Case Study: Clinton Corners Residence by Lake/Flato Architects
RESIDENTIAL DESIGN
January 10, 2019 | by S. Claire Conroy
Travel just 1 ½ hours north of Manhattan, and you are worlds away from the cacophony of the city. Imagine the golden sun-drenched landscape of a Hudson River School painting—peaceful, beautiful, and timeless. This is the context for Lake|Flato’s Clinton Corners Residence, a complex of three structures on a 2-acre lakeside property, and the architects’ latest foray into prefabricated construction. While the project uses the DNA of the firm’s Porch House program, it is its own new hybrid species.
The Porch House was conceived as a module-based system, adapted to each site through linking “porch” elements—interstitial connectors that could be open or enclosed or a mixture of both. The porch elements gave the firm the flexibility to adapt the modules to the site in felicitous ways. Bill Aylor, AIA, who’s lead the program with Ted Flato since its inception, has explored a number of means of delivering the modules.
The initial thought was they should be built in a factory to ensure quality and reduce cost. Ultimately, says Bill, the firm has never built two Porch Houses in the same way—for a variety of reasons. Chief among them has been the difficulty of finding top-flight factories that can deliver the standards and the geographic reach required by the firm and its discerning clientele.
Although located in the Hudson Valley of New York state, the Clinton Corners commission came to Bill and project architect Evan Morris through Texas ties. One of the clients has roots in the state and had always admired the firm’s work. When the couple approached the architects about building a weekend/vacation house on picturesque Upton Lake, they were eager for a quick build. Everyone began with the idea that the Porch House process might be a solution.
As design development progressed, it became apparent that the Porch House program would accommodate some of what the clients wanted, but not all. Where it fell short, or rather too small, was in the great room. The clients sought a spacious, almost barn-like open plan kitchen/living/dining room that could host large gatherings of friends and extended family. The prefabrication module delivery system would not work for this portion of the project. So, the team set about devising another means of getting the entire project—which also included a bedroom wing and a separate guest house—done quickly and to the high performance standards of the Porch House program.
Fortunately, in his decade-long quest to build a network of Porch House-capable factories, Bill had struck up a relationship with prefab pioneer Tedd Benson and his New Hampshire-based Bensonwood company, just three hours north of Clinton Corners. “I’ve been talking with Tedd since about 2009,” Bill recalls. “We were always eager to do some work with them because of their capabilities, but also because I thought they were very cool people. At the time the Clinton Corners project came up, I had just been at a conference with Tedd where he gave the keynote address.”
Bensonwood doesn’t do modules, it builds high-performance panels, components, and structural systems, so the company had not been an obvious partner in the Porch House program. But for this particular hybrid project…
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(Pre)fabulous: Ingrained Building Concepts Specializes in Energy-Efficient Timber-Frame
UPSTATER
January 15, 2020 | by Anne Pyburn Craig
Jason Jones got his higher education in architecture and building sciences from SUNY Delhi — and promptly brought his knowledge home to the Hudson Valley and buckled on a tool belt, doing restoration carpentry and then overseeing kitchen installations. It wasn’t long before he decided he wanted to organize his own process, and in 1998, Ingrained Woodworking Inc. was born.
As it happened, a lot of people loved the results of his blend of design vision and meticulous execution. In 2013, he re-visioned the endeavor as Ingrained Building Concepts, Inc. to emphasize the firm’s comprehensive capabilities. And as 2019 drew to an end, the Wappingers Falls native found himself busier than ever.
“Fall’s a crazy time,” he says. “We were going a mile a minute, six if not seven days a week, long hours, trying to get people’s homes ready for them to move in, trying to get concrete poured before the ground froze.”
Yet in all the madness, Jones has never strayed from his philosophical foundation: Do the design the right way and everything else will flow from there. “Planning is the key to any success. There are always going to be variables even with a plan; the quality of the plan itself should never be one of those variables. A lot of people don’t invest enough time in the planning and design; our approach is to start with a plan that is cohesive enough that the execution just flows from it.”
