Ruhl Walker Architects

Last Saturday, November 19^th, our Hawai‘i Wildlife Center had its official opening, and Will Ruhl and Sandra Baron were fortunate to be able to be in Kapa‘au to represent Ruhl Walker Architects in paradise. We were joined by our Associate Architects and great friends Rhoady Lee and Aaron Spielman of Rhoady Lee Architecture + Design, our landscape architects Jason Umemoto and Nancy Cassandro of Umemoto Cassandro Design, the rest of our talented (and pro bono) design and engineering team, the general contractor and many of his incredibly generous sub-contractors (many if not most of whom had donated or discounted their time and material costs), and hundreds of neighbors, family, and friends.

The celebration began with a quietly beautiful and poetic blessing of the Center by Kumu Hula Raylene Ha‘alelea Kawaiaea, and also included some other visiting dignitaries who publicly declared their support, like John Buckstead of Governor Abercrombie’s office in Honolulu, who spoke on behalf of the Governor, who declared November 19^th, 2011 as the official day of the Hawai‘i Wildlife Center. In between the speeches, entertainment was provided by students of the nearby Kohala Middle School, as well as the Kohala Hula group, Halau Kalaniumi Aliloa O Hawai‘i Nei, and topped off by the Grammy Award winning slack key guitarist John Keawe. There is always an element of bittersweet sadness at the end of a project, for clients and architects alike, but the focus of the day was on the path that led us to this point, and on the new beginning of the HWC’s important efforts to protect and rehabilitate the native flora and fauna of this magical place.

Though the project has a (small) punch list still to complete, the Certificate of Occupancy is in hand and “all” that is left to do is construct the pens and pools in the fenced-in rehabilitation yard for the expected endangered native species, build the custom pens for the recovery rooms, connect the custom hoses for the wash-rinse room (for handling any future oil-soaked animals in the event of an oil spill), install the rooftop solar photovoltaic array and the water-collection catchment system, deliver the triage room furniture, install building signage and educational displays, hire staff, and … raise some money for operations! We hope you will consider joining us in donating online to this wonderful and critically important environmental organization; just click here! Mahalo!

For additional information on the opening of the Hawai‘i Wildlife Center, see:

Hawai‘i Tribune Herald

Big Island Video News (great video, if you have time!)

Hawai‘i Wildlife Center Facebook

Ethan Tweedie’s online photo album

For additional information on the HWC architecture, see:

Ruhl Walker Architects

images courtesy of Ethan Tweedie.

The Hawai’i Wildlife Center, designed by Ruhl Walker Architects, was featured in ArchDaily on August 20^th.  ArchDaily is one of the leading and most influential architecture website in the world, and gets over two million visits and eighteen million page impressions per month according to Google Analytics.

Please visit our portfolio website for additional information on the design of the HWC, and join us in supporting this critically important environmental cause by visiting the HWC’s online donation page!

The exterior of the HWC has been completed, and the interiors will be finished in November, in time for a grand opening celebration on November 19th.

Ruhl Walker Architects is providing pro bono design services for several affordable / sustainable house prototypes to be built in the Summer of 2012 in Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i, as part of “Blitz Build”, an annual event undertaken at different locations around the country by Blitz Home Builders, an international group of Habitat for Humanity volunteers that have organized annual Blitz Builds since 1996.

The Blitz Build will take place from September 12-22, 2012, in Kailua-Kona on the west (dry) side of the Big Island.  The West Hawai’i affiliate of Habitat for Humanity hopes to build up to five houses in this 10-day span! These homes will be similar to the Habitat homes built on the mainland, but will have some unique design features suitable for the heavenly Hawaiian climate. Please visit the Hawaii ’12 page on Blitz Home Builder’s website for additional information.

Ruhl Walker has begun preliminary design work on two prototypes that will be presented to Habitat West Hawaii’s Building Committee later this year. The plan features a covered deck or lanai, an open living / dining / kitchen with sliding glass doors leading to the lanai, and a screened porch / hallway leading to 2 bedrooms and a shared bath. The proportions of the house — 16’-0” wide by 60’-0” long — allow for simple wood framing and ample cross ventilation; the covered lanai and screened hallway further enhance natural cross ventilation.  One side of the house has fewer / smaller windows and would be oriented towards the prevailing trade winds, and the other sides would have larger windows and generous overhangs and be oriented towards the sea (“makai”). The screened hallway would have painted studs 24” on center and horizontal battens 12” on center, and the resulting grid would read as a large window.  Materials under consideration are composite siding and trim on the makai side of the house as well as the end elevations, and corrugated metal siding on the windward side. 

