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Many of our projects are renovations in historic districts throughout New York City. These houses, beautiful living relics of New York’s early days, often become increasingly troublesome as they age. They have leaky windows, outdated boilers, leaky radiators, and poor indoor air quality. At the beginning of our restoration process, we often must consider preservation…

Mixing passive house detailing with daylighting and historic preservation created a low-energy, low-embodied carbon strategy for upgrading the parlor entry staircase in this Carroll Gardens Passive House. The Staircase Our clients wanted to keep the parlor staircase, wood wainscotting applied to plaster wall, and plaster parlor crown molding. SMR Craftworks and bldgtyp worked closely with…

Thanks to the Passive House Accelerator for this awesome feature of the Highland Passive House, recipient of a NYSERDA Carbon Neutral Economic Development grant and one of our passive house projects currently under construction. Thanks to the project team, including owner and interior designer Cathy Hobbs, Baxter Building Corp., bldgtyp, P & C Engineers, and…

Our clients envisioned a staircase that would ribbon up through the core of their house. Close collaboration between design team and craftsmen ensured the success of the sculptural, unique, modern stair. In this Brooklyn Heights Passive House, collaboration with J’s Custom Contracting was key. We worked closely with the construction team, using sketches to convey…

Michael Ingui, partner at Baxt Ingui Architects and founder of the Passive House Accelerator, was featured in Architizer this week. If you’ve ever wondered why so many people are doing passive houses and how to start, check out the article here:  An Architect’s Guide To: Designing Your First Passive House – Architizer Photography: Mike Tauber

It was exciting to be a part of the Ground Breaking Ceremony for the Highland Passive House. This beautiful multi-use building will be the first multi-use passive warehouse in North America, pursuing Net-Zero energy, carbon neutrality, and Passive House Plus certification. The entire team has been incredible along this journey, including Cathy Hobbs – whose…

We’re excited to announce that our project Asia Art Archive in America received a 2023 Lucy G. Moses Historic Preservation Award from the New York Landmarks Conservancy. The Archive now provides access to its extensive collection and public programs from its new home in Brooklyn Heights. Photography: Peter Peirce History of the Building Our renovation…

26th International Passive House Conference Our own Michael Ingui will be presenting “Electrifying Passive House Retrofits” tomorrow, March 11, in Wies­baden, Germany. He’ll discuss how building envelope improvements can set your retrofit project on the right track to remove natural gas from the home. To watch it live virtually, get tickets here: Ticket shop (passivhaustagung.de)…

Rear Facade Before & After, Photography (right): Peter Peirce When we first encountered it, this Park Slope Victorian on a prominent historic district block was a collection of interventions over several generations. The resulting house was incompatible with the spirit of our clients, a young family of four. The layout felt confusing, and rooms were…

Take a peek inside one of our recently completed projects on Brownstoner‘s The Insider! Michael Ingui and Amy Failla spoke to Cara Greenberg about the house’s transformation, from a partially complete multifamily house to create a lively, informal house for a family of five. Read the full article here!