Education
Designing for Little Humans: How to Connect Them to Their World
Daycare centers are places where children can play and learn in safe, supervised settings. But when our firm designs childcare spaces, we have loftier ambitions. Our team knows from experience that we can collaborate with daycare center owners to craft environments that meet kids’ baseline needs but go further to foster meaningful connections to the…
Read MoreEarly Childhood Education: How To Design With Nature in Mind
If you’ve ever seen a child playing in and exploring the great outdoors, it won’t surprise you to learn that those experiences are essential to their physical, mental, and emotional development and wellbeing. That’s not our opinion—it’s a well-established fact. And it aligns with what common sense tells you as you watch a child ponder…
Read MoreCare and Collaboration: How We Design Near Sensitive Ecosystems
Buildings do not exist in a vacuum. They are part of a continual give-and-take with their surroundings. Consequently, one of an architect’s most important objectives is creating visual and functional harmony between a structure and its environment. This can be particularly challenging when a building, like a school, is situated near a sensitive ecosystem and a…
Read MoreHow We Created a Flexible Design for Slate Upper School
Slate School in North Haven, CT, is an independent school established to truly “nurture each child’s natural love for learning” and “nurture lifelong learners who are deeply connected to nature”. Patriquin Architects was commissioned from the beginning to help translate the school’s pedagogy into an educational facility representative of both their vision and mission. Careful…
Read MoreHow to Use Passive House Principles Successfully in Historic Buildings
As the renovation of our historic 1816 masonry office building, known as the “King’s Block,” nears completion, our firm took the opportunity to put the details of this Passive House retrofit into a presentation that Associate Jeannette Penniman and I were thrilled to give to two recent audiences: An energy-focused group at PhiusCon, the annual…
Read MorePowerful Tools for the Design of Sustainable Early Childhood Centers
At Patriquin Architects, the sustainability of the buildings we design is a top priority. Working within budgetary constraints, site parameters, and specific client goals, we strive to incorporate sustainable strategies as much as possible. In early childhood center projects, we’re even more careful about indoor air quality, natural daylighting, and views to the outdoors,…
Read MoreHow We Make Structures More Resilient in Historic Preservation Projects
At Patriquin Architects, we do a great deal of work on historic buildings, including many with historic significance to their surrounding area. In order to maximize the lifespan of these unique and interesting structures, and ensure that they are a vital part of the local historic fabric for decades to come, our first question in…
Read MoreHidden Historic Treasures: How to Find and Preserve Them
As our work has shown many times through the years, when renovating an older building there is often an opportunity to find, salvage, and restore elements of historic or architectural significance. We’ve also learned that sometimes we have to choose which part of a building’s history should be preserved, and which areas should be modified…
Read MoreLinden Street Elementary School Courtyard Vision
As part of our office’s Community Outreach efforts, Jennifer Shea from our team has been collaborating with the Plainville Community Schools district by creating a connection with them and being a professional guide to some of their students. Previously, Jennifer had given their high school students a presentation on the architecture career path during their…
Read MoreNeed Excellent Thermal Performance? Try These Wall Assemblies
Thermal performance—the degree of energy transfer between a building and its surroundings—is an important consideration for every construction or renovation project. Not surprisingly, exterior wall assemblies play a major role in achieving the desired performance. At Patriquin Architects, we’re continually exploring new wall options to meet specific project conditions. Whether or not a client is…
Read More