Friday, October 9, 2009

ross chapin architects - wyers end

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The firm, Ross Chapin Architects, that I have worked for the last 6.5 years excels at designing small homes that live large. We pack a lot into a small footprint - to me that is a main criteria for sustainable building. No matter how much green washing one does, 10,000 sqft for a single family house is not sustainable.
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My boss, Ross Chapin, has made a name for himself for creating "pocket neighborhoods" - clusters of small homes around garden courtyards that foster a sense of community. I have had the privilege to be the project manager on many of them. One of them finished up last year down in White Salmon, Washington, on the Columbia River. It is an infill project in a small town. Being able to save many of the mature trees on the site, helps this project feel like it's been there for longer than just one year.
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All of these individual plans are sold through our plan division, GoodFit. When I first started I wasn't completely sold on the stock plan aspect, but hearing from past buyers over the years of how happy they are in their homes, and thanking us for making good design affordable and accessible, has changed my thinking.
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