Happy New Year

At the Dawn of a New Year and a New Decade, we at Synergy Architects would like to wish you a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year. Synergy Architects work directly with their clients to develop innovative spaces that exquisitely combine appearance and function. This encompasses not only vision but also every other sense with …

Your Project begins on the Right foot with Our Discovery & Strategy Consultation

When I connect with a client, we start with a free project coaching call. Often my clients are seeking to build their brand-new dream home or purchasing a house that doesn’t fit all their requirements — they are thinking bigger. Other times, they may be planning an addition on their current home. Or maybe they …

Stay at Home Advice from an Architect

5 Ways to Make Sure Your Home Supports You I know these are difficult times. We have been encouraged to stay at home, and it’s normal to feel uneasy without a familiar routine. To maintain physical and emotional wellness, create a new normal — an oasis of your own. Be with yourself, your family or …

All Successful Projects Start with a Project Coaching Call

Think of each project like a tree. The roots resemble the pre-design phase. This is where we talk about your needs and a general concept for the space. This is where schematic and detail design happen, when the tree breaks ground. As we travel up the trunk, the project flows naturally through more definition. I’m …

The Synergy Solution: How We Grow Your Project from the Ground Up

Successful projects follow 5 distinct phases. Synergy Architects has a proprietary process to guide serious clients through these phases to help them achieve their custom design goals. When you hire Synergy, you hire the tree; we don’t sell just a branch. As in nature, the size of the tree varies with every project according to …

Age in Place or Move?

The first thing I noticed as I approached my new client’s house in her 55+ development was the curved paver steps up to the front door. They would make it very difficult for anyone who has a hard time with balance or who uses a walker, impossible with a wheelchair. The client was a widow …

My Cousins: Over, under or through, but never around

Many people have inspired me, including my cousins; one of whom you may have heard of, former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt … My cousin, former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt is a figure I draw inspiration from every day. Genealogically, he is my first cousin twice removed; or perhaps more simply, my grandmother’s grandfather was his …

One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Sustainability in a new home

When clients come to me already knowing they want sustainability in a new home, it’s not a conclusion; instead that’s where the conversation starts. That’s because sustainability is something people arrive at from different goals. It’s important for us to get at the goals and objectives that drive the request. It enables me to guide …

Fantasy Architecture of Minas Tirith Can Inspire Biophilic Design

Balancing nature with design is a core principle for us. After I watched The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, I came home and drew in my sketchbook for hours. The CGI in the film is stunning, very consistent with what I like about architecture. Minas Tirith, the castle and citadel where many characters …

Well-Lit Walkout Basement: Living wall adds vertical gardening to flowing space

The clients wanted their walkout basement to look new and unique, but they didn’t know how to define this. It was a challenge we relished because we perceived immediately that their need meshed with our ‘inside out and outside in’ approach. We used the design solutions of lighting, thoughtful floor plan, and a living wall …