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Amacher & Associates is a
client based architecture firm in business since the 1980's and led by
registered architect Franziska R. Amacher, AIA, LEED AP. As both an architect and
former developer, Ms. Amacher has experience in all aspect of the building
process from getting projects approved, building a team, and developing
budgets to setting schedules and negotiating with contractors.
Amacher & Associates has designed architecture at every scale from door knob
to district such as new houses and renovations, communities and
mixed-use developments and urban design. We work with groups and individual
clients in a participatory design process that emphasizes the building of
dynamic, connected communities.
Amacher &
Associates has a good working relationship with a network of consultants who
are experienced in the field of sustainable design. Along with these
consultants we like to involve the contractor early in the process to
optimize project team interactions and contributions that each of the
players of the project has to make. Our designs are based
on appropriate green strategies with
resource efficiency, energy efficiency, & healthy environments. We have
included the following strategies in our designs: Passive & active solar
space heating, solar heating of domestic hot water, energy crafted building
envelopes, high efficiency appliances, water saving devices, good indoor air
quality with healthy building materials, good venting and ventilation
systems, use of local resources, and preservation or restoration of
landscapes. Ms. Amacher is LEED accredited.
At Amacher
& Associates we use modern technology including 3D modeling and animated
walk-through to help our clients visualize buildings and make informed
decisions. These modern technologies help us to more clearly develop
projects, choose materials, and present projects to a wider audience.
We prefer to
involve and work closely with contractors early in the process to optimize a
smooth implementation of the design to the built project.
The founder of Amacher And Associates,
Franziska Amacher, received her Masters Degree in Architecture from the
Harvard Graduate School of Design. She has taken courses in methods
for historical preservation at the Architectural Association in London. Ms.
Amacher holds a degree in sociology from the University of Geneva,
Switzerland, and has worked as a sociologist and policy researcher.
Ms. Amacher
has served as co-chair of "The Committee on the Environment" at the Boston
Society of Architects and is currently a Board Member of Architects,
Designers, and Planners for Social Responsibility. She has studied traffic
planning and associated quality of life issues and is active in advancing
sustainable principles at a regional level. Ms. Amacher has taught courses
in design and sustainable architecture at Wentworth Institute of Technology
and at the Boston Architectural
Center.
Ms. Amacher has
traveled extensively and is fluent in several languages.
Presentations:
The Boston
Society of Architects: Design of Cohousing
Mayor Menino's
Sustainable Boston Conference: Cohousing as a Sustainable Community
International
Conference of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association: Sustainable
Building Strategies at New View Cohousing
Build Boston:
Case Studies of Sustainable Building
Harvard School of Public
Health: Quality of Life in
Boston & a Sustainable Community
Northeast
Sustainable Energy Association Conference at Tufts
University: Building Small
Build Boston and Boston
Solar Energy Association: Green
Design in New England
Participant
in the TV show
"Green Home Renovation"
Other activities include:
Co-producer &
production design for the movie "Breaking Symmetry"
MDC Charles
River Basin Plan Advisory Commission, Member of the Nature Conservancy, Board Member
of the Association to Public Transportation
Producer of "The
Sycamore Centennial Event in 1998" and of Exhibit on "Clean Water" in the
Trash Temple at the 1995
Cambridge River Festival
Painting and
Sculpture, Yoga |
