A4 Architecture Blog
A4 Project Spotlight: The Newport Arboretum
Newport is not only known for its concentration of great and important architecture. It is also a cemetery for landscape design and a treasure trove of rare and exotic trees. This is not surprising as the city has always been a port city connected to distant lands by...
Newport Architect Spotlight: Peabody & Stearns
Newport is fortunate to have had many of the most notable American architects of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries design buildings within the community. Peter Harrison, Richard Upjohn, Richard Morris Hunt, H.H. Richardson, Horace Trumbauer, and Stanford...
Newport Historical Spotlight: New Urbanism and Newport
For the last twenty years, there has been a growing planning movement called “New Urbanism.” This ideology advocates, according to NewUrbanism.org, the following principles: 1) Walkability, 2) Connectivity; 3) Diversity of uses; 4) Mixed (price) housing; 7) Quality...
Newport Historical Spotlight: Newport’s Irish Masons
We are now going through the first prolonged economic downturn marked by mass migration from parts of the world even more economically challenged. Since the city’s founding in 1639, Newport has seen numerous cycles of boom and bust and waves of migration that matched...
Newport Architecture Spotlight: Belcourt Castle
Newport is filled with wonderful buildings in widely differing styles, created at different times and for different purposes. Some, like the Newport Casino, are associated with summer fun. Others, like Belcourt Castle, have become equally famous for the Halloween...
Newport Spotlight: Newport – The Museum of Architecture
Newport might rightfully be considered the "Metropolitan Museum of American Architecture," in that it is the repository of some of the most important works by some of this country's most important architects. Furthermore, it has the distinction of having a good many...
A4 Guide: Architectural Design as Art
Architecture has often in the past been considered to be the mother of all the arts in that it traditionally combined and included painting, sculpture, the decorative arts, and even metalworking and glassmaking. In the creation of the design, architects employed the...
New and Old in Harmony
People often feel torn between the desire to preserve the architectural heritage of the past and to protect the environment of the future. Fortunately, these two goals are not really in opposition and, in fact, can be very complementary with one another. The US Green...
Fort Adams Newport, RI
Unlike other forms of artistic expression, architecture is best understood and enjoyed through use. Sometimes a work of architecture is used in very different ways over time. Fort Adams is one such structure. The enormous 6 acres enclosed “parade,” once designed to...
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A4 Spotlight: Earth Day
Sometimes, there is a swan hidden inside an ugly duckling. This Barrington house, built in the 1970s, had a low ranch roof and googly-eyed bay windows protruding asymmetrically. The new owners loved the magnificent, sweeping views the site enjoyed of Narragansett Bay...
A4 Guide: Adaptive Reuse and Redevelopment
Sometimes old buildings outlive the reason for their original construction and yet they are beloved structures that are an important part of the local history and architectural fabric. What is to be done with these buildings? Newport, because of its long history and...
A4 Guide: Archi-Tech – When to Hire an Architect
When planning a construction project, people often wonder if they need to hire an architect. The answer depends upon many different factors. Is it a residential or commercial project? Do you want to add to the building, substantially rearrange it or simply redecorate...
A4 Guide: Be Ready for Future Floods
This view of Bowen's Wharf from a few years ago shows the dramatic reality of floodwaters during a coastal storm. (Photo provided by Ross Sinclair Cann) It often takes a Nor’easter like last week to remind people in coastal communities that the beautiful vistas we...
A4 Guide: Progress and Continuity
Now that the election season is over for this year, politicians and citizens are left to sort through the results and figure out how to move forward. While some want change, others want continuity and preservation of existing conditions. These two forces have always...
A4 Guide: Choosing an Architect or Contractor
The last five years have been a quiet time for building construction and design in the United States. According to the US Census Bureau, the volume of construction in the last 5 years is nearly 30% less than the previous five years and is still lower today than it was...
A4 Guide: A Brief History of Insulation
As the leaves turn brilliant colors and the evening temperatures begin to fall, it is time to think about the value and many advantages of good insulation. Insulation is meant to keep heat out in the summer and in during the winter and is measured in “R-value” (with...
A4 Guide: Sustainable Architecture
Many people are asking themselves two questions given the current state of the world: “How can I can money during the recession?” and “How can I reduce my carbon footprint given the disturbing changes many are seeing in the global environment?” Here are some answers:...
A4 Guide: Flood Preparation
Super Storm Sandy hit America forcefully, both in a physical and in a psychological way. Now that the New York/New Jersey area has been hit by major weather events not just in successive years but (with the winter storm Athena) in successive weeks, many are wondering...
A4 Guide: New Urbanism and Mixed-Use Development
“New Urbanism” is a term that has come into common usage after the foundation of the Congress for New Urbanism in 1993, but the ideas behind this concept are as old as cities themselves — it is just that we had forgotten the principles for a very long time. To...
A4 Guide: Storm Window Installation and Insulation Save Money
As the nighttime temperatures begin to fall, it is useful to remember that there are few investments in your home that are less visible, but more valuable, than the installation of insulation. There have been some tremendous advances in the technology of insulation in...
A4 Guide: LEED Certification and Sustainable Design
As energy prices continue to rise and concerns about “global warming” and “carbon footprints” become more widespread, the building industry is beginning to change to address these new concerns. We are currently at the leading edge of the “green building” phenomenon —...