News

• Augusta Planning Board Approves Exterior Materials for Courthouse:
  AUGUSTA -- Justice will be served within similar, if not quite the same shade, gray walls at the expanded Kennebec County Courthouse.
  
  The Augusta Planning Board voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the exterior colors and materials of the approximately $55 million new four-story, 120,000-square-foot courthouse, to be attached to the existing, historic county courthouse.
  
  Planners actually approved the project in July but imposed conditions requiring the applicant to come back to the board within six months, with samples of materials and colors to be used on the exterior of the building.
  
  Several board members asked, in July, that the building's colors blend in better with the existing courthouse, which was built in 1830.
  
  Read the rest of the article here.
  
  
  

• NEW HIRES

  Adam D. Holmes, AIA, is a Maine Licensed Architect who is primarily working on the Augusta Courthouse project. He is a graduate of the architecture program at Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI, and has worked for several architecture firms in the area.
  
  
  Architectural designer Chelsea L. Lipham, a graduate of Hebron Academy, is working on VA healthcare projects. She holds a bachelor's degree in architecture from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, and has moved back to Maine after three years with an architecture firm in New York City.
  
  
  
  Tracie J. Reed, LEED AP BD+C, also an architectural designer, is working on K-12 projects, including a study for the Brunswick School Department. In January, Tracie begins a term on the Board of Directors of the Maine Chapter of the USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council). Tracie graduated from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, and received an M. St. IDBE from the University of Cambridge in the UK. She also holds an M. Arch. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
  
  
  
  
  
• PDT Architects is very pleased to announce the promotion of Rebecca S. Casey to associate in the firm. A Maine Licensed Architect and native Mainer, Becca holds a master's degree in architecture from Tulane University and serves on the Planning Board of the Town of Falmouth. She is a founding member and former executive director of the Portland Society of Architects and a former president of the Downtown Portland Corporation. A PDT staff member since 2006, she specializes in planning and design for health care clients.
  
  
  
• Staff member Tracie Reed has been elected to the 2013 Board of Directors of the Maine chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. She begins her term in January.
  
  
  
• Principal Alan Kuniholm lined up with other dignitaries at the official groundbreaking of Avesta Housing's Adams School Redevelopment project on September 13. That's Al on the far right holding the S. PDT designed 16 units of affordably priced condominiums on the Munjoy Hill site.
  
  Read More on the Avesta Housing web site.
  
  
  
• PDT Architects is excited to be sponsoring the GrowSmart Maine Summit on October 23 in Augusta.
  For more information on the Summit, click here.
  
  
  
• Creative developers, building creative neighborhoods, for creative people
  Creative people want interesting, walkable neighborhoods: that was the message at MEREDA's spring conference. PDT principal and MEREDA board member Brian Curley helped organize the conference, which made the economic and social case for higher-density cities with urban hubs and public transportation. LiveWork Portland covered the conference, and MEREDA's next event is a breakfast seminar on streetcars.
  
  Read More at LiveWork Portland.
  Visit the Maine Real Estate and Development Association (MEREDA) web site.