pachano+core

We are a full service design+construction office working in the Berkshires, Western Massachusetts, the Hudson Valley, New York, City and beyond. We aim to elevate the quality of people’s lives through architecture by creating spaces that inspire discovery. Our approach is simultaneously exploratory, technical, and responsive to requirements of the project and sites on which we build, focusing on high perfomance systems designed to create efficiency and comfort. We intuitively reveal possibilities latent within every brief over a range of project types and landscapes in tandem with integrated construction services. From the first to last phase, we deliver design+building knowledge and exprertise as an integrated process.

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FOREST LAKE HOUSE
Lee, Massachusetts

The Berkshires Mountains of Western Massachusetts are surrounded by forests and spotted with lakes and ponds. We were offered the challenge of designing a house for a for a couple with an extended family, with the need for spaces to be used privately and in communion with family and friends. Our strategy for working on this small site was to upset the existing foliage as little as possible and use it to inform the shape of the building. We worked to preserve an existing maple tree in the center of the rear yard and used it as a “pivot” point for the design.

We separated the program into two “zones,” residential and public. Were the two sides meet, the building pivots a minimum in order to maximize the rear yard’s Southern exposure. Passive House detailing was employed to create a super insulated, air tight building resulting in interiors that maintain a constant temperature and humidity level while minimizing energy use. 

Interior spaces hold views of the lake and forest while providing comfort and functionality.  Windows provide frames of discovery and create pauses through space, pulling you in and away, creating tension between intimacy and distance, inside and outside, silence and sound. The light shimmers off the lake into the interiors which are activated by trees which give shape to the sound of the wind.

PORT APPLE
Tyringham, Massachusetts

Our brief for this house included evaluating an existing structure, master planning the circulation and relocation of an existing building on the sprawling site and integrating an existing swimming pool within the whole scheme. We thought the best course was to demolish the existing structure so that we could accomplish the client’s desires in the best way possible: easy one level living, integration with the view of the Cobble, connection to the pool and high efficiency from the building systems. The result is an 1800sf super-insulated and air-tight home which includes two-bedrooms, two-baths, office, living, dining and cooking-all the essentials of contemporary living wrapped into a tight building envelope.

Most important for our clients was maintaining a view of the Cobble from the existing pool which sits almost nine feet above the finished floor of the house. For this reason we chose a flat roof which has provided more of a view from the pool than the previous house. So, Tyringham now has a flat roof!

Although it is difficult to see in images, the front facade is at a slight angle to north/south walls, so the building is not a perfect box. It faces west/southwest, so by angling the facade slightly south we are able to capture just a little more of the heat from the winter sun. Exterior shades protect the south and west facades in the summer from the baking sun.

We love when our clients appreciate the finite resources of our world, the way that human habitation has decimated the natural world for other living creatures and have an appreciation for the aging process of materials. To this, our clients have repurposed stones uncovered as part of excavation and are returning the front yard to a native pollinator space. Also, the siding they chose will age over time, changing color as the sun moves around it while maintaining its material integrity. This is one of our favorite projects because of the way we were able to weave so much program in a tight space and the decisions our clients made with the landscape.

OYSTER SHORES
East Hampton, New York

GRAMERCY PARK APARTMENT
New York, New York

Gramercy Park is emblematic of classic New York, a square oasis surrounded by the energy of the city and lined with buildings representative of New York’s rich architectural heritage. Our project is located in a 1928 Emery Roth designed building and whose subdued Art Deco elegance is embodied in the design of the interiors.

Our intervention addressed aberations in the plan with regard to circulation and privacy as well as well as a material makeover.

The resulting discreet lines and materials connect and intrigue the senses. We exploited the qualities of wood and stone to contrast with the grit and roughness of the city outside. Each detail is considered and crafted to create a cohesive ensemble of living funcitons, especially exising details in the ceilings which were built in 1928 and updated to 21st Century aesthetics.  

STATE ADDI U 
Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Land-use policy in Great Barrington is among the most flexible in the Southern Berkshires. Asked to provide space for an extended family, we were able to use space on the site of the existing home to create a separate structure to provide the basics for weekly visits.

Amenities are provided that would retain the primary residence as the main gathering place for all social functions. 

Sustainably built by incorporating Passive House detailing, the new 800sf structure incorporates american woods for siding and floors. The main entrance eschews the traditional entry, which would otherwise occupy significant usable space within the small footprint,  in favor of a lockable lift and slide which opens to a kitchenette with access to a laundry/mudroom. 

Occupying a site adjacent to a state highway, the north side of the building is free of penetrations and is insulated against sound while windows at the ends offer ample light and fresh air. The result is a space that integrates to the main building, despite being detached, while providing privacy and all functional requirements for families with small children during either short or extended stays.

TIMBERTRAIL
Amagansett, New York

HOUSE OF BOOKS
Brooklyn, New York

Make it fun, colorful, modern and flexible. Our client gave us these words and an Arne Jacobson chair to work with in the restoration of a Brooklyn Heights warehouse that had been converted to apartments. 

Gifted with a large sliding door leading to an outdoor patio, we mixed the power of white with dashes of color to bring a liveliness to a space that was to funcition as a den, library, office and living room. Color was also introduced with furniture fabric and, pillows and floor coverings to complement the marble top surface of the counter and desk. Our first use of a gloss finish, required of the brief, added dashes of movement.

BELOW THE STONES
West Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Our brief called for multiple spaces for reflection, rejuvenation and spiritual awakening within a small footprint. The site was bordered by a large stone outcropping to the West and a flowing landscape of grass, trees and stones like pillows among the ferns.

We apporached the brief from the outside in, connecting the interiors to the sloping ground with elevated views and sloping vistas. The shape of the roof was intended to follow the tilt in the terrain. The entry is a combined screened room and mudroom. Several rooms were to serve a dual purpose as well: well-ness room/sleeping porch; studio/guest room; office/meditation. The apporach from the long drive leading into the site revealed the building clearly and frontally in order to make a visual connection between its shape and the curvature of the land.

TREASURE ISLAND
Amagansett, New York