The images below are very preliminary.  We look forward to posting updates as our design work – and ultimately construction – continues.

The prototype floor plan, with lanai on the far right, main living space in the middle, and screened hallway, two bedrooms, and shared bath on the left.	One option for the exterior, with separate volumes for the living and sleeping spaces, separated by the screened hallway.
A second option for the exterior of the West Hawai’i Habitat prototype, with a more linear expression.	The windward side of the house will have smaller windows and corrugated metal siding.

Once again, uniform – designed by Ruhl Walker Architects – has won Boston Magazine’s Best of Boston 2011 for Men’s Casual Clothing. We certainly can’t claim responsibility for this seemingly annual feat, but love being a part of, and celebrating uniform’s continuing success!

We first met Gary Ritacco, uniform’s owner, in late 1998, when we designed his fabulous South End loft, and a great friendship as well as amazing architectural relationship was formed.  The loft was designed to be equally comfortable for two to two hundred people, and was completed just in time for one of Boston’s wildest Millennial parties, a key element of the architectural program.

Fast forward a few years, and Gary started talking with his friends about starting his own business, and in time that business found its name and mission, and Gary sought out the perfect space to realize his dreams.  Will Ruhl and Brad Walker helped scout for this ideal space, and encouraged Gary to jump on an opportunity to open on the ground floor of the recently opened Atelier 505, a major commercial, residential and performing arts facility in the heart of Boston’s South End.  The location has turned out to be a great fit for uniform, given its focus on men’s urban casual clothing and accessories that are fashion oriented, value driven, and utilitarian in nature.  Just as with his loft, the store was supposed to be equally comfortable for two to two hundred people, and to feel more residential than commercial.

Check uniform out, see what all the buzz is about, and let us know what you think!

The entrance at 511 Tremont Street, in Boston’s South End.	Lots of sun, lots of cool stuff.
The interior was designed to feel like a residential loft, and has a crisply detailed “proscenium” that defines the virtual stage within which the charismatic owner and his associates entertain and cater to their customers..	Gary regularly hosts neighborhood events.
Will uniform win again in 2012?...	Gary and one of his associates with their Best of Boston 2011 award.

The new native species gardens are growing in nicely at the new facility Ruhl Walker Architects designed for the Hawai’i Wildlife Center on the Big Island of Hawai’i, and the construction team at TDI is making great progress towards the official opening in November. Rough plumbing, electrical, and mechanical work are installed and ready for the interior finish work.  

Our partners at Rhoady Lee Architecture and Design are managing the day to day construction administration process which is great except it means for Will there is no longer a regular excuse to visit the islands, unlike the last few years… It’s been great collaborating with Rhoady and Aaron; they’ve been helping us on the HWC, and we’ve in turn collaborated with them on several residential projects, including a recently completed house at the Hualalai Resort, home to the fabulous Four Seasons.  In fact, our senior associate, Sandra Baron, spent 6 weeks working in their office in Waimea during the detailing push for that house, 3 weeks each on two separate occasions.  Aaron, when are you coming to Boston?!

The outpouring of community support for the HWC continues to be amazing. On June 15^th, a contingent of Marines – members of Wing Support Squadron 171, stationed in Iwakuni, Japan, but currently training at the Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island – joined Linda Elliott and others to assemble enormous lava rock slabs into benches and tables within the interpretive courtyard. The slabs had been donated by Ryan Associates.

November can’t come soon enough!

Please join us in supporting the Hawai’i Wildlife Center by donating online here!

Exterior view of the main façade of the HWC, seen from the parking area, towards the lanai and open-air education pavilion.	Exterior view of the main entrance to the HWC, with the staging porch (open air triage space) on the left.
A vibrantly painted blue planar wall continues from the entrance lanai into the reception area.	The members of Wing Support Squadron 171, stationed in Iwakuni, Japan, but currently training at the Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island, ready to assemble the lava rock slabs into benches and tables for the interpretative courtyard.
The ventilation system will not only cool the injured endangered species being cared for, but also will provide the required air exchanges that will improve their healing more quickly; air conditioning will be minimal despite the tropical climate, due to excellent cross ventilation and reliable tradewinds.	The elaborate plumbing systems will be able to handle major oil spills as well as day to day rehabilitation needs.

