of a traditional building style in contrast to the newer all glass office buildings near the shopping mall. I feel it’s design is more closely related to the evolution of the buildings in the pictures and truly fits into the Providence context.

As my years in the architectural profession mature so does my sensitivity toward environments, style and the continuity of history. And although I strongly proclaim a modernist design style, the process of learning from history is always and eye opening experience that can reclaim old ideas and generate entirely new concepts. I hope you enjoy the pictures and find your personal way to Providence to enjoy the views.

[svgallery name="providence 051309"]

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News

Rui Duarte, LEED AP

March 23, 2009 – 4:21 PM

Basic CMYK… after a few weeks of intense study and preparation, I just recently passed the LEED 2.2 exam. I was equally enthusiastic and contemplative about taking a professional exam since my last exam occurred back in college (pre-1993). One resource that had a tremendous impact on the result of the exam is my career exposure to the LEED process, particularly during my years with ADD Inc in Cambridge, MA. It takes genuine understanding of the LEED process from both the client and architect perspective to incorporate the LEED process into any project. Furthermore the learning curve and level of acceptance by contractors often times lessens the opportunity from occurring based on irrational cost data associated with LEED.

My education and experience in architecture is also a credit to new challenges. As a designer I view the world through a critical eye and assess various needs and discrepancies and make attempts to provide design where there is none or limited opportunity to explore architectural principles. Design is also a process of learning, experimentation, evaluation, implementation and review, as much as the design process is seen as a linear action the reality is of a much more chaotic non-linear progression with varied results.

Study for the exam took on a design like approach based on review of the big picture and then the smaller nuisances. Just like the design of a building where the broad strokes outline building form and the details provide dimensional reference at a larger scale or more accurate stroke (I think I learned this from Tom Kinslow, architect of the famous T-House). I found the LEED 2.2 Reference Guide as the form generator, a series of handwritten notes to define and a shortlist of information to detail the relationships.

I encourage everyone to learn about the LEED process. Information is on the US Green Building Council website, including an abbreviated version of the Reference Guide.

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| PORTFOLIO |- commercial

Hanna Instruments

March 19, 2009 – 6:46 PM

Location| Woonsocket, RI
Type| addition
Area| 15,000 sf
Association| SPM Design

Status| complete (winter 2008)

 

Hanna Instruments is a global company with headquarters in Woonsocket and they are an industry leader in the advancement of high-tech measuring devices. Hanna Instruments acquired the services of a general contractor for the project and together we developed the design of the project to meet the owner’s specifications.

 

[svgallery name="hanna final design"] 

 

The project is an addition to an existing building and is situated on the western side of the property. The plan of the building conforms to the limit of the property lines and also is situated to engage a severe slope on the construction site.

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