Green Building Services in Mansfield, MA

“I’ve worked with Nederhoff architecture on multiple home and non-profit projects. Their work is creative, high quality and done in a timely manner. They’ll work with you to make sure you get what you need, always first on my list.”

“I am delighted to give my strongest possible endorsement to the architectural work of Shelly Wood Ziegelman. We worked together on four projects in the past six years: my extensive house renovation and, at Harvard University, two office redesigns and space planning for a first floor public space. The results were all spectacular (see below). In all four projects Shelly maintained excellent working relationships with contractors, trades people and involved Harvard personnel. This is a remarkable testament to Shelly's warm respect for everyone she works with which, naturally, is repaid in kind. In summary: I live every aspect of my life in wonderful surroundings that have been created by Shelly Wood Ziegelman. I consider this a great blessing and I am delighted to recommend Shelly to anyone who wishes to be similarly blessed. My association with Shelly began with extensive renovations on my house: extension of internal dining room and bedroom areas to include space previously devoted to exterior porches; conversion of the attic into an entirely new space for office or guest accommodations; creation of a ground floor bathroom; and complete renovation of a second-floor bathroom. Shelly's designs were elegant and beautiful, enhancing and modernizing the spaces while remaining true to the 100-year-old style of the house. The newly created third floor space incorporated light, space and a spectacular view and is now the nicest space in the house. Shelly worked seamlessly with me, matching her suggestions to my taste while concomitantly minimizing cost. She is extremely knowledgeable. For example, she knew specific features to accommodated my elderly mother's physical limitations. Shelly always kept the issue of her time and the costs of her services in clear perspective, up front, so there were no surprises. I next asked Shelly to assist in three projects related to my professional circumstances as Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University. (i) She did a total gut re-design of my office, creating a lovely, light, well-configured space accessorized with the perfect furniture and curtains that provided privacy without blocking light. (ii) When I moved, Shelly designed my new office, in a smaller space and an unforgiving location, again to spectacular effect. Everyone who enters, including my colleagues, says "what a wonderful office". Essential features were somehow included in a light, open space. (iii) My move also placed me on a wide, empty airport-like corridor. I asked Shelly to help create a friendly space, which she did. In all three projects, Shelly maintained an excellent working relationship with involved Harvard personnel (including architect John Hollister), exhibiting all of her unique professional skills in full force. Nancy Kleckner Herschel Smith Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology Harvard University”

“We worked with Foley Fiore Architects on a custom home in a suburb west of Boston. As the general contractor's site supervisor I worked very closely with them and can attest that their approach is collaborative, solutions oriented and client driven. Their staff is highly professional and pays tremendous attention to detail and client service. We look forward to working with them again.”

“I've worked with 8TFive studios on a few different architectural projects. I highly recommend their services. Neil (the owner) is professional and reliable.”

“We worked with Jon on two projects over the past 6 years, in two different homes, and we would definitely work with him. The most recent project began in February 2015, and was a major renovation of our home, including an addition. He is extremely detail oriented and professional, and has great vision.”

“Jennifer Drain from Archiplicity was fantastic to work with for our new house design and construction project on Nantucket. She designed a layout that works for the way we live but also has a nice flow and interesting design. The exterior is stunning to look at and really captured the look we wanted, even with tight regulatory restrictions. As our project progressed, Jenny was a great problem-solver and budget-saver. She provided great customer service and creative solutions at every step. I'm so glad we took her advice on so many decisions. I would recommend her to anyone looking for a talented designerd who is reasonably priced and responsive to her clients.”

“Light House Design was the architecture firm I hired for a major house renovation involving knocking down interior walls, adding a four season porch, moving a bathroom, adding a deck and front entryway, as well as new windows, roof, exterior siding, and electrical system. They provided a thoughtful and attractive design in keeping with the style of the house. They listened to our goals and suggestions and often incorporated them in the drawings they created. When they disagreed, they explained why the suggestions were impossible or undesirable. Very attentive to detail, and cost conscious. They were also helpful in providing an objective viewpoint of the contractor's work”

“Glen is absolutely wonderful. I can't wait to hire him for my next project. He has such great new ideas”

“Lee2Design was the perfect fit for our needs. Justin and Kathrin listed to our goals and needs, took the time to really understand what we wanted, and expertly helped shape a realistic plan that kept one eye on the budget and the other on helping us realize our design dreams. Their combination of architectural knowledge and experience was critical to solving several complicated challenges in our space - especially in dealing with the difficult triangular footprint of much of our house - solutions we never would have come up with on our own. And in terms of design, they managed to find products and suggest colors and textures that perfectly suited our taste, rather than merely replicating TV show taste, and at the same time provided expert advice on how to expand our design horizons without pressuring us into doing anything for their egos rather than our lifestyle. Justin and Kathrin were extremely easy to work with - we always looked forward to our meetings, and they made the entire process as painless as possible. We couldn't be happier with the results!”

“I started working with Yael in December of 2014. I own one unit of a 2-family in Cambridge, and wanted to make an addition to the unit to increase my living area, as well as rearrange the interior of the existing part of the house. We went through a very methodical approach, identifying my needs and objectives, evaluating my aesthetic preferences, and identifying the various restrictions on possible additions or modifications. She reconciled the zoning ordinance requirements against the objectives and we iterated several possible designs before agreeing on the optimal one. The proposed solutions were very creative, and even at the early stages were detailed and well thought out. From there, she went through the options for the design, systematically refining and better defining it. She was always open to communication and very proactive about arranging times to meet or have phone calls to review things and make decisions. Together, we developed a plan for the zoning variance application. Yael presented lots of options and together we agreed on the most likely path forward for approval. We gradually iterated the design until we had a final floor plan and exterior elevations which successfully reconciled my objectives for usage and aesthetics with the requirements of the zoning ordinance. This plan was approved by the Cambridge BZA and we then proceeded into the detailed design and engineering phase. Yael helped me identify an engineer to hire, as well as tradespeople to meet to assist in making decisions. She went to numerous showrooms with me to help select materials for siding, decking, window, tiles, fixtures, and lighting. We continued to refine and iterate the design, methodically going through every detail including specific material selections, cabinetry arrangements, lighting fixtures, etc. She took a holistic approach and evaluated not just specific components, but how the whole of the house would fit together and be used. Yael worked with the engineer to develop structural plans that successfully reconciled the conflicting engineering, aesthetic, and usage requirements. She was always responsive to feedback, suggestions, and changes. She was always willing to discuss things, and no request by me for feedback from her or guidance ever seemed like it was unreasonable or too much. We frequently went outside the specific scope in our contract, but she was always willing to help and to make sure that we were working towards the best final design. In the end, the final design that she produced is incredibly detailed and well thought out, and I have received several comments as much from contractors. Overall, the experience was has been great, and it has been an impressive amount of time and work, especially considering the relatively low cost.”