Newport Architecture Blog
The Artful City
In a world dominated by thirty-second sound bites, YouTube videos, and dueling town halls on T.V., what good are books? And what good then are book reviews? Well books have a gravitas and permanence that fleeting video clips can never have. The Redwood Library has...
A4 Architecture Honored for Adaptive Reuse
A4 Architecture is pleased to have received many awards and recognition throughout the years. The latest award we have received is the “Best Adaptive Reuse Architecture Specialists- North Atlantic USA 2020” from Corporate Vision Magazine for our work on a wide variety...
A Short History of Windows
Among the most central features that help define the style and character of a building are its windows. The size, number, shape, and construction of the windows each play a part in the perception of the building from outside the building and determine its connection...
Adaptive Reuse at Salve Regina University
What do you do when you are a thriving university set in one of the most historic and noteworthy neighborhoods in America? In the case of Salve Regina University, you get as creative as you can. Set within the Ochre Point neighborhood of Newport, Rhode Island and...
A New Technology for Old Buildings
Even in old buildings new technologies can be extremely beneficial. One relatively new HVAC technology that is becoming more popular each year is called “Ground source geothermal heat pump.” Rather than drawing its heat from either electricity or a fuel source, it...
2020 Doris Duke Preservation Awards
Newport is fortunate to not only have buildings by many notable architects, but to have some of their very best works as well. But because Newport was graced with so many beautiful, old buildings, the care and maintenance of these structures has fallen heavily upon a...
Adaptive Reuse and Redevelopment in Rhode Island
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? Rhode Island in general, and Newport in...
Virtual Spaces
In the midst of the COVID pandemic everything seems to be virtual. Virtual school, virtual work, and virtual meetings now dominate many of our lives. This has been made possible largely by the development of the high-speed internet and servers powerful enough to...
Newport’s Lost Grand Hotels
Even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Newport is in the middle of a building boom with multiple hotel proposals before the various boards and commissions of Newport and Middletown and two new hotels, Hammett’s Wharf and The Brenton, have just recently opened...
The Epitome of Summer Fun in Newport: The Newport Casino
Newport is a treasure trove of architecture from multiple eras including the Colonial, the Victorian, and the Gilded Age. If one had to pick a single building that most epitomizes the city's history and character you would be hard pressed to make a better selection...
The Lost (and Found) Theatres of Newport County
As we huddle in our homes waiting for the COVID-19 pandemic to end, it is inevitable that we think back on all the things we have been denying ourselves with a romantic nostalgia. One of those things is going to the theatre in a throng of people, gazing about the...
Design Responses to COVID
The first real impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States came barely four months ago with a huge spike of cases in New York City, resulting in an economic shut down and closing of in person classes at most schools and colleges. It almost seems like years...