LLB Architects » News & Events

Recent and Upcoming Speaking Engagements

kisidoro — Fri, 04 May 2012 20:49:51 +0000

On April 19, 2012, Principal Christian J. Ladds, AIA was asked to present at an event hosted by the Providence Preservation Society on What Makes a Great Building? The presentation took a in-depth look at some of Providence’s most historic buildings as well as buildings of recent history including the Robert Lippitt House of 1856, the Captain Joseph Tillinghast House of 1796, 121 South Main Street from 1984, and Brown University’s English Department complex of 2002 which was expanded upon the 1850 Wheaton House. Through intensive research and detailed analysis of these historic buildings, we can distill what makes a building great and what drives our opinions of these structures.

On April 21, the Rhode Island Historic Preservation and Heritage Commission held their 27th Annual Rhode Island Statewide Historic Preservation Conference. In a presentation called Rehabilitating the Preservation Tax Credits, Christian Ladds discussed how tax credits assisted in the development of LLB Architects’ own office complex. He presented within a panel alongside Joe Garlick, Executive Director of NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley; Val Talmage, Executive Director of Preserve Rhode Island; and Scott Wolf, Executive Director of Grow Smart Rhode Island. In the past ten years, $1.3 billion was invested in renovating 208 historic buildings in Rhode Island. Since the State stopped new applications for historic rehab tax credits, preservationists have been working to restart the program. Pressure is mounting on the General Assembly to pass a new rehab tax credit in 2012. Catch up on recent projects in Pawtucket and Burrillville and get the latest news about what’s in this year’s bills, who’s pushing for passage from Mayors to Labor, and what you can do.

In addition to this session on the restoration of Rhode Island’s preservation tax credit program, the conference centered around the establishment of the Blackstone River Blackstone River Valley National Historic Park and the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative. It also considered topics including recreational paths in historic places, green rehabilitation projects, and cemetery preservation.

On May 11, Principal Kathleen A. Bartels, AIA will contribute to a discussion at the Power of Place Summit hosted by Grow Smart Rhode Island, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating sustainable economic growth in Rhode Island. The presentation titled Public/Private Partnership in Urban Revitalization is a look at the last 10 years of urban development in Pawtucket. See how private sector investments and unique collaboration with the public sector have resulted in big successes in housing development, infrastructure investment and historic preservation/redevelopment projects. Get a glimpse at how non-profits, private businesses, developers and city government are working together to leverage $125M in ongoing transportation projects, $100M+ in private redevelopments, new affordable housing + more. Get an overview of the funding vehicles and partnerships that have contributed to Pawtucket’s growth in affordable housing, mill redevelopment and arts-related business growth.

Kathy Bartels will be joined by moderator Thomas Mann, Executive Director of The Pawtucket Foundation, Nancy Whit, Executive Director of Pawtucket Citizens Development Corporation, and Michael Davolio, Director of Department of Planning & Redevelopment for the City of Pawtucket.

Senator Reed visits LLB Architects at Design Exchange

kisidoro — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:47:06 +0000

March 16, 2012 – On Friday morning, Senator Jack Reed, along with Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien, visited the offices of LLB Architects at the Design Exchange in Pawtucket. As part of a tour of Pawtucket, the Mayor showcased the recently renovated historic mill building to Senator Reed. A discussion with partners of LLB and the Senator and Mayor focused around how the project was made possible through historic tax credits and a loan through the Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency.

Canstruction sculptures on display until April 13

kisidoro — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:57:08 +0000

LLB Architects has teamed up with Shawmut Design & Construction to build a structure out of canned goods to help support Canstruction and the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. This year is the fourth event held in Rhode Island since 2007 and exhibits made by architectural and construction firms will be on display from March 31 until April 13 at the Providence Place Mall Skybridge Concourse.

The LLB and Shawmut team have assembled a structure built from over $5,000 worth of canned goods. Sponsors of our team’s exhibit include Arden Engineering Contractors, Benjamin Moore, Catalano Construction, ClassSick Custom Screenprinting and Embroidery, Jutras Woodworking, Landscape Forms, Maharam, Ruggieri Bros, Inc., Synet, Inc., and Tucker Library Interiors.

Visit ABC6, New England Real Estate Journal, and Cranston Herald for more coverage and visit the Providence Place Mall to see the exhibit.

Canstruction is a food charity organization that holds annual design and build competitions to construct fantastic, giant sized, structures made entirely out of canned food. They partner with the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, an organization providing food to people in need and promoting long-term solutions to the problem of hunger. RI Community Food Bank will receive a sizeable donation of food from the event, estimated at 20,000 to 30,000 canned goods.

Boyden Library Breaks Ground

kisidoro — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:28:11 +0000

On the morning of Saturday, January 28th the Boyden Library in Foxborough broke ground. Principal R. Drayton Fair, project team members, as well as library trustees, building committee members, and guests were there to celebrate the groundbreaking of the $12 million project. The renovation and addition project will increase the existing 1960s library from about 21,000 to 35,000 sf and will include a new children’s area, new books and media area, several new computer stations, and an improved meeting room providing space for Foxborough’s community groups and organizations.

See renderings and read more about the Boyden Library.

Christine Igo Freeman of the Sun Chronicle also reported on the groundbreaking ceremony.

The Boyden Library is officially under construction after Saturday morning’s groundbreaking.

“This is your library. This is for you,” said library trustee Chairman Jeff Lovely of the new facility, which is scheduled to reopen in the spring or early summer of 2013.

People gathered in the newly fenced-in library parking lot to be part of a new chapter in the town’s history. The ceremony took place under sunny skies, and shovels actually dug into the ground on the cold January morning.

