Looking Back on 2022 Invigorates Exciting Momentum into 2023

2022 has been a year of amazing growth individually, collectively, and particularly for our clients and partners! We would like to take the opportunity to pause and reflect on the year and share some of our favorite highlights.

Patriquin Architects is Growing
Welcoming New Members & Celebrating Our Team

2022 was a year of exponential growth, here at Patriquin Architects. Onboarding new team members has helped us significantly expand our architectural and marketing efforts. We are thankful to have brought on Leen, Aurora, Kara, Nick, and Dave, this year.

On-the-Boards

This year we’ve been fortunate to be able to start a wide variety of projects and project types. Above is a small preview of the projects you can expect to see from us in the coming future, including, but not limited to: a new restaurant in downtown New Haven, accessible cabins for a local nature camp, an interior lab renovation and bathhouse design for a local university, an adaptive reuse and renovation of a historical landmark in Norfolk, the new Slate Upper School as an extension of the Slate School Campus, multiple multi-family housing projects on both the masterplan and streetscape levels, and the adaptive reuse of New Haven’s historic Cine 4 theater into the Friends Center for Children’s head office space. 

2022 Completed Projects

Exley Lab

This interior renovation for Wesleyan University’s Exley Science Center provided a bright update for the existing wet and dry labs within the building. New mechanical systems, flooring, and casework are highlighted by backdrops of color and new lighting. The adjacent labs each had specific requirements that we worked diligently to coordinate with the staff and students who would be the end users–this included details such as window treatments that would control daylight exposure to sensitive lab materials. 

Union Station Feasibility

An unbuilt design that explores the potential of Union Station in New Haven; the Union Station Feasibility Study was a collaboration with Desman Associates and Svigals + Partners to develop the East and West Lots that surround the existing Union Station. Patriquin Architects worked to design a mixed-use CLT high-rise on the East Lot, while Svigals worked to design a multimodal transportation hub on the West. The CLT design rises 18 stories to include hotel, conference space, parking, and retail. The podium style base allows for a large terrace overlooking downtown and Long Wharf, while large stepped entry terraces create a strong pedestrian-friendly streetscape presence. 

Wesleyan Neighborhood Preschool

The new Neighborhood Preschool for Wesleyan University provides early childhood education space for infants through Pre-K-aged children, serving both the University and wider Middletown community. Two classrooms for infants and toddlers and two classrooms for Pre-K students spread along a main corridor, and open directly onto outdoor play yards. Both the classrooms and corridor include many “cozy nooks” and breakout spaces where children can explore and learn in more intimate settings. Targeting LEED Gold equivalence, the project prioritizes healthy building materials, a large rooftop solar array, and robust exterior envelope. The Neighborhood Preschool will provide the youngest members of Wesleyan’s extended community with a healthy, comfortable new space in which to learn and grow.

Westover School

Designed by Theodate Pope Riddle and completed in 1909, the historic Westover School was looking to renovate their dorm interiors without disturbing the many office and classroom spaces that existed adjacent to the dorms throughout the building. The design carefully maintained and refinished the original wood flooring, while providing new lighting fixtures and finishes. A main challenge of the design was to provide more outlets within each of the dorms, without disturbing the existing walls. Our design solution utilized the existing chair rail molding within the dorms; an extension of the molding profile allowed us to discreetly run new wiring through each dorm room without incorporating multiple conduits throughout the spaces. 

Staying Involved
Yale | UNH | UHART | Platt Tech

We applaud our team members who took time out of their work and home schedules this year, to get involved with multiple student communities.

• • Paolo Campos and Max Ernesto Ballardo spent the fall semester teaching architectural programs at Yale and University of New Haven, respectively.
  • We had the opportunity to host high school students from University of Hartford’s Summer Architectural Program this past summer, a program meant to introduce students to the practice of Architecture and inner workings of a design firm.
  • In addition to hosting, our team member, Leen Hariri, spent a day at Platt Technical High School’s career fair answering questions about the profession and what she enjoys most about the world of architecture.

Sustainability
2022 Sustainable Highlights

This year saw us further evolving and developing our experience with sustainable design. Our two Passive House projects – the “Hidden Brook” residential project, and the retrofit of our historic office building – received pre-certification from Phius (Passive House Institute US), bringing us one step closer to being fully certified. Meanwhile, a collaborative study for the redevelopment of the area around New Haven’s Union Station provided the opportunity to design around low-carbon materials: a mixed-use high-rise building constructed of cross-laminated timber (CLT).

