events, news & press

FEATHER & GILL ARCHITECTS LOOKING FOR EXPANSION

Feather & Gill Architects is on the figurative move, taking their premiere Santa Fe, Southwestern styles to meet and mingle with the Rocky Mountain ranch, cabin and Victorian styles of Durango. Already considered by many to be an authority on the Historic Districts in places like Santa Fe and Taos, principal architect Dan Featheringill wants to increase his firm’s presence in the northern New Mexico and southern Colorado areas. “I love the incredible beauty and pristine nature found in the fabulous mountain towns we are lucky enough to have close by. Intertwining the remarkable architectural vernaculars of places like Santa Fe, Taos and Durango is challenging and in great part what makes design so interesting,” remarked Featheringill.

Additionally, Feather & Gill Architects wants to be the premiere “go-to” architect firm for the fast-growing film industry that has adopted New Mexico as one of their top choices in which to film. In a forward-thinking move, Feather & Gill Architects was the first architect firm to launch a webpage on the 3-year old www.crewnewmexico.com (click here for the firm's section on the site). Featheringill stated, “We want the film crews who come to our state to know that Feather & Gill Architects can be counted on for fast, professional, high-quality results, whether it is for their production offices and studios or for their own personal residences, once they too, fall in love with New Mexico.”

HAMMERING FOR HABITAT

Feather & Gill Architects decided that “Women Building for Women” was a great reason to swing a hammer, weather the warm temperatures and go back to their roots.

Feather & Gill Architect’s Marketing & Business Operations person, Michelle Featheringill, decided to put her energy and enthusiasm to the test when the local Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association put out a volunteer call on behalf of the Santa Fe Habitat for Humanity Women Build. The current program is specifically for women to come together and build for other women in the City of Santa Fe. Featheringill decided to corral some of her friends and family to help out this great project. When she was told that men could indeed be part of the “team”, she immediately enlisted principal architect Dan Featheringill. Fortunately, his experience as a general contractor for over 20 years came in really handy for the Feather & Gill Architect Team of eight.

Joining Michelle and Dan were Robin & Stephen Poling, Maria Romero and her son Marcus Lujan, and last but definitely not least, their daughter Erika Seablom and her boyfriend Gabriel CdBaca. Everyone worked so hard that they actually finished their “to-do” list an hour and a half ahead of time! They were all hot, a bit tired, but incredibly happy after their July 23rd date with the Habitat house off of Airport Road.

“There’s not much that going to make you feel better than providing a hard day’s work to help out someone else”, exclaimed Michelle Featheringill. “We had the best team ever! They were so happy to be doing this work and after we spent the day building side-by-side with the Habitat staff and some of the women who will receive a future Habitat house, their enthusiasm was boundless”, she concluded. Dan Featheringill got so caught up in the moment that he was overheard telling the Habitat Construction Supervisor “I’ll frame for free anytime you need me!”

AIA SANTA FE BRINGS ON THE SUMMER

There’s probably not a better location in Santa Fe to have a large group of architects meet, mingle and earn some continuing education credits than the incredibly beautiful National Park Service’s Historic Building. The historic building on Old Santa Fe Trail played host in July to the group who could most enjoy the true beauty and significance of this great Santa Fe treasure.

Feather & Gill Architects assisted AIA Santa Fe with the coordination of this traditional summer event known as the 5x5. Known as such because of the five architects chosen to present five minutes on a particularly interesting, complex and/or difficult project that they have undertaken. Each presentation is viewed as a mini-learning session for the architects. Not only did Feather & Gill Architects assist with the event coordination for the event, but principal architect Dan Featheringill presented one of the 5x5 presentations.

Featheringill’s presentation was a synopsis of a year-long remodeling project, still under construction in the Historic District of Santa Fe. Not only was the historical integrity of the old pentile home constantly in the forefront of the total reconstruction, but a second story underground had to be created. Featheringill was selected for the design work because of the his tie to the City of Santa Fe Historic Design & Review Board, on which he has been seated since 2006. Historic preservation and design work is one of his passions and sitting on the H-Board for four years has given him great insight into what is required by the City of Santa Fe’s Historic Preservation Department. Additionally, after the original general contractor had to leave the job prior to completion, Featheringill was asked to step in as part of the oversight team to supervise the final phases of construction.

Featheringill Selected By Taos for Revision of Design Standards for Historic Overlay Zone

Dan Featheringill was selected in June 2010 as the consultant to be used by the Town of Taos for the revision of their Historic Preservation Design Standards. As the selected consultant, Featheringill will be working with the Town of Taos Community & Economic Development Department in revising the standards for all new construction within the Taos Historic Overlay Zone (HOZ). He will be attending staff meetings, reviewing and analyzing current design standards, conducting site visits and presenting the draft and final design standards to the Historic Preservation Commission and the Town Council.

Featheringill will be consulting with City of Santa Fe’s staffer David Rasch, currently working in the Historic Preservation Division, as a Supervising Planner. Both Featheringill and Rasch have years of education and experience in the multi-faceted aspects of art, architecture, building and preservation of historic districts. Currently, Featheringill is seated as a mayoral appointee to the City of Santa Fe’s Historic Design and Review Board (H-Board). Rasch acts as the staff liaison to the H-Board and serves many functions tying the Santa Fe Design Standards to benchmarks that the public consumer can understand and the H-Board can use as guidelines in their quest to retain the historical integrity of the City’s 400-year old traditional and notable architectural styles.

Work on this project is slated to take approximately 3 months, beginning in July and ending in September 2010.

Japanese magazine spotlights F & G projects

Dan Featheringill and his recent work were covered recently in a prominent Japanese design magazine. The multi-page article on Southwest architecture featured an interview with Dan and interior and exterior images shot by a Japanese photo crew.

Japanese magazine article