Robert Carl Williams came to Vermont in the early 1960’s because he loved the beauty of the land. “I discovered how fresh and untrammeled Vermont was, and I wanted to make my life here. I wanted to build homes and communities that complemented and fit into the landscape. I wanted to make a lasting impression by enhancing our lives through architecture. This philosophy and vision guides the firm to this day. We were everything that embodies Green before there was the catch word for energy conservation. Fundamentally, green is the guiding principle to preserve our environment and world. Daniel Pratt, my partner, joined our firm 25 years ago and has become the new guiding light for our accomplishments. He is now the president of Robert Carl Williams Associates. Our commitment to honoring and continuing this philosophy becomes even more urgent in this transition period of the world economy and shrinking resources. Green is the guiding thrust of our organization.” - Robert Carl Williams
Green Before Green Was a Buzzword
Spring 2009 Rutland Magazine
Written by: Cassie Horner
Robert Carl Williams moved to Vermont in the 1960s because he loved the beauty of the place he had come to know as a college student. “I discovered how incredibly beautiful it was,” he says. Tennessee-born and raised, he had graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in architecture.
“My reason for coming to Vermont in the early 60′s was really philosophical,” he explains. “I wanted to build better communities and not enter into the rat race of the city.”
The elements of architecture and his deep appreciation for his adopted landscape led Williams to develop a vision that still guides the firm he founded. Describing the Hawk projects he initiated in five Vermont communities, he says “We were everything that embodies green before there was any buzzword. We designed fundamentally around the environment – every tree, every rock.” He borrowed from the European style of not building in the valleys on tillable land by building on the mountains. He planned roads by walking the land so there was the least amount of impact. He wrote covenants to protect the homeowners by preserving and protecting the land.
“Robert Carl Williams came here in the 1960s and created the Hawk community and we built five of those communities,” says Daniel Pratt, President. “We were green even before the concept of green. We preserved trees and farmland. Green is now very big news.”
This applies to the diversity of projects the firm handles in locations as close as Pittsfield, the town where their office is located, and all around New England to as far as Tucson, Arizona and the Caribbean. The work ranges from renovations and additions to new homes and commercial reclamations. They are renovating a 200-year old stone farmhouse in Pennsylvania that includes a glass addition – the fourth project for this client. They are renovating a small cottage on Silver Lake in New Hampshire where the client grew up so she to preserve the character of the place. They worked on the restoration of the Brandon Vermont town hall. Another project is an approximately 3,500-square foot house in Pittsford, designed for one-floor living and barrier-free access.
“People refer to us as the country doctor who fixes what hurts,” Williams says.
Pratt, who joined the firm in 1980, had an early connection to Vermont. “I grew up able to see the Vermont hills from a small community in New York – Hudson Falls,” he says. “In my bedroom , I could see the mountains.” He was a farm boy, “Sublet to my uncle by my engineer father” to help with herd of about 130 dairy cows. “The property was not mine but I knew every rock and pasture.” After high school, he went to SUNY Buffalo to become an industrial arts teacher. He worked for an architecture firm doing drafting, and later worked in the ski industry for a company that build tramways. In 1995, he became a partner at RCW Associates.
“This was a way at that time to turn things over to a man who had sensitivity and expertise and honesty.” Williams comments. “Now we’ve been in business a long time together. He’s now president of the company and I am allowed to come and go and work when I’m here since architecture is what I enjoy and my wife and I travel five months of the year as we sail around the world.”
Williams retains his philosophical outlook and social conciousness that has influenced his work. “We are in deep trouble relative to energy awareness in this country,” he saus. “We are going to see a tightening up over the next uears. Oil supplies are in a state of decline. The government has declined to recognize that so we are quite far behind. To wake everybody up is going to be a major problem. This opens up a very long subject of where we are going as a nation regarting energy requirements.”
He stands in the midst of this subject as an architect. “Our part in that is to make homes as energy-efficient as possible. Every architecture firm alive today has to be on top of that.”
This awareness fits in with the shift from homes 4,000 to 7,000-square feet to homes more the 4,00 or slightly less range. “The rend now is to smaller homes,” Pratt says.
Another trend is a return to a country look. “In the early years everyone wanted rustic,” notes Williams. “Over time they became more sophisticated. Now we are coming back around to rustic.”
One thing that remains constant is the firm’s commitment to respecting the sense of place and the elements that make place what it is. The concept of green is a guiding force. “When we started doing it, it made sense, and we’re still doing it,” says Williams. “we have a long story here.”
New Home in Pittsford, Vermont
This home, designed for couple who retired to Vermont to be near their family, was created to harmonize with its setting in a former pasture tucked onto the side of a hill with beautiful views. “They wanted a New Endland home,” explains Daniel Pratt, President of Robert Carl Williams Associates. “I did the design. Melanie Paskevich executed the construction documents and put on her own touchest.” Harrington Custom Building of West Rutland was the general contractor. The approximately 3,600-square foot house has three levels, but is arranged for living on one level with the guest quarters upstairs and down. “The home has every amenity you would want: pantry, separate laundry, master suite, an entry with drawers for mittens and hats and cubbies for scarves,” Pratt comments. “The front entry connects the guest and family entries.” The house features barrier free access, with one-level living intended to meet the needs of people as they age.
Green elements of the home that make it very energy-efficient (it is an Energy-Star home) include the insulation, fluorescent light fixtures, the glass, and an integrated air system and the doors.
Paskevich explains, “The customers had a budget which we stuck to. It came in right on target.” One of her favorite parts of the house is the office situated off the living room to take advantage of the scenery. “The views are gorgeous. The nice little office captures the views,” she says. “and the screen porch is wonderful. I’d live out there.”
Commercial/Residential Renovation: The Kazon Building (West Rutland, VT)
The Kazon building on Marble Street was in a state of severe disrepair when Robert Carl Williams Associates was contracted to bring it back to life with a major renovation project. I its new incarnation, the former dress manufacturing site is home to NeighborWorks of Western Vermont, the agency that owns the building, and apartments. NeighborWorks, a non-profit, was founded in 1986 to revitalize the area left in dire straits after the closing of the marble quarry.
The design created by Robert Carl Williams Associates highlights the beauty of the structure, both inside and out. For example, the floor in the apartments were left as they were so you can still see the places wherre the machines were. “We kept the old factory windows,” says Daniel Pratt, President of Robert Carl Williams Associates. “We kept the ceilings. We made an effore to use local materials. We do that in all of our projects.”
The Kazon building restoration involved collaboration with NeighborWorks of Western Vermont, Efficiency Vermont, and the Vermont Division of Historic Preservation. It was a Brown fields project – part of a federal program that evaluates and cleans up under-used or abandoned industrial or commercial sites where there are potential or existing enviornmental contaminants.
“We took a building that was falling down and instead of tearing it down, we gave it a whole new life, “Pratt says.