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An architect’s job is to see right through the studs. Site updates from the contractor are always the moment of truth. The framing may look like a chaotic puzzle of lumber, insulation, and subfloors, but this is exactly where the soul of a project is won or lost.
Watch the flashes to see the transition from raw framing to final vision for the Countrywood Residence Phase I Renovations.
Because this is a renovation, the design is a direct response to rigid existing conditions. By locking in a rigorous structural system within the existing shell early, we can predict exactly how light and volume will behave long before a single finish is delivered. For this project, we leaned into a warm natural palette to elevation the existing conditions and define the formal logic through materiality.
The Canopy: Deep timber ceilings follow the pitch of the roof.
The Grounding: End-grain wood block flooring brings texture and warmth underfoot
The Accent: Rich green tile to ground private spaces
The rendering isn’t just a pretty picture for the client, it’s a metric of predictability. When your detailing is tight, reality and vision match flawlessly.
Watch the flashes to see the transition from raw framing to final vision for the Countrywood Residence Phase I Renovations.
Because this is a renovation, the design is a direct response to rigid existing conditions. By locking in a rigorous structural system within the existing shell early, we can predict exactly how light and volume will behave long before a single finish is delivered. For this project, we leaned into a warm natural palette to elevation the existing conditions and define the formal logic through materiality.
The Canopy: Deep timber ceilings follow the pitch of the roof.
The Grounding: End-grain wood block flooring brings texture and warmth underfoot
The Accent: Rich green tile to ground private spaces
The rendering isn’t just a pretty picture for the client, it’s a metric of predictability. When your detailing is tight, reality and vision match flawlessly.
I am proud to see the Red Fox Lake House featured as a national case study by @mcelroymetal . For an industry leader with a 60-year legacy in metal components, spotlighting a project in the Ozarks validates a core personal ethos: that high-performance architecture isn’t a product of geography, but of technical rigor.
The Red Fox Lake House can be defined by three critical successes:
1. Contextual Materiality: Leveraging corrugated metal Multi-Cor panels to bridge the gap between regional agricultural character and contemporary expression.
2. Technical Precision: Working with the McElroy team to develop the custom profiles and installation details necessary to maintain architectural clarity.
3. Measured Performance: Achieving an annual energy footprint of 5,044 kWh. Through passive logic and material reflectivity, the home operates at roughly 50% of the energy demand of a typical residence in its class.
When an industry leader uses your work to showcase the “gold standard” of their product, it reinforces the value of place-based, performance-driven design. Read the full technical breakdown via the link here.
#RedFoxLakeHouse #McElroyMetal #ArchitecturalValidation #PassiveDesign #RegionalModernism
A section is more than a drawing, it’s a set of rules for how a building breathes. The founding principle of Hale Haiku was a singular tectonic move: the interlocking timber structural system.
As you can see in the initial section logic, the entire form is derived from the way these beams meet. By breaking the pitch of the roof exactly where the structure interlocks, the ‘Dickey Roof’, a 100-year-old Hawaiian tradition, is revived and modernized. Originally pioneered by C.W. Dickey to manage the tropical heat, this double-pitched silhouette isn’t just aesthetic; it’s a functional engine.
1. The Steep Pitch: creates a thermal chimney, forcing hot air up
2. The Flared Eaves: acts as a massive shade umbrella, protecting the interior from solar gain
In this project, the ‘Dickey’ form was a structural necessity. By focusing on the logic of the system, the residence required zero mechanical air conditioning. When you get the tectonics right, the building breathes with its environment.
Does the process behind the section change how you view the final design?
#Halehaiku #tectonicdesign #dickeyroof #hawaiianmodernism #architecturalprocess
As you can see in the initial section logic, the entire form is derived from the way these beams meet. By breaking the pitch of the roof exactly where the structure interlocks, the ‘Dickey Roof’, a 100-year-old Hawaiian tradition, is revived and modernized. Originally pioneered by C.W. Dickey to manage the tropical heat, this double-pitched silhouette isn’t just aesthetic; it’s a functional engine.