“This project symbolizes the strength of the Foxboro community,” said George Comeau, state Board of Library Commissioners construction liaison, who was thanked by Lovely for the agency’s $3.4 million grant to the $12 million expansion and renovation project. Representatives from LLB Architects, STV Project Managers and TLT Contractors also attended.

Lovely thanked the people who have spent many years and “hundreds, thousands and maybe millions of hours” on the library renovation project. Those included library Director Jerry Cirillo, director of children’s services Margi Rossetti and the Friends of Boyden Library.

Lovely also thanked past and present board members and trustees’ families for their support. He paid special tribute to veteran member Janet Pineault, who he called “the unsinkable Janet Pineault” because of her vision and longtime devotion to making this project a reality.

Boyden Library Director Jerry Cirillo began his remarks by describing the project as a “long journey” and thanked the entire Boyden staff, Library Building Committee colleagues Pineault and Rossetti and administrative assistant Deb Volpini. He ended his remarks by expressing, “The new library will serve the citizens of the town well on opening day next year and will serve them well into the future.”

State Rep. Jay Barrows, R-Mansfield, spoke at Saturday’s ceremony, calling the project “a great example of a partnership between the community and the state.”

The temporary home for the Boyden Library, which houses 30 percent of the entire collection, is at Chestnut Green on Payson Road.

Construction of the present-day library, designed by Kilham Hopkins Greeley and Brodie, began in 1967 and opened to the public Nov. 2, 1968.

Greening of Kingston

kisidoro — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:04:08 +0000

Developments at the University of Rhode Island were recently a focus in DDC Journal, a publication for building and real estate professionals. The quarterly magazine interviewed Robert A. Weygand, Vice President of Administration at URI, on the latest initiatives in sustainable and environmental planning. The campus has taken a proactive approach in addressing their carbon footprint by improving energy efficiency in existing infrastructure, infilling the campus rather than sprawling, and achieving LEED certification with many of their newest buildings. Weygand commented on the sustainable features of the Hillside Residence Hall noting, “The most visible and most talked-about features will be our solar panels used to heat water for the building, our green roofs that will be in different locations and the air circulation system in it. A lot of the site and building techniques are all done in a sustainable fashion, which will lead to what we hope is another LEED Gold certification.”

Read the rest of the article on page 192 of the DDC Journal online.

Delivering Results at the DMV

kisidoro — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:36:09 +0000

Governor Chafee’s office recently posted a video montage on the improvements to the Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles, emphasizing quality service and increased efficiency. Back in March, Chafee appointed Lisa Holley as the interim head of the DMV. She stated, “We’ve now reduced the wait times for most transactions under an hour, with most people in and out in under 30 minutes.” Governor Chafee thanked Lisa Holley and the dedicated employees of the DMV for providing higher quality service. LLB Architects was pleased to work with the State and create a space that has greatly improved the DMV experience for Rhode Islanders.

Check out the video on YouTube at Governor Chafee: Delivering Results at the DMV.

Miller/Carr Residence wins AIAri award

kisidoro — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:57:06 +0000

On December 1, AIAri held a gala event at the Ocean Cliff Hotel in Newport to honor this year’s awards in architectural achievements. LLB Architects was recognized for the design of the Miller/Carr Residence, and was one of just nine firms to win an AIAri award. Michael Warner, AIAri President-Elect stated, “As a whole, most of the projects submitted from AIA Rhode Island were worthy of awards. Reducing the list to the best of the best was the jury’s challenge. We were very impressed but not surprised at the quality of submissions from the Rhode Island community of architects.” The jury was composed of four members of AIA Charlestown, an American Institute of Architects affiliate in South Carolina.

Check out all the award winners at AIAri and see more images of the Miller/Carr Residence.

Recently Completed – Hinge House

kisidoro — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:44:20 +0000

After wrapping up construction earlier this year, we’ve recently taken photos of our latest residential project – the Hinge House. The house was built on a 1-acre parcel in a planned subdivision with a minimum square footage of 5,000 square feet. Our clients resisted the pressure to simply modify a planned house and instead engaged us to design a modern vision that they would grow into with their young family.

See more photos and drawings of the project at Hinge House.

Designs by Lolita joins Design Exchange

kisidoro — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:05:15 +0000

Designs by Lolita, the business behind the ever-popular hand-painted martini and wine glasses, has joined the Design Exchange. The company signed a lease of 2,500 sf on the third floor of the historic mill building. Kathy Bartels, principal at LLB Architects, is delighted with another designer in the building saying, “We are absolutely thrilled that Designs by Lolita will be joining us at the Design Exchange.” More space is available — find out more by visiting www.161exchange.com.

Read more about Designs by Lolita and see a full article on the lease at New England Real Estate Journal.

Boyden Library out to bid

kisidoro — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 17:03:40 +0000

After much controversy and debate, the Boyden Library addition and renovation project in Foxborough, MA is finally out to bid. The contemporary expansion and renovation of the original 1960s brutalist building will add 13,800 sf to provide much-need space for the library’s growing collection over the next 20 years. The new addition — a complement to the original building geometry and material palette of concrete, glass and monolithic limestone panels — houses an inviting and accessible children’s area on the top floor which doubled the size of the existing area. Another program element in high demand from the community was a new books and media area which is located on the ground floor. Additionally, more than thirty computers are available to the public and an improved meeting room provides space for Foxborough’s community groups and organizations.

The $11.6 million project is partially funded through a $3.6 million construction grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissions and an additional $7.5 million of town-approved funding. Other funds will come from a fundraising campaign and private funds which include money from the library’s trust fund and donations. Bidding documents are available online at Projectdog. Filed Sub-bids are due Thursday, October 27 while general bids are due Thursday, November 10.

Check out images and read more about the Boyden Library project.