NEWSLETTER
This project is an interior renovation to an existing branch of the National Housing Trust offices in Montego Bay Jamaica. This intent of this brief was to increase security measures within the existing service floor to all each department to have clear demarcated areas that allow them patrons to enter only with security permissions rather than the open free movement that now exist. The design challenge was to provide these barriers while keeping the open plan while making the layout of personnel more efficient for the current cashier centre, equipment and furniture.
The Soares Residence is located in the north coast parish of Portland, Jamaica, overlooking the clear waters of the Caribbean Sea. The house is designed as a modern tropical home that is responsive to our Caribbean Climate with deep overhangs which shade exterior walls and with a transparent design, which allows for excellent cross ventilation while maintaining strong vertical and horizontal lines for a modern feel. The house contours to the sloped hill which it sits on with a split level to the rear of the house with a private studio space below and with a viewing deck which cantilevers out above capturing the experience of being on the seas.
The National Housing Trust (NHT) is responsible for providing housing and service lots for thousands of Jamaicans. Most Jamaicans are able to afford housing though benefits and low interest rates offered by NHT. The NHT Headquarters is a landmark in Kingston that is directly adjacent to Emancipation Park. The building was built over 40 years ago and since then, it has foregone a number of internal renovations.
We were commissioned to redesign the main lobby and solve security and directional issues being faced by its employees and customers. We were entrusted to change the overall look and feel of the existing space to a more “international”corporate environment but at the same time creating a space that would still have a distinct Caribbean flavor. We used warm earth tone colors, recessed and track lighting and wood paneling and inlays with contemporary furniture that we durable to handle the human traffic of this very heavily used building.
This project was designed for the Tourist Product Development Company(TPDCO) to be a “new model”for sustainable architecture within the Tourism sector in Jamaica. This project is designed to be sensitive to as well as meet the social, economic and environmental needs of the people that currently sell shrimp on the side of the roadways in Middle Quarters, St Elizabeth Jamaica.
The site borders the lush mangroves that are a breeding ground for many species of plants, fish and animals. The projects is designed to use solar power generations and water catchment and re use will having minimal destruction of the existing site. the structure is made of wood and materials that can be found from nearby hardware suppliers with concrete foundations and timber walling and paneling.
This commercial building is the Headquarters for CASE IH agriculture in the Caribbean. This building is an expansion and renovation to an existing warehouse of the Winston Jones Highway in Mandeville Jamaica. It is designed to sell parts and equipment, service existing buyers of Case equipment and supply high duty agricultural equipment all across Jamaica and the Caribbean. The building is designed to be sustainable in its operation with key features such as the use of solar panels to reduce the energy consumption of the building, catching and reusing rainwater for washing equipment, landscaping and ablutions throughout the facility.
The Lloyd residence is located in the hills of Mandeville with views of the southern coastline of Jamaica. The design is an exploration into the making of a naturally ventilated home in a tropical climate and within the design principles of Architect Geoffery Bawa.
The design facilities the viewing of the coastline from all major spaces within the house while making each space “one room wide” to maximize the use of natural ventilation and light which is abundant in the Caribbean in order to lower/ reduce the energy cost and lifecycle cost of the house. This is achieved through the use and placement of an internal courtyard and adjoining communal spaces that connect with the outside landscape making it a place to live and call home.
The Sisters of Mercy have run the Alpha High and Basic Schools since the inception along South Camp Road. The convent and two schools use the existing entry which has proven inadequate over the last few years. This project is to create a new entry to the institutions as well as new roadway, general parking area and vehicle lay-by for parents to drop off their children while solving the security concerns of the campus and convent with gates and separate entrances internally.
This is small retirement home for a mature couple on a plateau in Salt Hill, St Andrew, Jamaica. This house has a 360-degree view, with the Blue Mountain peak as its backdrop. It was designed within a modernist frame work with an combination/ assembly of carved, solid and void forms while integrating sustainable principles and techniques in order to make the house energy-efficient. The house is completely solar powered while collecting and reusing rainwater and maximizing internal light and ventilation. The house has balconies, roof terrace and outdoor deck spaces that allow the occupants to connect with the surrounding lush landscape from all rooms and spaces within.
The Forbes Residence is located in Montego Bay, Jamaica perched on the hills of Coral Gardens overlooking the Caribbean Sea. This house was a further exploration into the design principles of making each space ” one room wide” to maximize the lighting and ventilation within the design. Instead of using a courtyard, a pool deck was introduced to act as a design feature as well as a means of cooling for the internal spaces. All rooms within the house opens out with large sliding or swinging doors to the pool area on both levels. The pool is the main focus of the house and is accentuated by tranquil sounds of running water and waving reflections within each internal space with changing moods from day to night.
This was a housing competition put on by the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) in North Coast Georgian Heritage town of Falmouth, Trelawny, Jamaica. The site is 500 acres and situated 2 miles out of the town of Falmouth and is meant to be a housing development for the workers and staff of the new cruise ship destinations developments being carried on by the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. This design proposal comprised of over 1000 houses with supporting commercial and heritage tourism attractions for the creating of revenue and exchanges of goods and services.
The development had two housing units that not only implemented energy saving devices but were also expandable by 100% of its original sizes with 20% of the cost of the initial value of the unit without any demolition. Each unit was designed to be a “housing starter” which would be smaller in size as to allow the cost of each unit to be reduced therefore enabling an increase in the amount of persons that would be able to afford them while giving them the potential to increase the size of the units as their families and resources would grow in the future.