The Shape of Light

Please join us on Thursday March 4th, from 5-8pm, for an evening reception marking the opening of our newest exhibit, The Shape of Light.

TruexCullins is teaming up with our friends at Conant Metal & Light for this special event.  Together we will explore the art and science of lighting today, with interactive exhibits that demonstrate the qualities of light and a showcase of beautiful fixtures by local, national and international designers. Additional participants include: Apex Lighting, Con-Tech Lighting, Beeken Parsons, Leucos, Herman Miller, Liton, Arteriors and more.

We hope you can join us at our office at 209 Battery Street as we look with enthusiasm to the next generation of lighting!

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Tram Haus Lodge @ Jay Peak - Installation Day

This past December during a driving snowstorm, a group of hardy Vermonters gathered together to deliver and install the furnishings for the new Tram Haus Lodge at Jay Peak Resort in time for opening Christmas week. The Tram Haus is the first major piece of construction in the resort’s expansion and development project. TruexCullins was brought in to design custom furnishings and finishes for the interiors of the 57 studio, 1, 2, and 3-bedroom guest suites and the hotel lobby.

In keeping with Jay Peak’s rugged nature and proudly offbeat attitude, touches of local flavor and whimsy were added throughout, including locally sourced wood furniture, linens, and accessories. Handcrafted LED light fixtures and recycled tram cable adorn the lobby, alongside furniture and artwork that evokes the backcountry spirit of the Northeast Kingdom.

As local artisans unwrapped packages and boxes, they unveiled beautifully crafted items including a custom black walnut concierge desk and central banquette, a tram cable thistle sculpture with hand blown glass globes and LED lamps encased in crystal, a patinated copper mirror, hand forged iron lamps with twisted tram cable and red birch bent shades, genuine Jay Peak “photo of the day” photography, red birch platform beds, and iron and red concrete bedside tables. Working in concert with our Interiors Studio team, everything was arranged according to plan, knowing that opening day had arrived and timing was critical.

Echoing Jay Peak’s mission of creating an authentic Vermont experience for visitors and guests, TruexCullins relied on the participation of the talented local craftspeople that we work with everyday. We rely on them for their creativity, ingenuity, and in the end, their ability to deliver on installation day. Frankly, it’s one of the most enjoyable facets of our work. Not only that, but working with local people who use local materials keeps the dollars right here in Vermont. By collaborating with over a dozen Vermont artisans, we helped Jay Peak support our local economy, a key objective of the resort. Jay Peak’s commitment to keeping it local is clearly illustrated throughout the Tram Haus with the quality design and craftsmanship that is synonymous with the Made in Vermont moniker.

Our sincere thanks to:

Dave Allard - Lyndon Furniture

Robin Chase of Maple Corner Woodworks

Brian Jones Woodworking

Marc Lemire Upholstering

Stephen Conant - Conant Metal & Light

Church + Maple Glass Studio

Richard Spreda - Blacksmith

Caryn Long - The Window Works

Homer Wells - Sign Language

Jordan Wilson and Todd Sarandos - Red Concrete

Beeken Parsons - Consulting
Photos - Susan Teare

And, of course, Jay Peak Resort

So the next time you’re up at Jay Peak, stop by the new Tram Haus Lodge and see what’s happening on the mountain.

Vermonters shape space, better and better

From the Burlington Free Press Green Mountain Section

By Joel Banner Baird, Free Press Staff Writer • Sunday, February 7, 2010

Taking off

Christopher Hill, president of Heritage Aviation, likewise brought his playful, back-of-the-envelope drawings to the table when he decided to restore a 1950s-era hanger at Burlington International Airport.

As per his specs, a bicycle-friendly path leads to Heritage from Williston Road.

A living, “green” roof planted with sedum (in patterns designed to appeal to airborne viewers) drains to a 35,000-gallon underground tank — and the water is used to wash aircraft.

Aviators might not know to thank a bank of solar hot-water panels for the warm showers.

Motorists will be forgiven if they don’t notice the pebbly, porous concrete parking lot (another stormwater-reduction measure) or the state-of-the-art LED outdoor lights.

But they can’t miss the facility’s 100 kW wind turbine, or the south-facing solar panels.

Hill is “a rare owner,” said architect Richard Deane of Burlington-based TruexCullins.

An early decision: Strip the building (“a rusting hulk,” Deane called it) down to its concrete-and-steel skeleton to preserve structural elements.

“One of the greenest things you can do is not build a new building,” he said.

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Lee Grutchfield's "I Believe" from Sunday's Burlington Free Press

I Believe: 'We are on the cusp of a new era in building, and here in Vermont we are leading the way'

By Lee Grutchfield, Special to the Free Press • Sunday, February 7, 2010

The idea of the self-perpetuating machine, an engine that can produce more energy than it uses, is as old as the wheel. From Galileo to Star Trek, we humans have dreamed and written of it. As architects, we are reminded of this idea when we see the houses that we are now capable of building: houses that can create their own clean energy — all that they need — light-filled homes that are comfortable, beautiful and healthy places to live.

Existing technologies and commonsense building practices allow us to build super-insulated walls and roofs, and to create renewable energy on site — and these capabilities are being used and improved upon daily. We believe that we are on the cusp of a new era of building, and here in Vermont we are leading the way.

One example of this is the South Farm development in Hinesburg, a neighborhood of six homes designed to create most of, and in some cases all of the energy they need. We would like to share with you some of the basic ideas, technologies and design practices used at South Farm, so that you too may share in this new era of building. (Photo by Glenn Russell)

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