Ellen Cassilly Architect Newsletter - Fall 2011

Charlotte Brody Children’s Garden-Duke University

One of our most exciting projects is at Sarah Duke Gardens. We are helping them to create the Charlotte Brody Children’s Garden. Two old barns from Wilson County were donated to the garden. They are being disassembled and we designed a new configuration of barn, wrap around porch and trellises using both new and recycled timber. LeChase Construction is doing a great job of realizing the project.

In phase two, Meredith and Ellen are designing a sculptural entryway to the garden. See Meredith’s great rendering below with the barn in the distance.

Thirst for Architecture at FullSteam - October 27th

Ellen Cassilly Architect will join George Smart and the Triangle Modernists Houses’ (TMH) team for locally brewed beer and locally designed architecture. Please stop by Fullsteam (one of our 2009 projects) on Rigsbee Avenue for a drink and see our latest projects. Our friends at Preservation Durham and Urban Durham Realty will also be on hand to share in the fun.

TAIA talk – November 14th

The Triangle American Institute of Architects has invited Ellen to be on a panel of architects speaking about their practices. It will be on November 14th at 6:00 pm the Burns Auditorium at the NCSU College of Design.

Completion of The Leaf

We could not be happier and more proud of the students that were in the NCSU Design/Build studio this past summer. Ellen team-taught it with Randy Lanou, Eric Mehlman, Scott Methany and Aaron Trudo. The thirteen graduate students came up with some great designs and we narrowed them down to one.

They worked out the design details, built construction models, drew a set of construction documents, applied for the building permit, ordered materials, prefabricated the trusses in the shop in Raleigh, dug footings, bent rebar, set columns, poured piers, assembled trusses to columns, poured the slab, prefinished and attached the slats, cleaned up the site, planted and mulched and hung two triangular shade cloths – all in 11 weeks!

The Durham community has enthusiastically received the Leaf.

Chute Residence

Keith and Ellen are working with Amy and John Chute on a fabulous mid-century modern renovation and addition on Rugby Road in Old Hope Valley. Ryan Johnson of Revolution Homes, our contractor extraordinaire, is orchestrating the project including the whole-house energy efficiency update. We think that Amy is just one course credit away of having an advanced degree in plumbing selections!

PNC

Ellen spoke to a group of preservationists in September at the Preservation North Carolina annual conference in Mt. Airy, North Carolina. The topic was Preservation in Urban Environments and Ellen presented the Roger’s Alley mixed-use project in downtown Durham.

SEEDS

Congratulations to SEEDS on a very successful Harvest dinner. They raised thousands of dollars to further their mission of teaching people to care about the earth, themselves, and others through garden-based programs. Andrea Reusing of Lantern, inspired our minds with wonderful words and Amy Tornquist, of Watts Grocery, (an ECA 2006 project) inspired our bellies with a fabulous meal.

Bob Cassilly

Over the years you may have heard Ellen sing the praises of her cousin Bob Cassilly and his outrageous City Museum in St. Louis. Bob passed away in October, doing what he loved, working on earth moving equipment sculpting his latest project. If you are interested in learning more about Bob please click either of these links. NPR and New York Times.

Blessings on you all and happy fall.