MacDowell Colony - Studio Renovation - Mixter
2018 AIANH EXCELLENCE IN SUSTAINABILITY AWARD
Established in 1907, the mission of the MacDowell Colony is to nurture the arts by offering creative individuals of the highest talent an inspiring environment in which they can produce enduring works of the imagination. On a 350 acre site in Southwestern New Hampshire, twenty-five cabins located throughout the campus were originally built as spaces for daytime use. It was decided recently to convert each space into a live-in studio. This required expanding each building to accommodate an entrance with closet and kitchenette, a full bathroom, a screen porch, and in some cases a separate bedroom. Throughout the expansions and additions we respected the architectural heritage of each structure while achieving a very high standard of building envelope to reduce the overall energy use. This created spaces that are very comfortable and resilient during the long harsh New Hampshire winters.Because the studios are remotely located from each other, it was determined to reduce the energy needs, so we could heat and cool each building with a small mini split heat pump. This allowed for a solar array to be built so that renewable resources could replace the old oil fired heating systems.
