Office Field Trip

posted by Matthew Bushey

Each year, the entire office embarks on a day-long field trip to see examples of great architecture and interiors projects in our area. The purpose of the trip is to get out of the office to experience new work firsthand, learning from some of the great examples of design that are right in our backyard. It’s also a chance for us to share some quality time on a chartered bus.

Recent trips have included visits to the Exeter Library by Louis Kahn, the Forest Conservation Center in Concord, NH, and the new music building at McGill University in Montreal. This year, we visited two of our own projects.

We first toured a residence in Shelburne that we recently completed with our landscape architect, H. Keith Wagner Partnership. The owners graciously opened their new home to us, and Lee Grutchfield led the group on a guided tour of the building and site.

The project is actually two homes, connected with a common entry. The larger of the two is the home of the children and grandchildren, while the smaller is for the grandparents. The building sits comfortably in the landscape, receiving light and solar energy from the south, and framing views of Lake Champlain to the north. The home features passive solar heating, a geothermal well, and sugar maple and oak wood harvested from the site that is used throughout.

The whole experience of moving through the house is thoughtfully planned, from the initial arrival, to the conscious movement through the house, and finally to the views and curved boardwalk leading to the lake beyond.

The bus then boarded the Charlotte ferry and we headed across the lake to New York, where we toured the rebuilt Lake Placid Lodge. After a fine lunch, Steve Rooney led a tour of the grounds and main lodge.

The original building dated to 1882 and burned to the ground in 2005. TruexCullins worked with the Garrett Hotel Group and interior designer Joszi Meskan to recreate the rustic luxury of the original lodge. The new building is a non-combustible structure, but is finished with elaborate wood and stone detailing throughout. The craftsmanship is evident everywhere you look. This is a building that is truly at home in the Adirondack mountains.