by Jane Porter | photo by Keith Issacs
December 2018 — When old design meets new, there’s often an element of surprise to the final result. For a residence in Raleigh’s Historic Cameron Park neighborhood, architect Katherine Hogan and designer Vinny Petrarca, the principals of Tonic Design, created an air of the unexpected that’s seamless and deferential, but also practical and beautiful, all at once. READ MORE
The NC State University Board of Trustees’ Buildings & Properties Committee has approved Tonic Design in Raleigh to provide professional design services for the university on an as-needed basis.
For a term of two years, Tonic Design partners Katherine Hogan, AIA, and Vincent Petrarca are basically pre-approved for small renovations and new construction projects throughout the university campus.
Hogan and Petrarca sought this opportunity because they’re both avid enthusiasts about academia and working on projects at local institutions. They teach studios at the NC State College of Design and frequently serve as critics for other professors’ studios.
As a member of the Raleigh Appearance Commission, Hogan is also “committed to making a difference” in her place, she says
Vinny Petrarca is an adjunct faculty member of the Department of Architecture, NC State College of Design, where he received a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1999. In 2014, he received a prestigious Faculty Design Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) for the firm’s “Crabill Modern” house in Hillsborough, NC.
The Wake County Public School System’s Facilities Design & Construction Department also tapped Tonic Design recently to provide open-ended architectural services for its 171-facility system on an as-needed basis. The duo’s reason for seeking that position? They have two school-age daughters.
For more information on Tonic Design, visit http://www.tonic-design.com/.
Old meets new and leaves room for a backyard. Photo © Keith Isaacs
Tonic Design’s very modern addition to a red-brick, Georgian Revival-style house built in 1916 is the recipient of a 2018 Merit Award from the North Carolina chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA NC). This marks the 11th time Tonic Design’s partners/principals Katherine Hogan, AIA, and Vincent Petrarca have received an AIA NC design award.
The AIA NC Awards program recognizes architects regionally and nationally for exceptional design expertise. Each winning project must exceed benchmarks for outstanding architectural design, structural composition, and application of design theory.
Perforated staircase between the original house and the addition. Photo © Keith Isaacs
The solution responds to the intent of the old house, building upon its narrative of family, heritage, fine taste, and social grace. Simultaneously, it introduces an entirely new narrative that tells the story of a more open, relaxed lifestyle with 21st-century amenities and attention to energy efficiency. Both narratives are articulated through materiality (brick and steel), form (a historic foursquare box and a simple rectilinear appendage), and spatial relationships created through floorplan.
As a result, the residence has been reinvented into a home that embraces casual, modern living without having to sacrifice any of the charm and character of the historic house.
Tonic Design wrapped the 1500-square foot addition’s simple, rectilinear form in Corten® steel, lots of glass, and natural wood and kept the volume within the outer perimeters of the original house. By separating the spatial needs between two floors, the partners also provided the owners with a generous backyard despite the property’s compact size.
The 2018 AIA NC jury called Tonic Design’s solution “thoughtful.” They admired the slim, double-height space the partners slipped between old and new, which solved many potential problems and kept the back brick wall of the old house exposed inside. They appreciated the slim profile of the perforated metal staircase in the interstitial corridor that maintains the addition’s light-filled ambiance while adding easy access to the upper floor.
“We share this award with our inspirational clients and with all of the highly skilled professionals who made this challenging project a pleasure to complete,” said Petrarca.
For more information on the Hillcrest addition and Tonic Design, visit http://www.tonic-design.com/.
Vinny Petrarca and Katherine Hogan, AIA
Tonic Design, a multi-award-winning architectural firm based in Raleigh, NC, has qualified to provide architecture services to the Wake County Public School System, the largest school district in North Carolina, under the WCPSS’s Master Professional Services Agreements.
To qualify, Tonic Design co-owners Vincent Petrarca and Katherine Hogan, AIA, met all criteria including:
Hogan, who is also a member of the City of Raleigh’s Appearance Commission, and Petrarca presented their qualifications to the WCPSS’s Facilities Design and Construction department. The agreement is in effect for two years
Tonic Design is currently working on a “Maker Space,” a new building for an existing private elementary school. The school’s administration wants to expand pedagogical opportunities through long-term projects and new technologies. Inspired by their mission, the partners have based the building’s form on sustainable design strategies. A large roof, for example, will define adaptable volumes of interior space and will let the students witness the sun tracking through the building during the school day,
During design development, a sectional opportunity presented itself that would avoid a head-on collision between old and new: a slender, double-height transitional space. Photo by Keith Isaacs; diagram by Tonic Design
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The project involved designing a modern, 1500-square-foot addition for a two-story, red brick, Georgian Revival-style house built in 1916 in a historic inner-city neighborhood with narrow lots and minimal set-backs between houses. The addition would become the primary hub of activity for a growing family and an ideal space for entertaining. Programmatically, it would include an open kitchen, dining, living area and a spacious master bedroom suite... READ MORE
A red brick Georgian Revival house built in 1916 welcomes a modern, glass and steel addition on a narrow lot in Raleigh’s Cameron Park neighborhood.
