We won the 2019 Chrysalis Award!
The Chrysalis Award (formerly the Emerging Firm Award) is a peer recognition program spotlighting an AIA Connecticut member firm that has been in practice no less than 2 years and no more than 15 years and is gaining recognition in the general design community through a body of built work and continuing commitment to design excellence.
Full article here.
Our appreciation:
Thank you very much for this recognition of our growing firm. It is a privilege for our whole office to be here tonight, and to stand here with former colleagues, former teachers, peers and friends.
In the fall of 2010, I found a space in downtown New Haven, large enough for 3 or 4 desks and a conference room. I had outgrown a solo practice in my home office and the inevitable meetings at local coffee shops.
We now have seven architects and designers in a historic masonry commercial building we now own in Fair Haven, and we work on a variety of projects that constantly learn from each other.
We have expanded our project types to include institutional (particularly early-childhood and K-12 education), larger commercial, and multi-family housing.
We are excited to continue diversifying our work, with projects currently on the boards including an addition to a local church, new, rehabilitated, and renovated affordable housing, and even an oyster farm.
Despite the range of typologies, our projects share fundamental principles. Our practice is focused on work in Connecticut, preserving and celebrating the area’s architectural richness through adaptive reuse, as well as designing modern interpretations of the Connecticut vernacular.
We prioritize careful detailing and material use – finding opportunities to create delight in every project, whether a new elementary school, restoration of a historically-significant building, or multi-family housing.
We use design strategies that minimize impact on the natural environment, maximize human health and well-being, and align with the sustainability goals of our clients.
Community improvement and engagement are central to our work – manifested through local boards and commissions, participatory outreach to communities and stakeholders in historical districts, or charrettes with students and teachers for our educational projects.
Looking forward, we are excited to keep learning and prioritizing high-performance building
strategies including Passive House, Fitwel, WELL Building, and Living Building standards, and to build a strong culture of locally-based design here in Connecticut.
Thank you, team, thank you to our clients, thank you, AIA.