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.

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.

See renderings and read more about the Boyden Library.

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

“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.

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.

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

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

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

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

The site had already been cleared for a traditional two-story house proposed for the site. Re-siting options were limited given significant ledge, the pre-planned utilities and driveway, and the relatively small parcel.
The typical single family residential program also included a client request for a round room as a feature and focal point of the house. This element became the inspiration for the hinge point to separate and crack open the house into public and private halves. Each half is rotated 15 degrees from the main axis. The public half,
containing the kitchen, informal dining, dining and living rooms, inflects toward the Southeast and the morning light. The single story affords the opportunity for a sloped interior ceiling and clerestory windows, expressive of the form and structure. The private wing contains three bedrooms on the first floor and the master suite on
the second floor. The opening between the two wings becomes the entrance.

Materials were another challenge and opportunity for expressing the design. The client requested durable, low maintenance materials such as stone, metal, and glass. This led to the use of commercial materials such as storefront glazing systems, aluminum-clad windows, and Alpolic metal panels. The house is clad in three kinds of
limestone – flamed, honed, and a rough stacked stone wall at the entrance. The use of wood was limited to the entry door, the underside of the eaves, and one wood wall.

The entrance is demarcated by the wood wall and the stone wall, again clearly expressing the genesis of the design while giving materiality and purpose to the formal gestures. The materials carry into the interior of the entry and beyond as “solid” elements that further define the space within.

The exterior prominently features the archive room which is clad in slate panels to portray the importance of the collection within. Another feature of the project is the addition of a large meeting room which will not only serve as a gathering place for events for the community but also as an art gallery where local artists can display their work. Large windows on each side of the library allow the community to look in and provide framed views of the village center from inside. A centrally-located circulation desk and a new books and media at the entrance provide a flexible space for visitors to encounter and interact with each other.

The library worked with local organizations and individuals to create new garden areas which enhance the beauty of the village, including the rain garden, designed to blend seamlessly into the traditional New England landscape. Through a careful renovation of the existing space and a modest but thoughtful addition, the library will continue to be a vital resource for the town for decades to come.