Shelburne Farms Door

Birdseye Woodshop made these beautiful entry doors from a downed oak tree at Shelburne Farms. Not only is there a certain romance about using the oak from the property, the sustainability of using a reclaimed local resource adds to the general philosophy of Shelburne Farms.

"We care about the sustainability and quality of life on earth. We care about young people having hope for the future. We believe that sustainability is grounded in individual awareness and action in our own communities."

http://www.shelburnefarms.org/

Yes, we can do traditional!

Greenwich, CT Renovation
Before & After

New Sea Wall

New Lake Champlain sea wall taking shape.

Unity Farm

Unity Farm rising! 

What the...

Chelsie (Birdseye Metal & Glass)is my barometer for keeping it real. He is capable of standing in Lake Champlain,(gloveless!)and torching off an old steel piling to make way for a seawall we are installing, without hesitation!  He is like nobody I have ever met. His talents are endless and his attitude is positive. 

Real cultural Impact!

Relationships

Process and culture come together where integrity exists. The depth of a project is reflected in this interplay. 

This is more than a granite countertop...it is a relationship. Finding true meaning in architecture can start when you discover the forces behind the finished product. Real gratitude and reward can be achieved when there is this understanding.

The nature of inspirational architecture is a collection of synchronized relationships.
-B

• ARCHITECTURE
 
• DESIGN
 
• ART
 
• TRAVEL

Cantilever Lake House by Brian Mac

Posted by Dave on December 18th, 2012

Architect Brian Mac has designed the Cantilever Lake House in Dunmore, Vermont.

More Kudos for the Cantilever House!

Check out the Contemporist...www.contemporist.com

A great global collection of architecture, design, art and travel.

Vermont Public Radio

Kreis: AIA Vermont

Monday, 01/28/13 5:55pm

LISTEN (3:15)

MP3 | Download MP3

By Don Kreis

(Host) What qualifies as the best examples of excellent new architecture in Vermont? Commentator and architecture buff Donald Kreis* has been thinking about the latest crop of candidates.

(Kreis) Every winter, I find myself eagerly awaiting news of what was this past year's best new architecture in Vermont. And this year, like most years, I ended up crying in my beer.

The Vermont chapter of the American Institute of Architects bestowed only one honor award for 2012 - on something created by the design-build firm in

James Westphalen

Richmond known as Birdseye. You can find their project, called Cantilever House, on Lake Dunmore. Only - you can't find it in any real sense, because it's a private residence and not a public building.

Let's face it - Cantilever House is stunning, especially if you share my enthusiasm for contrast over conformity. The shapes are rectangular, the colors are black and grey, the materials are glass and metal and finely cured concrete. And as for the second floor that does indeed extend considerably beyond the first floor - well, everyone who has ever climbed a tree and explored one of its limbs knows that cantilevers are cool. 

Diversity

Panton stone sea wall on Lake Champlain by Birdseye Sitework.
I love that we are capable of doing this kind of work in this kind of weather.  I am also glad I am not doing it and that we have talented, hard working guys that want to! This kind of diversity in our company creates a common respect for "what we do and how we do it."

Serious Collaboration

Finished exterior cantilevered stair.
Collaborators:
client
architect
builder
structural engineer
metal fabricator
wood shop
mason
electrician

In-Process

Process & Culture

Happy 2013
An AIAvt Honor Award, a newly designed website and an up-to-date blog, not a bad way to start off the new year.
So I was thinking...  
Our day to day is about process within our culture. I want to use  this medium to share both process and culture. 
I would like to share the depth of individuals beyond their obvious talent. I feel these characteristics of individuals create the work environment that can inspire creativity, precision, craft and friendship that in turn allow situations where collaboration reveals the true talent of the whole.  We design and build houses, our process and culture make us unique.
-B

aiaVT Honor Award 2012

Birdseye Design is proud to announce our selection as the sole Honor Award winner of the 2012 aiaVT Design Awards for the Cantilever House project.  Check out our website for more photos of this project, designed by Birdseye Design and built by Birdseye Building Company.

Jury comments:

This is a well done minimalist box and sometimes these approaches are hard to do well and this is done well.  The interiors are as clean and well thought out as the exterior. The designers were skilled in editing – the project has just what it needs and no more.  This home sits quietly on its site and this is reinforced with the concrete plinth it sits on.  The dark colors blend in nicely with the site and contributes to this being a more of a background building. The portfolio presented was very well done with just enough information to fully understand the building.

Coffee table book

We've recently been honored to have many of our homes put on display in a newly published coffee table book, Perspectives on Design New England.