It was a long, snowy winter in New England, and new houses and their owners, contractors, and architects suffered more headaches than we have in many years.  Hard to remember how lucky we’ve been in past winters while shoveling out feet of fresh new snow week after week… But despite the challenges, the house we designed on Mystic Lake in suburban Boston is now only a month away from completion, thanks to the efforts of the general contractor, Berkshire Wilton Partners and their team, as well as an enlightened client who also happens to be an architect. Budget challenges (opportunities!) never end, but the geothermal well is behind us, as is the unexpected shoring up of the site, most of the exterior roofing and siding, and all of the rough mechanical, electrical, and plumbing work, and related decisions.  Interior trim (all set in flush with the walls) and plastering is mostly completed, tile is well along, and the stairs are going in this week. The owners are getting excited about the end of construction and the beginning of the joy of actually living lake-side; we’re sure they won’t miss the bi-weekly requisitions for payment this summer… Check back with us soon for updated photos once the dust settles inside!

The house viewed from across the lake.	The cantilevered volume of the main living space on the left, and the cantilevered study on the right, surrounds a two story exterior roof deck that will eventually have wide steps leading down to the lake. Above the study is another roof deck, adjacent to the master bedroom. The lower level will eventually house a media room and large playroom (and twins are due in September…).
The volume of the main living space cantilevers six feet on the side and four feet towards the lake.	The street side of the house is substantially more private and enclosed than the lake side. The upper middle portion of this side of the house will be sheathed in horizontal cedar slats to provide some extra privacy for a laundry room and bathrooms.
The windows and glass doors on the left open onto the roof deck overlooking the lake. Beyond is an elevated fireplace and the glass wall of the living space.	View of the thirteen foot high wall of windows of the cantilevered main living space, seen from the dining area and open kitchen.
Exterior siding is a collage of fiber cement panels separated by aluminum reveals, and fiber cement clapboards with mitered corners.	Mockups of options being considered for the slatted wall detail. The final decision was 1.5” x 1.5” cedar slats running horizontally and separated by 2”, which will allow for light to filter in during the day, and out at night.
Not sure the neighbors loved the incredibly noisy week long process of drilling the geothermal well in the front yard, but presumably the owners and the environment will…

In 2007, Ruhl Walker Architects was hired to design six faculty houses for St. Mark’s School in Southborough, MA, prevailing over three architectural firms with much deeper portfolios of previous institutional work.  We may have been the most surprised of anyone, but our decades of experience designing environmentally responsible single family houses, our initial concept that attempted to design not just a few small houses but also a coherent landscape and campus strategy, and our unusual design team – which included the prefabricator, Empyrean, as well as our “green” mechanical engineer, Sergio Siani of Norian / Siani, whose practice was all about sustainable design before such a thing existed in the press – managed to win the day .  How else was someone going to meet St. Mark’s “impossible” schedule – less than a year for design and construction – and “impossible” budget, without a prefabricator on board from day one?  And sustainability is a key element of the Head of School’s mandate to transform the 150+ year old campus. We embarked on this “impossible” project with open minds, and thanks to our fabulous team as well as an excellent general contractor – Cutler Associates of Worcester, MA – a super Owner’s Rep – Lee Sollenberger of Design Technique of Newburyport, MA – and a decisive Building Committee, were able to finish the project (see on our portfolio website) under budget and several months early.

As the faculty houses were being completed, St. Mark’s was also embarking on an ambitious master planning process. The planning goals included further campus consolidation and sustainability initiatives, in particular upgrading their main campus building, a meandering structure dating back to 1866 that includes classroom and administrative space, a chapel, dining and cooking facilities, dorm rooms, and faculty apartments.  In order to be able to begin renovating and upgrading the existing living spaces without reducing the size of the student body or number of faculty, additional faculty and student housing had to be built elsewhere on campus.  A previously undeveloped site within an existing row of faculty houses was identified, and the decision was made to reassemble our team to design a new two-family faculty house.  Due to the small size of the project, the decision was made to do the mechanical design as a design/build effort, but Rebecca Bachand of UBLA joined us again for the landscape design. 

