Sonoma County, Ca.

Building Information

Client: Architect / Owner

Size: 120 sf

Completion: 2009

Design studio and relaxing space

My original concept was to continue honing construction skills while evoking a sense of place to what is essentially a backyard shed. To that end, I came across old “flavor sticks”, reclaimed oak staves, used for adding flavor character to wines in stainless steel vessels. The oak has interchangeably been submerged in wine and left to bake in the sun, so it has a tough character, and amazing stability. Each stick was cleaned of tartrates and used as a low-tech rainscreen system.

It is important in my work that a building has direct connection to the landscape, making it easy for the user to be inside and out as easily as possible. In northern California this connection is especially valid, due to the mild climate. In this case, I used a pivot style door to showcase an over-scaled and whimsical door, opening a large portion of the eastern wall to the backyard.

Oak Staves reclaimed at: Heritage Salvage, Petaluma, Ca.

Sonoma County, Ca.

Work performed while Project Architect at TLCD Architecture, Santa Rosa, Ca.

Recognition

AIA California Council, Merit Award 2014

California Preservation Design Award 2014

IIDA Northern California Chapter, Honor Award 2012

Structural Engineers Association of California, Award of Merit 2012

California Park and Recreation Society, Excellence in Design Award 2011

Building Information

Client: City of Santa Rosa - Recreation and Parks Department

Size: 8,174 sf

Budget: $2.3 M

Completion: 2011

The DeTurk Round Barn has a wonderfully diverse history and is an integral part of the city of Santa Rosa, Ca. In 1891 Issac DeTurk built the facility to house prized race horses and for many years it functioned in that capacity. Over time the facility changed hands and ultimately was purchased by the City of Santa Rosa, becoming a maintenance facility for many years. In that time, it slowly lapsed into disrepair, eventually needing extensive repairs just to maintain its integrity from water and earthquake damage.

In time the city envisaged a higher use for the beautiful, but raw building. With major input from the West End Historic Neighborhood and other community members the building would soon become a facility under the direction of the Recreation and Parks Department, functioning as a community gathering space, including uses as diverse as movie nights, conference space, backdrop for farmers markets and weddings. Though the is building is the major presence in DeTurk Park, it is not the only attraction. Community members had had a very popular dog park and volunteer-maintained rose garden prior to the revitalization. A new, expanded dog park, rose garden and community gathering space were mandatory requirements moving forward.

Luckily the work was never conceived as a pure historical renovation, but as an adaptive reuse. This allowed flexibility to incorporate modern requirements (accessibility, fire protection, seismic and technical) without having to defer to elements that were not considered of primary importance.

Steel stairs, designed with a light-hearted nod to industrial buildings, make it clear they are definitely not “off-the-shelf” and could only be for this place. Eighty percent of the exposed redwood interior finish was provided by remilling all of the beams and posts that were removed in order to perform seismic upgrades, allowing us to retain history in a new way. The wood floors are reclaimed from old shipping containers, reinforcing the environmental stewardship of the project. The item with the greatest visual impact is quite possibly the lowest tech component in the project. We utilized a 24 foot diameter low-speed, high velocity fan from Big Ass Fans to provide all cooling in the space.

This is an example of a project where people that craft in their trade, from plumbers to carpenters to electricians, show that time spent coordinating produces large impacts. All of the major components are visible in the main space, but are so well done, they fade into the beautiful tapestry of the barn, becoming part of the timeless nature of the space.

Butte County, Ca.

Work performed while Project Architect at TLCD Architecture, Santa Rosa, Ca.

Recognition

ASCE Outstanding Urban / Land Development Project 2017

Building Information

Client: Butte County Association of Governments

Size: 49,000 sf

Budget: $18.4 M

Completion: 2016

Headquarters for Butte Regional Transit, serving numerous communities in northern California. This facility now houses all administrative, as well as maintenance staff. It also includes all fueling and washing needs for the bus fleet.

The project brief asked for modest accommodations, recognizing the facility was paid for with tax payer funded dollars. The owners also asked that natural daylight be an integral component in the design. This concept was to extend to the maintenance facility as well, where workers were quite often working in conditions where daylight and connection to the outdoors occurred frequently and was desired. To that end, the administration building was conceived as a long pedestrian walkway, with a linear light scoop overhead. Since the facility was occupied mainly during the day, this concept allowed for almost complete lack of light fixture use. In the maintenance facility we utilized clerestory windows again, along with the added help of fully-glazed maintenance bay doors, providing 70% of the daily illumination needs in the space.

There was a concern that administrative and maintenance personnel would not have the ability to interact in such a large facility, so the concept of a gathering courtyard was devised, where informal gathering for lunch, as well as formal gathering for county events, would occur. The courtyard was added between the two main buildings, symbolizing the important connection between the two distinct, yet equally important entities.

Napa County, Ca.

Work performed while Architect at TLCD Architecture, Santa Rosa, Ca.

Building Information

Client: Flynn Properties

Size: 48,000 sf

Budget: $40 M

Completion: 2010

The Carneros Resort and Spa is a casual and sophisticated resort catering to Bay Area residence and world travelers, looking to get away to the renowned Napa Valley wine region.

We were tasked with a compiling a varied architectural program into numerous buildings to create zones of gathering. One such space was “the square”, a place where guests can gather for dining, drinks and bocce ball.

The buildings were to be of “simple, agricultural vernacular” on the outside, easily integrating into the northern California rolling hills and oak trees. The interiors, conceived by local interior designers Shopworks were elevated, but not pretentious. This project consisted of a large conference facility, administrative offices, general store, restaurant with commercial kitchen and swimming / yoga facility.

Napa County, Ca.

Work performed in association with Shopworks (Interior Designers), Napa, Ca.

Building Information

Client: Plumpjack Group

Size: 1,215 sf

Budget: Withheld

Completion: Start 2021

Contractor: Cello & Maudru Construction Co.

As a successful hospitality management group, Plumpjack’s focus is on customer service and dedication to individual customer experiences. This led them to provide a call center location, centering on directed services related to wine, restaurants and hotels in Northern California.

This project is a modest, yet thoroughly conceptualized interior remodel of a former yoga studio. Plumpjack requested a call center as well as employee lounge, that can transform seamlessly into a future wine tasting space for their clients. To that end, Shopworks provided durable and restrained design in the call center and relaxed “Northern California” aesthetic in the Lounge, including oversized sliding barn doors.