John Anderson has been practicing architecture in Vermont continuously for 35 years. As a design oriented office and studio we have created a wide variety of highly acclaimed projects in Vermont and New England. Our work includes institutional, educational, commercial, public and residential buildings, master planning, site planning and landscape design. Single family homes, furniture design and architectural murals round out the scope and design interests of our firm.
The Studio
We believe architecture is a Fine Art and as such can be a profound and enriching experience for its users. Our projects have won many awards for excellence in design. We believe that design excellence is achieved by integration and continuity through programming , design documents and the construction process. Architecture, like any visual art, is conceived and fabricated; it is something made.
As a studio, we are careful to take on a limited and select number of projects at any one time. This allows everyone in the studio to get involved in every project and it allows our principals to stay involved in a project from beginning to end. We also believe that in order to be successful, well made and on budget, a project must result from an open and enthusiastic collaboration between architect, owner and contractor. This belief pervades our studio environment.
Programming
This first step in the design process is one of the most important. We consider ourselves to be good listeners and do not begin designing until our clients feel that they have been fully heard and understood. We incorporate “hard” program elements such as size and cost, rituals and routines with “soft” program elements such as personal visions and dreams, feelings and emotions into a document that guides the design process to its completion. |
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Concept sketch for the Science Center Laboratory (see Architectural Murals). |
Concept Design
The second phase of a project, concept design establishes the basic design premise of a project. Regardless the degree of complication of the design program, at least one central concept emerges that defines the character of a project. Regardless the size of the budget, most, if not all, of the core concept or concepts can be achieved. We use sketches, 3D models and photo-montages to illustrate one or more concepts for our clients. Usually, either one single concept or a combination of more than one quickly feels appropriate and exciting to our client. If not, we work until some powerful core idea emerges. Then a cost estimate is developed for that concept and if everything still feels right, we move on to evolving and finalizing the design.
Throughout the concept phase, the work of the studio is done primarily by hand. We believe hand drafting and modeling is a natural way to create architecture as art. Our sketches and plans become gifts to our clients.
Evolution of the Design
Beyond this concept phase, drawings are produced on CAD and become increasingly refined and specific. However, as “keepers of the concept”, we know that even the smallest detail can reinforce the spirit of the core concept and that is always on our minds as we evolve into details. As keepers of the concept, being involved in construction is part of the design process. During construction we make sure that the core concept is not lost. It continues to inform activities and decisions on site. Thus, we strive to bring the spirit of creative solutions and strategies to everyone involved in the construction process. A successful building always depends on creative and successful collaboration with craftspeople and the building trades on site. |
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A model of the Wing Building (see Commercial and Institutional Architecture) which received a Vermont AIA award as one of the best-designed buildings of the last 50 years in Vermont. |