The schedule we were presented was substantially tighter than the first project, along with an even more challenging budget.  So this time around, we decided to pursue custom modular construction rather than panelized construction, so that we could have the living spaces fabricated over the winter in a factory while site work was being completed, and this decision proved to be fortunate as we accumulated historic quantities of snow. Last week the eight modules were delivered to the site by Simplex Homes just as the local general contractor was putting the finishing touches on the foundation.  The modules came complete with all windows, interior wall finish and trim, rough and finish electrical and plumbing, kitchen and bath cabinetry, essentially everything except exterior siding and interior flooring. And we are on schedule to have the units ready for move-in by June.

Here are some images from the module “set”:

Module #2 being craned into place, including the kitchen and half bath.	Module #5 being set onto first floor module #1.
Module #6 being set onto 2nd floor, unfortunately backwards…	Module #2 just before being removed and turned 180 degrees…
Module #2, with kitchen on left and stair in the middle.	Prepping for Module #7 and #8.
Nor’easter blowing through a week after the set.

Check out a recently completed project in Boston Home magazine!

You can also see the project in full on our web portfolio, here.

As part of our commitment to annually contribute a minimum of 1% of our time to pro bono causes, Ruhl Walker Architects has been working with the Hawai’i Wildlife Center since 2006 on Hawai’i's first and only native wildlife recovery, rehabilitation, and education center. The HWC is located in Halaula, Hawai’i, on the Big Island of Hawai’i. 

It is difficult to think about problems of any kind amidst the overwhelming natural beauty of the Hawaiian Islands, but the sad truth is that the Islands are host to more threatened and endangered native species per square mile than any other place in the world. A report from 2010 on Climate Change states that 93% of Hawaiian birds are at medium to high vulnerability. In February 2007, the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) declared that the forests of the Hawaiian Islands are the most threatened bird habitat in the United States. The ABC stated that “most (native species) are dependent on vigilant conservation measures to survive at all.” Having seen many of the Big Island’s native birds on a recent trip sponsored by HWC founder and director, Linda Elliott, and renowned wildlife biologist and widely published photographer, Jack Jeffry, project architect Will Ruhl has an even more profound feeling of the urgency for this facility. The BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is all the proof one needs that tragedy can occur even in paradise.

This continues to be a labor of love as we progress with fund raising to complete the interiors of the HWC; needless to say, fund raising has been particularly difficult due to the Great Recession! But we are proud to be part of an amazing team of architects from Boston and Waimea, engineers from California and Hawai’i, a landscape architect from Oahu who grew up near the HWC site, construction managers from Hawi, and many local contractors and subcontractors who have contributed so much of their time and donated materials. The spirit of aloha is alive and well!

The interiors of the HWC are framed and roughed, but the good news is that the exterior shell and rough landscape, grading, and parking is now substantially complete.

The Hawai'i Wildlife Center from Lighthouse Road.	The HWC with, from left to right, staging porch, entrance to rehabilitation facility, central public lanai, and open air classroom.
The front facade of the HWC is composed of fiber cement siding that alternates from solid lap siding to slats spaced apart at different intervals to allow natural ventilation into the education pavilion and staging porch.	The entrance to the HWC treatment facility is defined by planes of vibrant color set within an otherwise monochromatic composition the HWC's lanai will eventually lead to a native species garden, currently being propogated by a local school group, and will house educational displays focusing on native endangered species.
The front wall of the staging porch -- essentially the emergency room entrance for delivering injured birds -- is sheathed with composite siding held apart to allow natural ventilation, a new take on an old agricultural building tradition.	The side walls of the education pavilion are sheathed with clear corrugated polycarbonate paneling, allowing natural illumination into the space while also keeping out the prevalent rain and mist that North Kohala is known for.
Entry to the open air education pavilion is through the central lanai.	Closeup view of the slatted front plane of the education pavilion seen through the corrugated polycarbonate paneling.
The HWC will host talks to local school groups, educational outreach on environmental issues to locals, and talks geared towards vacationers.	By varying the size of the composite slats as well as the openings between slats, a virtual "window" was created in the front facade of the education pavilion.