Author: Alan Dynerman

Categories
Commercial/Institutional

Calcagnini Contemplative Center

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
CALCAGNINI CONTEMPLATIVE CENTER
CLARKE COUNTY, VA

“Contemplatives in Action.” This phrase captures the essence of Jesuit intent perhaps more than any other. At the heart of Ignatian teachings is the Jesuit tradition of spiritual retreats. The Calcagnini Contemplative Center serves the 20 retreat programs at Georgetown University, the premier Jesuit school in the United States.

Georgetown’s program of retreats is varied; some are religious – covering all faiths represented at the university; many retreats are secular. Historically, the University had rented multiple venues to serve this broad agenda. In 2004, Georgetown purchased land in rural Clarke County, Virginia to build a center to house all its retreats.

Organized about two quads, the Center comprises multiple buildings. The Entry Court, Chapel, Dining Hall, Community Building and an existing, circa 1885, farmhouse, define a public courtyard with westerly views to the mountains and Shenandoah Valley. The cabin ranges center on a smaller and more private court.

This Center serves the core mission of Georgetown University unlike any other facility in the school’s 225-year history.

Awards & Publications

2015 Virginia Society of Architects AIA Merit Award in Architecture

2015 WoodWorks Regional Excellence Award

2014 NAIOP Honor Award

Wood Design & Building, 2015, “Celebrating Excellence in Wood Structures”

1 / 12
Categories
Commercial/Institutional

AED Conference Center

AED CONFERENCE CENTER
WASHINGTON, DC

 

Our client, a large Not For Profit organization, leased the top five floors of an existing office building. Beyond the space required for their corporate offices they wanted a conference center that could accommodate 400 people. The central core of the original building was an parking garage which rose from the basement to the roof. Our office was challenged to remove the top six levels of the garage, reconstruct the space and insert the conference center. The specifics of the program included a single space that could accommodate 400 seats, break-out rooms, a catering kitchen, full state-of-the-art audio visual capabilities including translation booths.

Awards & Publications

2000 Virginia Society of Architects
Inform Magazine

1999 Washington Chapter AIA;
Merit Award in Interior Architecture

Inform Architecture+Design in the
Mid -Atlantic, 2000 number 2

1 / 8
Categories
Commercial/Institutional

Hodson House

HODSON HOUSE
ANNAPOLIS, MD

Small – just under 500 students on a historic 31-acre campus in Annapolis, MD. – St. John’s College holds
 a significant place in American higher education. Dedicated to a Liberal Arts education with a curriculum built upon The Great Books Program, this school, the 3rd oldest college in the country, offers a rare, possibly unique course of study.

In 2009 our firm, in a joint venture combining Architecture and Landscape Architecture, developed a Comprehensive Master Plan for St. John’s. That study outlined the qualities of the campus, its limitations, and its importance and contributions to the city. It identified and prioritized immediate and future needs and developed a framework for sustainable campus management and growth for the next 25 years. Hodson House is the first building to emerge from that report.

Our design intentions addressed 4 objectives: develop a site plan that affords a gracious campus entry from King William St., design a structure that maintains and works in concert with the small scale/multi-purpose buildings that make up much of the campus, develop a design that is clearly modern but works with and adds to historic Annapolis, and provide needed space for the administrative and academic missions of the school. The program includes offices for Development, Alumni Relations, faculty offices and a seminar /conference room.

Awards & Publications

2015 Maryland AIA Chapter Honor Award

1 / 11
Categories
Commercial/Institutional

St. John’s College

ST JOHN’S COLLEGE
ANNAPOLIS, MD

St. John’s College, known for their curriculum based on the canon of “Great Books,” maintains two campuses –one in Santa Fe, NM and a much older one in the heart of Annapolis, MD. In developing their Comprehensive Master Plan for the Annapolis campus we were charged with an array of tasks – surveying the condition of the existing buildings & grounds, assessing current and emerging space utilization needs, and developing a framework of sustainable campus management. The work culminated in a Campus plan that proposes a trajectory of initiatives that guide the school’s growth for the next 25 years. This project was a joint venture with EE&K Architects.

1 / 6
Categories
residential not featured

Chester River House

CHESTER RIVER HOUSE
KINGSTOWN, MD

This project, an addition and renovation of a river-side cottage,  overlooks the Chester River in Kingstown, MD. The program is simple: living, dining, bedrooms for children and guests; master bedroom and family room in the tower. The design centers on a small entry court/garden, which offers an intimate landscape and retreat in contrast to the broad views of the river and the city of Chestertown on the far river bank.

1 / 10
Categories
Residential

Pool House

POOL HOUSE
HUNTSVILLE, AL

 

We were asked to design a pool and pool-house overlooking a mountain-top in Huntsville, AL. The program was simple – changing rooms, kitchen, living/dining area, exercise room and sauna. The pool-house is imagined as an open-air pavilion, connecting inside and out in an uninterrupted flow of space. Further, the roof is made up of thin panels separated with continuous skylights. The pool is designed to heighten one’s sense of the landscape and view by suggesting that the water is flowing off the mountain-side like a waterfall.

Awards & Publications

2008 Alabama AIA; Award for Excellence in Architecture

2007 Residential Architect Online

2004 Southern Home Awards: Southern Living Magazine

1 / 8
Categories
residential not featured

Bishop

BISHOP RESIDENCE
MARKHAM, VA

 

Sited in a rolling meadow in Markham, VA, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, this project reflects an extensive renovation of a 1970’s house. The original structure,  a series of dark gabled pieces, ignored this gracious rural site, offering little connection and no views to the surrounding landscape.

Our design sought to connect inside & out – visually & spatially. We developed the main living areas -kitchen, dining-room & living-room – as a single covered “open air” pavilion; glazed on either side and connecting to a porch and pergola to the South and a wrap-around deck to the North and West. A large planter, designed to eliminate the need for railings, surrounds the deck and allows an uninterrupted view of the meadow.

1 / 9
Categories
residential not featured

Jeng

1 / 6

JENG RESIDENCE
BETHESDA, MD

This project represents, at once, one of our most ambitious and most finely focused renovations. Located in an old and heavily wooded suburb of Bethesda, MD we were asked to both significantly enlarge the house (3 bedrooms to 5 plus a new pottery studio & office) while keeping in scale with the neighborhood of small 2 & 3 bedroom homes. Further, we were charged with “save the trees” which gave the site a wonderful sense of place and age. Our solution was to raze the existing house to the  foundation walls and rebuild, in-place, a 1 ½ storey home. With its big sheltering roof and porches – front and back – the house reflects the owners’ simple values & rustic sensibilities while accommodating this large and active family.