The project involved designing a modern, 1500-square-foot addition for a two-story, red brick, Georgian Revival-style house built in 1916 in a historic inner-city neighborhood with narrow lots and minimal set-backs between houses. The addition would become the primary hub of activity for a growing family and an ideal space for entertaining. Programmatically, it would include an open kitchen, dining, living area and a spacious master bedroom suite.
Inside the Hillcrest addition.
To uphold the general scale of this neighborhood and the manner in which the existing house has addressed the street for over 100 years, the addition’s mass is held within the outer planes of the old house, tucked against its rear elevation. And unlike other proposals the owners had seen, the plan divided the public and private spaces between two stories rather than letting the new construction consume the majority of the property. As a result, the architects retained a generous backyard for outdoor play space.
For the exterior walls, the architects chose Corten® steel because it is as durable as the old house’s brick veneer and it relates to its color tones. The wood siding at the rear elevation adds an element of warmth to the rugged steel, similar to the way in which the old house’s white wood trim creates softer edges against the brick.
How the existing house and the new construction linked together structurally presented the challenge. READ MORE…
Photo: Tzu Chen Photography
Durham, North Carolina
Tonic Design devised this Corten steel–clad home in a wooded neighborhood in Durham, North Carolina. The exterior is designed to weather and eventually blend in with the surroundings. The rear of the two-story, 3,800-square-foot house is glazed to take advantage of the forest views. READ MORE
Rear elevation overlooking the forest. (Tzu Chen Photography)
Wrapped in vertical stripes of Corten® steel street-side, with vast expanses of floor-to-ceiling glass and cantilevered windows overlooking the forest behind it, a modern house sits quietly in the corner of a cul-de-sac in Durham.
Katherine Hogan, AIA, and Vinny Petrarca of Tonic Design in Raleigh are responsible for this creative two-story, 3800-square-foot, single-family structure that will, as the steel continues to weather, blend into the natural setting and never need painting. Their clients loved the concept since they wanted a low-maintenance house with a modest public presence.
The owners also wanted to maintain a direct visual connection to their beautiful wooded site. The abundant glazing fulfills that wish. READ MORE…
Street-facing facade
Piedmont Retreat,” a modern, single-family home clad in Cor-Ton® steel, earned for Tonic Design of Raleigh, NC, one of only three Honor awards — and the only residential design among the three — in the 2018 AIA Triangle Design Awards. The awards were presented March 22 during a gala event at the Contemporary Art Museum in downtown Raleigh.
Partners in life and practice, Katherine Hogan, AIA, and Vincent Petrarca have now received 10 AIA Triangle Design Awards for the practice. This is their third honor award.
Rear elevation overlooking the forest.
According to the partners, the clients wanted their new house to have a modest public presence and a direct connection to their property’s wooded landscape within its cul-de-sac neighborhood on the edge of Durham within Duke Forest. They also wanted a private, comfortable, low-maintenance house that would blur the boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces.
Minimal in form and materials, Piedmont Retreat’s steel exterior forms a protective barrier to the street and presents a humble profile to the neighborhood. This rugged, weathering skin will eventually find its final patina and blend into the landscape.
Inside Tonic Design’s award-winning “Piedmont Retreat”
In contrast, the living spaces open to an array of shifting perspectival views within and throughout the house.
Alex Anmahian, AIA, founding partner of the internationally acclaimed firm AW in Cambridge, MA, served as chair of the all-Boston jury. Anmahian, who teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University GSD, announced the winners, noting that the jury admired Tonic Design’s “consistency of message” throughout the submission and the “restrained palette of materials and textures,” among other attributes.
“We’re especially honored to have our work recognized by this year’s jury,” Hogan said, “all of whom are highly respected, practicing professors of architecture.”
Seven design awards were presented this year: three Honor and four Merit. Click here for more information on the 2018 AIA Triangle Design Awards. Click here for more information on Tonic Design.
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