1. The Steep Pitch: creates a thermal chimney, forcing hot air up
2. The Flared Eaves: acts as a massive shade umbrella, protecting the interior from solar gain
In this project, the ‘Dickey’ form was a structural necessity. By focusing on the logic of the system, the residence required zero mechanical air conditioning. When you get the tectonics right, the building breathes with its environment.
Does the process behind the section change how you view the final design?
#Halehaiku #tectonicdesign #dickeyroof #hawaiianmodernism #architecturalprocess
In Maui, air conditioning is often an expensive correction for a design that ignored its environment.
At the Hale Haiku, comfort is achieved passively. We relied on three interconnected architectural strategies to eliminate the need for mechanical cooling entirely:
1. The Dickey Roof: A historic Hawaiian profile with a steep pitch that sheds rain quickly, flaring out into wide eaves that cast a deep shadow over the building to keep solar heat gain at bay.
2. The Thin Footprint: By keeping the floor plan narrow, we ensure that the trade winds don’t get trapped. Air moves effortlessly across the spaces.
3. Porosity of the Elevation: The facade acts as a continuous thermal valve, allowing the interior to breathe while sheltering the living spaces from driving winds.
Architecture is most successful when it stops fighting its climate and starts working with it.
Follow along to see how we resolved this logic structurally through the interlocking beams of the roof plane.
#passivedesign #sustainablearchitecture #microclimate #architecturaldetail #resonance
At the Hale Haiku, comfort is achieved passively. We relied on three interconnected architectural strategies to eliminate the need for mechanical cooling entirely:
1. The Dickey Roof: A historic Hawaiian profile with a steep pitch that sheds rain quickly, flaring out into wide eaves that cast a deep shadow over the building to keep solar heat gain at bay.
2. The Thin Footprint: By keeping the floor plan narrow, we ensure that the trade winds don’t get trapped. Air moves effortlessly across the spaces.
3. Porosity of the Elevation: The facade acts as a continuous thermal valve, allowing the interior to breathe while sheltering the living spaces from driving winds.
Architecture is most successful when it stops fighting its climate and starts working with it.
Follow along to see how we resolved this logic structurally through the interlocking beams of the roof plane.
#passivedesign #sustainablearchitecture #microclimate #architecturaldetail #resonance
The gap between a concept and a finished building is where so many architectural ideas go to die with conventional detailing.
At the Red Fox Lake House, the goal was formal clarity - a commitment to keeping the roof form as pure as the initial sketch. Achieving the zero-edge eave required a synthesis of drainage, structural load, and material tolerance. It is a rejection of the conventional; a refusal to let construction realities dilute the architectural intent.
This detail is continually evolving on the next project. Follow along to see how the next iteration takes shape.
#redfoxlakehouse #formalclarity #architecturaldesign #modernarchitecture
At the Red Fox Lake House, the goal was formal clarity - a commitment to keeping the roof form as pure as the initial sketch. Achieving the zero-edge eave required a synthesis of drainage, structural load, and material tolerance. It is a rejection of the conventional; a refusal to let construction realities dilute the architectural intent.
This detail is continually evolving on the next project. Follow along to see how the next iteration takes shape.
#redfoxlakehouse #formalclarity #architecturaldesign #modernarchitecture
Architecture is an act of translation. It is the search for resonance between a site’s history and the life that will unfold within it.
My process is grounded in deep research. I don’t believe in applying a style; I believe in listening to the landscape, to the culture, and to the local materiality until the design feels inevitable.
When that level of resonance is achieved, the architecture disappears. All that remains is the experience of being there.
#placememory #researchbaseddesign #nyarchitect #architecturalnarrative #thoughtfuldesign
My process is grounded in deep research. I don’t believe in applying a style; I believe in listening to the landscape, to the culture, and to the local materiality until the design feels inevitable.
When that level of resonance is achieved, the architecture disappears. All that remains is the experience of being there.
#placememory #researchbaseddesign #nyarchitect #architecturalnarrative #thoughtfuldesign
New project on the boards! Phase I renovations of a 1970s residence on a sloped forested site in Arkansas