Ingrained Building Concepts won Best of Houzz 2017 for client satisfaction, and the company stays busy doing the kind of work its founder enjoys. “I love doing a bedroom or kitchen remodel that’s complex and interesting, that calls for extreme attention to detail,” he says. “A mindful approach. It’s not the size or scale that draws me, it’s the type of work—going very hands-on while staying focused on both the design and the function. Everything has to look clean and integrated and work together seamlessly.”
For the past dozen years, Ingrained Building Concepts has been working with Bensonwood, a custom building company based in Walpole, New Hampshire with a focus on sustainable passive houses and timber framing. “They just keep getting better and improving their product,” says Jones. “What they do is pre-fabricate these panels—not like log cabin-style, more the way a barn is framed—that are state-of-the-art efficient, airtight, and insulated. They’re conversant with everything from traditional timber frame skills to cutting edge technology, and they always deliver a beautiful product. Having them build the panels and deliver them means that we can deliver a closed-in structure on a foundation in just a couple of weeks; then Ingrained takes over from there and handles all the other stuff.”
And he does mean all the other stuff. Actualizing that fully realized plan means getting deep into every process from HVAC and electric to roofing and trim—and each detail and product needs to be on point, which in today’s world means constant research. “It’s a challenge to keep up with the latest products out there and the methods involved,” says Jones. “Everything is much tighter—spray foam insulation, flashing—and you have to be careful of every detail, otherwise you can…
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MEET THE OWNER: INGRAINED BUILDING CONCEPTS
VISIT VORTEX
March 24, 2017 | by Barbara Reina
Are you putting off renovating that kitchen or bathroom? Do you own a historic home? Are you building a new home, an addition, or just want to add some custom features to your second home? Finding a local construction firm that will turn your beautiful home dreams into a structural reality can be a challenge.
With a degree in Architectural and Building Sciences and experience in project management and carpentry, Jason Jones, owner of Ingrained Building Concepts, has a hands-on approach that ranges from budgeting to building.
“I wear a lot of hats,” says Jason. “There really is no average workday. Generally, 80 percent of my time is hands-on in the field and 20 percent is meeting with people,” adds Jason.
“I have a degree in architecture. I chose to put a tool belt on so that I can help people walk through their design and engineering decisions. I believe I’m making people’s lives better in the way that I can. I can help people with how they enjoy their house, which I think helps them emotionally,”
Homegrown in the Hudson Valley, Jason is from Wappingers Falls. After working in New York City, he decided to return to his roots and apply his skills in the location that he loves.
“I grew up here. I’m an outdoors person in general. I just really like the diversity of where we live,” comments Jason.
He wound up starting his own business, Ingrained Woodworking, Inc., back in 1998. “It was my way of finding the right atmosphere to work in,” he says.
Ingrained Building Concepts was formed in 2013 as an expansion of his vision to help clients from concept to completion.
Jason describes his business as a full-service contracting firm, specializing in architectural interiors, exterior elements, post and beam homes, kitchen and bathroom renovations, “and anything that presents a challenge,” he adds.
“Doing a project isn’t just putting pieces together. It’s important that the client is going to be happy with it in the end. We use samples, mock-ups, and sketches to get closer to what their vision is—what they’re picturing in their head—and make it happen. I enjoy helping the client figure that out,” comments Jason.
“I like to be there and work with clients as a team. I help clients make good decisions and guide them through decisions. I go the extra mile. I think it makes for a better cohesive design in the end,” says Jason. His clients range from homeowners in retirement, to weekenders with second homes, to young families adding a section onto their house.
“A lot of people nearing or in retirement want to make their home an enjoyable place to spend more time in,” says Jason. No matter what the job is, he adds, “our approach is still the same level of quality and attention to detail.”
IBC works with clients on building and renovation projects generally ranging in price from $5,000 to $200,000. “It’s a mistake to get too comfortable with high-end jobs,” comments Jason. “We’re not doing it just for the money; we’re doing it because we love it. We enjoy helping people find ways to improve their homes and make them more enjoyable.”