modern | green | sustainable architecture
“From site, client, and experience, Frank Harmon spins a highly specific, easy-living modernism.” - Vernon Mays, Residential Architect magazine
• AIA NC Center for Architecture and Design, Raleigh, NC, 2011 — Platinum (pending as of Dec. 2011)
• Merchants Millpond Visitors Center, Gates County, NC, 2009 — Gold
• Ocean Conservation Center, Beaufort, NC, 2010 — Platinum
• North Carolina Botanical Gardens Education Center, Chapel Hill, NC, 2009 — Platinum
• Duke University Smart House, Durham, NC, 2007 — Platinum
December 17, 2010
CG image of the future AIA NC Center for Architecture & Design
by Jessica Daily
While rooftop gardens are fast becoming the norm in major cities like San Francisco and New York, the new headquarters of the North Carolina chapter of the American Institute of Architects is bringing the first green roof to Raleigh. Designed by Frank Harmon Architect PA, the building is set to meet LEED platinum standards…
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March 2, 2009 (BEAUFORT, NC) – Duke University’s Ocean Conservation Center (OCC) at the Marine Lab in Beaufort, N.C., designed by Frank Harmon Architect PA of Raleigh, NC, recently received a Wood Design Award: Green Building Category from WoodWorks-Southeast, a division of the Wood Products Council of North America for non-residential construction.
“Wood contributes to building high performance by reducing energy use, resource use, pollution and overall environmental impact,” according to WoodWorks’ website. “Entries in the green building category should demonstrate how some or all of these principles have been applied in the building’s design and construction.
The 5,600-square-foot OCC is Duke’s only LEED Gold certified building and one of only about 1700 LEED rated projects in the United States. Presented by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the national benchmark for high performance “green” buildings.
Harmon used local building materials — yellow Southern pine and Atlantic white cedar — and recycled wood throughout the Ocean Conservation Center. The wood-shingled exterior complements the coastal context.
Other “green” features include photovoltaic cells, geothermal heating and cooling, solar panels for hot water, photovoltaic rooftop panels for converting sunlight into electricity, an abundance of operable windows for natural lighting and ventilation, deep roof overhangs to keep the sun off the windows, permeable sidewalks, a zinc roof designed to last 100 years and to reflect heat, and native landscaping.
Frank Harmon has designed many LEED-certified buildings, including the Botanical Gardens Visitors Center nearing completion now at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. It was designed to receive LEED Platinum certification, the highest level in the certification program. For more information, visit www.frankharmon.com.
The annual WoodWorks-South competition is open to designers, firms and building projects in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The award ceremony was held February 24 at the Wood Solutions Fair in Raleigh.
WoodWorks is an initiative of the Wood Products Council, a cooperative venture of all the major wood associations in North America, as well as research organizations and government agencies. For more information visit www.woodworks.org.
January 10, 2006 (BEAUFORT, NC) – Construction has begun on Duke University Marine Laboratory’s new Ocean Science Teaching Center (OSTC), designed by Raleigh architect Frank Harmon, FAIA, principal of Frank Harmon Architect PA.
Located on Piver’s Island at the head of the Beaufort Inlet, the OSTC will provide state-of-the-art teaching facilities for Duke’s Marine Lab, while identifying and demonstrating innovative, environmentally sound design and construction technology. According to Harmon, the OSTC will serve as a “beacon for sustainability, incorporating the built with the natural environment” in the context of Piver’s Island, the Rachel Carson Estuarine Research Reserve, Gallants Channel, the Cape Lookout National Seashore, Beaufort Inlet, and the historic town of Beaufort.
The new building will include three primary spaces: laboratories, a lecture hall, and a commons overlooking Beaufort Channel. Harmon’s angular design responds to the site along the edge of Piver’s Island, where it will enjoy southwest breezes blowing in from the channel and create an open, inner courtyard for the campus. The channel side of the 5000-square-foot building will feature a large, wooden porch just outside of the glass-enclosed common area, which will provide panoramic views of the natural surroundings. Building materials will include wood, wood shingles, glass, and cement panels.
To obtain a gold LEED® rating, the building will feature photovoltaic cells, geothermal heating and cooling, cisterns to collect rainwater for landscaping needs, and recycled materials will be used wherever possible. The wood-shingled exterior will complement the coastal context, according to Harmon. Landscaping will include a large new dune, which will direct the wind over the building, rather than directly at it, and protect other landscaping features.
Duke Marine Lab, whose resident faculty reflects expertise in oceanography, marine biology, ecology, physiology, biochemistry, cultural anthropology and marine policy, offers a year-round curriculum for undergraduate, professional masters and doctoral students as well as a full range of research, residential and teaching facilities.
The Lab was founded in 1931 as a summer field station for the university’s zoology and botany departments at Duke University. It has become a year-round facility used by scientists and educators from throughout the world. In 1991, the Marine Lab joined Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, the first School specifically created to address environmental problems from a multidisciplinary perspective.
The public is invited to monitor the progress of the OSTC’s construction via a live “web cam” accessible on Harmon’s website, www.frankharmon.com: click on “current” projects, then Ocean Science Teaching Center and the link at the bottom of the page.
Frank Harmon is an award-winning architect whose firm was recently named “Top Firm Of The Year” by Residential Architect magazine.