Awards
JEDI Small Firm (Patriquin Architects) | CTGBC Award of Merit (Aurora) | AIA New England Emerging Professional Friendly Firm (Patriquin Architects)

We want to celebrate the accomplishments of our team members and our firm that were recognized this past year:

• • Aurora Perreault received a Green Building Award of Merit for her student design of the “hARTline Park River Development”. This project explores transforming the existing Griffin Line Railroad that sits along the Park River in Hartford to a pedestrian accessible trail, designed to connect the communities along the path and engage them with the riverfront.
  • Patriquin Architects was recognized this year by New England AIA as an Emerging Professional Friendly Firm for 2022.  We found the process of applying for this recognition was a healthy way to provoke more conversations about the different ways the firm can provide support for young professionals.
  • Patriquin Architects was honored to receive the JEDI award during the AIA gala this  year. It made us proud to see 3 teammates come up on the stage; Karin to receive the JEDI award, Paolo as the new president of AIA & Max  presenting the new emerging professional award as that award holder himself.

Engagements
AIA CT | AIA National | AIA NY

This year brought many opportunities for us to share our knowledge and work both on a local and national level.  At CACX’22 Paolo and Jeannette along side Eric Gebrian from CES presented “Decarbonizing the Sustainable Way: Exposing All-Electrical Buildings from the Outside In”. Karin stayed busy connecting on a national level, presenting ‘What Vernacular Buildings Teach Us About Sustainability’ earlier this year at the AIA Conference on Architecture ’22 in Chicago, and then later this year participating in AIANY’s webinar, ‘The Architecture of Goodwill‘. 

New Voices in our Blogs
Care & Collaboration : How We Design Near Sensitive Ecosystems | How We Created a Flexible Design for Slate Upper School

With new team members came new voices in our blog posts! See above links for our blog posts this year which focused on our immersive design approaches for both site and programming. Thank you Molly Straut and Leen Hariri!

Team Culture & Connection
Annual Holiday Party, Sleeping Giant Hiking & Travel Share Breakfast

Through this busy year, we made sure to set aside time for our team members to relax and celebrate our growing efforts. Our excitement for our office space being finished this year was proven through our many office-hosted celebrations, including our Annual Holiday Party and an Office Breakfast, in which we sampled delicious treats from The Farm Belly and team members shared photos from summer travels. In participating in AIACT’s Steps For Action this year, we found a great opportunity to get outside with a group hike at Sleeping Giant State Park.

News & Press
Opening Day at Wesleyan Neighborhood Preschool | Strong School Study | Union Station Feasibility Study | Paolo Campos Named Principal

It’s with excitement that we reflect on the various projects and events that we’ve been fortunate to be a part of this year, both internally and externally, as a firm.

• • With the cutting of a kid-crafted construction-paper ribbon, Opening Day at Wesleyan Neighborhood Preschool was an exciting one for team member and Senior Associate, Jennifer Shea, who worked as the lead on the project.
  • We were able to explore multiple design studies this year including a proposal for utilizing the historic Strong School Site, and our feasibility study of New Haven’s Union Station East Lot.
  • Amongst this busy year we were able to celebrate the promotion of team member, Paolo Campos to Principal at Patriquin Architects, though ‘Principal’ doesn’t cover the many hats that Paolo wears in our office such as IT wizard, code aficionado, young-architect mentor, and 3D printing champion (to name a few). 

Moving Into Our Recently Renovated Office
King’s Block

Since moving back into our office in May of 2022, we have been experiencing firsthand the great benefits of Passive House construction. The project is close to being fully-certified through Phius (Passive House Institute US), having passed our blower door test – the critical assessment of air tightness – with flying colors. In the meantime, we have already been enjoying the incredible thermal comfort, excellent air quality, and acoustic isolation from the noisy urban exterior (thank you, triple-pane windows!) that are now an integral part of our beloved 200-year-old brick building.

New in 2023
Projects | Leadership | Company

With 2022 coming to an end, we like to look ahead to the coming excitement of the year. In 2023 we expect to see the completion of King’s Block’s first floor renovation, the soon-to-be home of the Farm Belly’s Cafe. You can expect to hear more from Principal Paolo Campos, AIA, NOMA, this year as he takes on his role for AIACT’s 2022 Board of Directors as AIACT President. This year our office developed our own JEDI committee as part of our ongoing effort to uphold and push forth the JEDI Pledge; we are excited to see the growth and commitment of our office and JEDI team through the next year. And our firm’s president Karin Patriquin has been named the Connecticut representative in the AIA Small Firm Exchange, a national network meant to foster collaboration and share resources amongst small architecture firms. 

What’s in Store for the Year Ahead?

If you have building or renovation projects in mind for the year ahead and will be looking to collaborate with an experienced architecture firm, we’re happy to tell you about our services. Please contact us at your convenience. Happy New Year!