Colony Hall Renovation, The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH

2015 Recipient of the Rick & Duffy Monahon Award for Design Excellence in Architectural Restoration and Preservation – AIA New Hampshire Excellence in Architecture Design Awards

This project required renovating the community center and dining hall of this 100-year-old residential artists colony. A venerable building created from a recycled heavy-timber barn frame, it had suffered inevitable deterioration over time: poorly conceived additions that blocked incoming sunlight, a rudimentary kitchen, limited accessibility, and a building envelope ill-equipped to meet the energy conservation goals of today. Our challenge was to develop a planning strategy that would underwrite our clientís priority for energy conservation. Strategically placed new additions provide high-quality new construction along vulnerable northerly building exposures, while targeted demolition admits southern light to areas previously cut off from solar gain. A resulting majority of new exterior walls were then constructed and insulated to achieve R-30 values, complemented by an R-50 roof.

The architecture reflects its New England heritage in terms of scale and volume, yet is clearly the work of our own time, rather than being an imitation of the past.

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Contractor: Bruss Construction, Bradford, NH

Design Team: S. Pennoyer, D.O’Neil, Dan Eldredge

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

Rick and Duffy Monahon Award for Design Excellence in

Architectural Restoration and Preservation

The Monadnock Ledger Transcript, February 3, 2015