Celebrating 10 Years and a Diverse Design Portfolio

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At Patriquin Architects, we’re celebrating our tenth anniversary as a firm! While we’re constantly grateful for our wonderful clients, it feels especially appropriate at this moment to reflect on the diverse design portfolio we’ve developed over the last decade, and to appreciate the stakeholders who have entrusted us with their projects.

Collaborating with a Wide Variety of Clients on an Array of Project Types

We’ve found the old adage that “variety is the spice of life” to be quite true in our work. However, variety has done more than just make our jobs interesting. In our experience, each new type of project we’ve tackled and each new challenge we’ve overcome has made our firm better, not just in that area, but across all projects. This cross-pollination has allowed us to bring fresh and unusual perspectives to projects, and to master new skills that we can apply to subsequent work.

This approach to design is supported by the innate curiosity each member of our team possesses, along with an eagerness for new challenges. We never hesitate to take on projects that will require that we stretch ourselves a bit, and have learned to rely heavily on collaboration with expert consultants. We’ve found that our clients benefit from the focus and enthusiasm that comes from being in somewhat unfamiliar territory.

A Passion for Grounding Projects in Their Place

One thread that runs through all the projects we’ve completed in the last 10 years is that they are, as we describe it, grounded in their place. We work hard to understand the architectural context in which a building will be constructed or renovated, and develop designs that ensure that the structure fits within its environment. This includes consideration of stylistic, material, and environmental factors.

Highlights from a Decade of Architectural Design

Below are some of the key works that have helped Patriquin Architects grow and evolve over ten years.

Educational Projects

Friends Center for Children, Slate School, and Greenwich Academy are some of our most notable school projects. They’ve taught us a great deal about managing diverse end user groups, providing a variety of spaces to meet different needs, and using warm, humanizing materials.

Multi-Family Projects

In multi-family, Jefferson Commons, St. Mary Place, Woodruff Property Housing, and many renovation projects for the New Haven Housing Authority are some of our more memorable (and in some cases ongoing) projects. They’ve taught us about effectively managing the needs of large groups of stakeholders, and about practicing economy in design. How can we pair functional priorities with a few key design interventions to help clients achieve the biggest “bang for the buck”? We now have significant experience in tackling that question.

Commercial Projects

Commercial projects such as Roia Restaurant and Esana MedSpa have taught us how to be nimble and curious in learning about new building types with very specific requirements. This includes the ability to assemble an effective team of expert consultants.

Unconventional Projects

This diverse set of projects, and the lessons learned from each one, has given us the capacity to tackle new and unique projects with enthusiasm. We’ve been working on an oyster farm with a complex project team and very specific functional and regulatory requirements, for instance. Other unique projects include everything from designing a new parish house addition for Trinity Baptist Church in New Haven, to performing feasibility studies for multi-family housing developments in Historic Districts like Stack Street and Heights on the River.

Honored to be Recognized for Our Work

We’re honored to have received a number of awards and other recognition for our work in our first 10 years. These include:

  • AIA CT Design Award for Friends Center for Children
  • Connecticut Green Building Council “Best in Show” for Slate School
  • AIA CT Sustainable Architecture Award for Slate School
  • Elizabeth Mills Brown Award for Historic Renovation for Roia Restaurant
  • AIA New England’s Emerging Professional Friendly Firm Award.
  • Various other awards recognizing collaboration and project teams

We are also very proud to have received the AIA CT Chrysalis Award for 2019. It recognizes a Connecticut firm, in practice for fewer than 15 years, that is “gaining recognition in the general design community through a body of built work and continuing commitment to design excellence.”

Looking Ahead

Our heartfelt thanks to all the clients who have collaborated with us over the past decade! Where will the next 10 years take Patriquin Architects? Surely on some interesting and enlightening architectural design adventures!