We value our partnerships, collaborations, and in turn the relationships that spring from working closely together on projects that are near and dear to all of our hearts. We recently had the opportunity to catch up with one such partner/collaborator, architect Barry Price, who has incorporated our timber frames and enclosures on several projects.
With a focus on reducing the energy a project consumes, we cannot only provide benefits to those enjoying the home and business, but to the community and, on a larger scale, our planet.
Through our collaborations with architect Barry Price, we adhere to this ethos with a partner the cares as deeply about panelization, efficiency, and the environment with as much vigor as we do.
Price says, “For me there is a lot of appeal about panelization, but one of the primary factors is cost predictability. Early in the project and in the process, we were able to get a specific sense of where we will be budget wise to get a building shell up. It answers a lot of questions and what you can expect for the rest of a project.”
For a special project in Woodstock, NY we leaned on our history with Price and our familiarity with his methods to ensure success for the group of three clients and to bring their hopes for a back country collection of close knit and efficient homes to fruition.
Price says, “It’s a unique project in that it’s not a development but a subdivision, and it’s being subdivided by a group of friends. There’s a lot of things that tie them together and they are looking to build together, so they hired me to figure out how to take these 30 acres and subdivide it for three houses.”
“I was up front with them about the construction challenges of trying to build for one family and how demanding it might be on their friendships. I explained that the more we could minimize unknowns and the more we could try to bring organization to the efforts, the better it would be for them.”
This area of NY is renowned for forward thinking, communal living, and environmentalism The combination of intelligent clients, Barry Price Architecture, and New Energy Works can only result in a successful relationship.
“We got New Energy Works on pretty early in the project,” Price continues. “The question for this project was if repetition was going to bring economy? So, we went through and figured out how to break the work down. On one hand we brought as much efficiency as we could to the design coordination and review process and then began to execute. We couldn’t build all of these houses at the same time, so we had to balance New Energy Works’ capacity.”
Max Wheeler, a lead on our high-performance enclosure team spoke on the Woodstock project, “The builds are kind of tucked away in the woods off of Zena Road. Lots of nature, trees and rock. It’s off of the beaten path so there is so slight elevation in the driveway and trucks with lower trailers have some trouble getting in and out. There are also some tight turns through the trees getting from one site to another. It’s just a matter of taking the extra steps to plan ahead on where things are going, what’s stacking on top of what. We’re pretty used to sequencing; it’s a critical part of our enclosure work, just like it is for our timber framing.”
“Overall, the panel setup is pretty standard, and the volumes are pretty identical except for one home that has a garage. Barry has a very specific style, and we’ve worked with him plenty of times before. He comes in with a vision and we know him well enough now to do our thing, and he seems to love the way that we do that?”
Price agrees, “The core of the houses are all the same, there are things that are different about them, but we were looking for the sweet spot between repetition and differentiation from house to house.”
Wheeler says, “Price is always very present during the build. We see him a couple of times a week and we’ll chat and communicate about the build and sometimes just about life. He’s a great guy all around. Getting that feedback from him, sitting down and going through the details and the processes I think is pretty special.”
“I’ve never had the experience before with an architect or a builder where they want all the feedback that you can give to make them better and the next build easier.”
Price adds, “I’ve done six…now nine, panelized buildings with New Energy Works and we have it pretty well down. We are always refining it and there’s always little things that come up, but the fact that we work well with each other and have a structural engineer that understands the system helps out.”
Wheeler concludes, “The one thing I like to say is that with great preparation, good teamwork, and good execution comes a great product. By adhering to those three things, we are going to end up with some beautiful and efficient houses in the end.”
Here’s to more collaborations between Price and New Energy Works on homes that thoughtfully connect the tenants of sustainable materials, high performance, and environmentally friendly planning principals.
