In the Northeast, there is a long tradition of spending time at a summer camp or cabin. If you're lucky, you may have enjoyed the connection with nature that a minimally constructed wood building offers — exposed rafters, wall studs, and historic board sheathing. These details are charming, but they also reveal what's missing as... Read more »
Last month, the Placework team officially relocated to a new studio in Portsmouth’s West End, trading the snug downtown home we’d occupied for twelve years for a space that better accommodates our vision. Our new studio, housed in a portion of the historic Morley Button Factory, is an inspiration in itself. We chose this space... Read more »
This project demonstrates how preservation can support multiple public goals at once: protecting historic fabric, expanding housing, interpreting underrepresented histories, and preparing existing buildings for a changing climate. Placework is celebrating the opening of the Penhallow-Cousins House at Strawbery Banke Museum. This project brings together preservation, climate adaptation, housing development, and cultural storytelling in one... Read more »
Health and well-being are rooted in place. And because Americans spend over 90% of our days indoors, according to the U.S. E.P.A., the quality of our homes and workplaces has great potential to impact our health. As architects, where do we turn to understand the environmental factors that affect health and how to apply... Read more »
At Placework, volunteering reflects our core values of community, collaboration, and stewardship. Our team actively contributes time and expertise to both professional networks and the communities in which we live and work. Placework provides three paid days of volunteer time annually, encouraging team members to commit to organizations that are meaningful to them as individuals.... Read more »
At Placework, the design process is grounded in collaboration, exploration, and a shared commitment to creativity. Our approach is iterative, built on the understanding that great design emerges through dialogue, experimentation, and reflection. Collaboration sits at the heart of how we work. We believe that design is most successful when informed by diverse perspectives—whether they... Read more »
The Placework team celebrated at the annual AIA New Hampshire awards gala on September 25th. Our latest project at Saint Anselm College, the Greggory J. Grappone Humanities Institute, was recognized with a Merit Award: the Rick & Duffy Monahon Award for Design Excellence in Architectural Restoration and Preservation. We were joined for the ceremony by Humanities... Read more »
What is a Sustainability Action Plan and how do we use it? Alyssa recently contributed to this article for AIA Architect that outlines how four leading firms developed and employ their firm’s plan. Placework’s Action Plan for Climate and Care is where our commitments as a Certified B Corporation and a signatory of the AIA... Read more »
A recent project offered the unique opportunity to express scientific work as art. The recently re-opened Spaulding Hall at the University of New Hampshire features five wall murals that the Placework team designed in collaboration with COLSA – the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture. The COLSA team was eager to enliven their primary lab... Read more »
UNH Student Work Rather than asking students to solve technical challenges, students are challenged to observe, to feel, and to imagine. Partner Brian Murphy has been teaching undergraduate students at the University of New Hampshire and high school students at Philips Exeter Academy’s Exeter Summer program for the past several years. He’s also led... Read more »
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