Nestled in the heart of Montpelier, a charming 1940s cottage, and its family was bursting at the seams. This cozy 24'x24' two-bedroom home on Terrace Street had a story to tell, but it needed a new chapter. Enter Arocordis Design, led by Stephen M. Frey architect, ready to breathe fresh life into this classic abode with inspired architectural design and planning.
The Challenge: From Snug to Spacious
Picture this: a family deeply rooted in their community, just a stone's throw from Montpelier's bustling downtown. They liked their location, but their beloved cottage was struggling to keep up with their growing needs and thriving landscape design-build business. They faced a dilemma: move away or transform their home and stay in town close to friends, schools, and…
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GRATEFULNESS
As I head towards the end of 2023 and look to welcome 2024, I have a lot to be grateful for. In the residential architecture sphere, I work in. I treasure all the great families and residential building professionals around Vermont I had the good fortune to work with this past year. Arocordis Design is all about…
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Overview
We recently researched some small wood stove options for some clients and we share that here with you. With a high-performing energy efficient home design it is not necessary to have a large wood-burning appliance heat your home, if at all. We selected a few models at varying price points that have a less is more Modern functional appearance and performance level.
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Why choose an earth-sheltered design for a Vermont custom home?
We are often inspired by nature, but true architectural innovation comes from partnering with nature’s forces. This concept sketch by firm principal Stephen M. Frey, AIA, explores how an earth-sheltered, nature-near home design can solve two specific Vermont challenges: keeping warm in winter and blending into our protected hillsides.
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An architect like Arocordis Design and Stephen M. Frey, AIA plays a pivotal role in helping a client hire the right builder team by using their experience and networks in the industry here in Vermont. Once hired, effectively collaborate with the client and that builder to help deliver the desired end results. Here is how:
1. Good drawings with clear design and building scope: Before hiring a builder, we set up a clear design and scope of work with and for our clients. We create clear architectural drawings that communicate the desired design, quality, and scope of the custom home design, major renovation, or addition. Good drawings help organize…
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Introduction:
In our quest for a sustainable future, the way we design our homes for you and how they connect with the local community and place hold immense significance to us. The harsh realities of the recent 2023 Vermont flood brought this clearly into perspective. With its effects in mind, we are trying to return to a new normal with how we design our homes, major renovations, and additions for you. What is the roadmap? It is unclear. The flood affects certainly highlight the importance of sustainable home design here in Vermont. We have work to do and design and building practices to reassess.
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Introduction:
Creating a new garage hobby barn live space to support your existing home in a rural or suburban setting can be an exciting and rewarding project. To ensure a successful outcome, it’s important to follow key steps and best design and planning practices.
Those taking steps to determine space usage requirements, assessing existing building and site infrastructure, and permitting needs. It’s also critical to consider aging in place, accessibility, and universal design principles for forward adaptability to changing lifestyles and life chapters. With a frequently unstable climate, it is critical to meet or exceed energy efficiency standards and improve resiliency to climate shocks. This easy-to-understand guide will walk you through these and other important planning and design steps.
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A new project
Arocordis Design likes to create stunning rustic and modern custom homes for clients in Vermont. In this article, we will take you through our journey of a recent new net-zero rustic modern home for a new client that is both eco and family-friendly.
Sustainable home design is very popular in Vermont because of its many benefits to the environment and its occupants. At Arocordis Design, we strive to design eco-friendly homes that are energy efficient and use natural resources like local materials, energy efficient building construction and systems, sunlight, and wind. We are now designing such a home in Northern Vermont for an owner-builder family who will soon move back to Vermont.
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At Arocordis Design, we often collaborate with clients who have eyes bigger than their stomachs, or honestly, home design ideas bigger than their budget. If this sounds like you what do you do in cases like that? Whether a new custom home, addition, or major renovation this mindset applies equally well. As Vermont architects, we advocate for and design harder-working buildings and spaces that do more than one job. This short article focuses on interior space planning and design but also can be applied to the design of an overall new home or large addition or wing.
What does doing more than one job mean? Well, toss out single-use rooms like a dining room or a formal entry area. Work to integrate that dining function into a flexible open space living area. Create a mudroom that doubles as the main entry. With ideas like this,…..
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