Santa Fe, New Mexico

Negotiated land purchase and directed General Plan Amendment, Annexation, Rezoning and Development Plan process. Held design charettes and public meetings to create a community endorsed plan for 100 acre property. Planning included work for the City of Santa Fe and the Rodeo Association which later lead to the design of the Genovea Chavez Community Center and Rodeo buildings. Playful buildings for the Rodeo Association act as a back drop for the annual livestock and equestrian events.

Taking the form a rolling wave, the roof of the Chavez Center shelters an integrated municipal sports complex with skating rink, 50-meter pool and multicourt gymnasium. The 170,000 square feet facility utilizes a clerestory strategy to bring solar heat to the swimming pool and diffused daylight illumination to the ice rink and courts.

Hugh MacPherson Driscoll, project lead for planning, programming, schematic design and design development, Mazria Associates.

These residences are successful efforts to bring sustainable systems and modernist architecture to the speculative housing market. Modest in cost, they utilize high performance envelopes and glazing, high mass/passive solar design and natural ventilation. Against the predictions of skeptics who doubted both the aesthetic and the technical approach, the homes were under contract even before completion.

architecture: Hugh MacPherson Driscoll, principal, Chord Architecture.

The Valencia house minimizes its ecological footprint through passive solar design, a high performance envelope, active solar thermal collection and photovoltaics. The house will be an annual net producer of energy.

Construction scheduled 2012.

architecture: Hugh MacPherson Driscoll, principal, Chord Architecture.
 
 

This house will achieve net zero energy use through passive solar design, a high performance envelope, active solar heating and photovoltaic systems. Indoor air quality is a priority, along with water conservation and xeriscaping. Construction scheduled 2012.

architecture: Hugh MacPherson Driscoll, principal, Chord Architecture.
 
 

A series of related dwellings designed for a non-profit affordable housing provider, these homes seek to maximize value through economy of space, material and energy use. Homes were built in a variety of locations across Santa Fe County and strategies refined over time to meet economic and performance targets.

architecture: Hugh MacPherson Driscoll, principal, Chord Architecture.

“Outstanding Planning Award, 1999” American Planning Association

Managed urban design and public process for approval of 1420 acre affordable housing community based on New Urbanist principles. Pedestrian based mixed-use zoning. Created design guidelines, including passive solar strategies, and proposed building prototypes. Urban concepts and design guidelines were then tested in the opening phase with the Los Milagros Neighborhood.

urban design, public process and design guidelines:
Hugh MacPherson Driscoll, project manager, Mazria Associates.

Buildings 500 and 700.

Infill live/work units promote efficiency in transportation and energy use for a creative community in a neglected part of Santa Fe. Multiple unit types and flexible configurations for both lease and sale. The language of the building is informed by the geology of erosion, local Anasazi archeological sites and the Unite d’Habitation.

architecture: Hugh MacPherson Driscoll, principal, Chord Architecture; photography: Driscoll, Kohlmann.

Building 700 Visualization
 
 

The Vallecita residence is designed for a chemically sensitive (MCS) client with an interest in deeply reducing the family’s environmental footprint. Careful specification of materials and use of a heat recovery ventilation system create an indoor refuge from the volatile toxins that are ubiquitous in industrialized countries and in many standard construction materials.