The BRC
The BRC
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The BRC (Barendsen Rossi Collaborative) became a reality by necessity. After the economic crash of 2008/9, the housing market tightened and many businesses closed their doors, PowerHouse could not sustain itself. Despite the economic uncertainties, people were still seeking sustainable, environmentally sensitive designs for their homes and workplaces. As the BRC took on more work, we also began to regularly bring in the services or informal advice of a number of other small local design businesses. Architecture, landscape architecture, web and graphic design and grant writing were all a part of our interdisciplinary team's capability suite.
Designed with Sheila Lemke. An old, mold-ridden house on Buzzard's Bay is recycled into a modern, energy efficient home.
Exterior showing tower and new side dormers. The recycled structure had to fit the existing footprint due to shoreline restrictions. Designed with Sheila Lemke.
Exterior showing upper deck adjacent to tower. deck serves as a sunshade for windows below. Designed with Sheila Lemke.
Initial design sketch. These kinds of very loose, easily accessible sketches form the backbone of almost every early design process. These are meant to be overlaid with each other, played with by clients and freely changed. I find this allows people to really become a collaborator in their own design process.
The old house, after being jacked up and relocated on site. A new foundation was poured at the house's original location and the main structure was placed back atop the new concrete foundation. Designed with Sheila Lemke.
Interior view, showing new kitchen in what was originally a very enclosed mud room/laundry space with low ceiling and tiny windows. Designed with Sheila Lemke.
Interior view looking from kitchen through main floor and out toward tower and water. Designed with Sheila Lemke.
Interior view, looking out to water from second floor hang out space and tower. Designed with Sheila Lemke.
R-HAUS is a series of experimental small houses. These were designed with the vacation/rental markets in mind. Each is modular, compact, high performance and high style.
R-HAUS is a series of experimental small houses. These were designed with the vacation/rental markets in mind. Each is modular, compact, high performance and high style.
R-HAUS is a series of experimental small houses. These were designed with the vacation/rental markets in mind. Each is modular, compact, high performance and high style.
Initial design sketch for a new house on existing family meadow.
Initial design sketch. The intent of the construction was to create a space for each of the family's two grown sons and their families. The goal was to give "separate" spaces, joined by an inviting common area overlooking the meadow.
Exterior view on meadow side. Both standard stick framing and timber framing were employed. The main gathering spaces that join the two brothers' independent sides were timber framed to add openness, light and airiness.
Interior view, looking from the shared family space onto one of the brother's porches.
Interior view showing clerestory and upper deck of shared space, which overlooks main areas below.
Timber framing detail. Glue-laminated beams with steel joinery was deployed as a sustainable alternative to heavy timber. The steel work also cut down on the on-site time, labor and expense while making the construction accessible to the skilled craftsmen on island, even though they did not have a great deal of timber experience.
Exterior view from meadow after completion.
This house is kind of a personal favorite. Designed for my sister and her new husband - it was built by our father. Talk about a gutsy architect!!
The project goal was to take a basic design (standard builder's Cape) and transform it into something more interesting. BUT, to do so on a tight budget - and not piss Vito (our dad) off (too much).
Exterior view looking at nearly completed entry.
Interior view, showing dining area, between kitchen and living space. A key to the design was to let the outside in and to try to make the relatively modest 1350sf "feel" bigger. As a result, most of the first floor is an open plan - one of the few walls is the one shown here, to which the family's entertainment system backs. the wall doubles as support to a "bridge" overhead that runs the length of the second floor in lieu of a conventional hall.
A wood high efficiency burning fireplace adds ambiance, while also providing an alternative focus to the TV. It also provides backup heating for the house using a clean burning, renewable resource. After an ice storm, the fireplace became the house's ONLY heat for more than a week. Another example of designing with resiliency in mind.
The built-up corner posts of the side porch conceal built-in platers. Because, why not?