Kuhn Riddle Architects

Kuhn Riddle selected to design Affordable Low-Energy Housing Community

Published November 18, 2009

Olympia Drive is the operating name for a project, sponsored by Amherst, Massachusetts’ Department of Community Development, to build about 40 affordable, energy-efficient homes on a 13-acre, town-owned parcel convenient to the town center. Kuhn Riddle, with its consultants Scapes Builders and Doucet Associates, is conducting a feasibility study of this project, intended as ‘workforce housing’: homes for the thousands of people who work in Amherst but can’t afford the high price of housing in this relatively high-income community. The target is to design the residences to be affordable but also to be constructed to very high standards of energy efficiency, approaching net-zero.

Rioux Gees testifies before Congressional Subcommittee on Homeland Security

Published November 2, 2009

KRA's Erica Rioux Gees, AIA, testified before the Congressional Committee on Homeland Security in Washington D.C. on July 8, 2009 during a hearing entitled “FEMA Housing: An Examination of Current Problems and Innovative Solutions.” Rioux Gees joined a panel of experts from around the country to address how architects should play a larger role in disaster response.

In addition to her work with Kuhn Riddle, Rioux Gees is a board member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and has worked on sustainability and disaster preparedness projects throughout the country. In 2009, she led a group of experts to Hilo, Hawaii for a Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT) to develop a strategic plan for the historic downtown that balances the needs of preservation, disaster mitigation, and housing in challenging economic times. Her work with communities has also taken her to Florida, Louisiana, and Washington State. In 2005, she coordinated SDATs for Northampton, MA and Pittsfield, MA.

You can read a transcript of her testimony and watch the entire hearing at the committee's website.