OPAL’S Western Connecticut Residence in Green Building Advisor
Green Building Advisor (GBA) just posted a deep dive on our soon-to-be-completed project in western Connecticut, and we’re really pleased with the coverage. GBA is a website where a lot of design and construction professionals learn about new technology and building practices, whether they live up to the hype, and how to incorporate them into their own work. Our Connecticut project incorporates several groundbreaking technologies, including a virtually all-wood Passive House building shell—comprised of prefabricated cross-laminated... July, 2020
Groundbreaking at Waring School
OPAL is pleased to report that construction on the new School building for Waring School, in Beverly, MA, has begun. OPAL partners Matt O’Malia and Timothy Lock and project manager Alexandra Pagán traveled to the school’s campus on Feb. 24 to join the Waring community in a groundbreaking ceremony featuring song, remarks by Head of School Timothy Bakland and Beverly Mayor Jaime Campos, and students lifting dirt with some very shiny shovels. Waring is a private,... March, 2020
Decor Maine Covers GO Lab and Passive House
The March issue of Decor Maine–the Eco Issue–includes several articles that will interest those following advancements in high-performance building in Maine. OPAL executive partner Matt O’Malia is the subject of an interview on GO Lab, the building materials R&D company he co-founded with chemist and materials scientist Josh Henry. GO Lab is currently retrofitting the Madison Mill in Madison, Maine, to manufacture a groundbreaking line of renewable, recyclable, carbon-sequestering building insulation made from sawmill residuals, a byproduct of... February, 2020
Mainebiz Catches up with GO Lab
OPAL’s building products sister company, GO Lab, is moving rapidly toward manufacturing and marketing its game-changing line of wood fiber-based building insulations. Statewide business magazine Mainebiz has published an excellent overview of the company—founded by OPAL executive partner Matthew O’Malia and chemist/materials scientist Joshua Henry—along with an update on its progress. The headline echoes our sentiments exactly: GO Lab’s insulation might be the right product at the right time, and the right place. Wood fiber insulation is... February, 2020
OPAL Earns Triple Decker Challenge Award
OPAL Earns Triple Decker Challenge Award At OPAL, we recognize that addressing the climate crisis requires not only that we reduce or zero out the carbon footprint of the new buildings we create, but also that we dramatically upgrade millions of underperforming existing buildings. So we welcomed the chance to participate in the Triple Decker Challenge, a competition, sponsored by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), to design a replicable, cost-effective energy retrofit for the... January, 2020
New Staff Housing Dedicated at Chewonki
On Saturday, Nov. 9, OPAL Management Partner Timothy Lock made the scenic drive to the Chewonki, in Wiscasset. It’s a well-worn path for Tim, who is managing an extensive portfolio of projects that will renew the campus of that venerable, vibrant outdoor education institution. And this sunny late-autumn day marked a significant step toward that goal: the dedication of a residential duplex that will serve as the model for a new generation of Chewonki staff... November, 2019
Matt O’Malia Honored with Alnoba Environmental Leadership Award
An important part of OPAL’s practice—and of our firm’s success—has been collaborating with clients whose vision aligns with ours, and whose energy and ideas inspire us to accomplish more than we thought we were capable of. In recent years, no client has exemplified that dynamic more than Harriet and Alan Lewis, of the Boston-based Lewis Family Foundation. In 2014 the Lewises challenged us to design a flagship building for their Alnoba leadership training center in... November, 2019
Passive House—and the GO Home—in Forbes
We were pleased to learn that a story in Forbes magazine entitled Passive House—Building the Efficient Home of the Futurewould feature the GO Home, our very first Passive House project. But then, we’re happy whenever the consumer press takes notice of the Passive House concept, its rapid growth in the U.S., and its vast potential to improve building energy performance and reduce CO2 emissions. Journalist and Author Sheri Koones, who has covered our work in her Prefabulous series... June, 2019
GO Lab Awarded State Technology Grant
GO Lab is a Maine-based R&D company that develops advanced building products for the high performance construction market. A partnership of chemist and materials engineer Joshua Henry and GO Logic co-founder Matthew O’Malia, GO Lab is currently working to establish the first North American production of wood fiber building insulation. Available for decades in Europe, wood fiber insulation is a direct replacement for fiberglass and foam insulations, but with far lower environmental cost and greatly... April, 2019
Cornerspring Montessori School in Maine Home + Design
GO Logic’s relationship with Cornerspring Montessori School, in Belfast, began when the firm and the school were both just getting off the ground. Over the years, members of our firm have been school parents, design consultants, neighbors, and board volunteers. So our collaboration on Cornerspring’s new school building, for which GOL provided both design and construction services, was a labor of love. The proof of any project, though, is in the finished building, and we’re... November, 2018
GO Logic Makes the Architect 50 List
We are pleased to announce that GO Logic has been named to Architect magazine’s 2018 Architect 50 list. Each year, Architect, the journal of the American Institute of Architects, ranks the top 50 firms in the categories of Design, Sustainability, Business, and Overall. This year GO Logic made the cut in Design, debuting at number 43 among the top 50 firms in that category. The Architect 50 methodology for ranking firms combines hard data with the... November, 2018
Herring Gut Learning Center Looks to the Future
Herring Gut Learning Center is a Maine-based nonprofit that provides hands-on learning experiences in aquaculture and marine science for both students and educators. GO Logic recently assisted Herring Gut in re-envisoning the institution’s beautiful Port Clyde campus to support expanded educational and professional development programs. Our work consisted of a master plan that optimizes the functional and experiential quality of the site; renovation of existing educational and administrative buildings; and new construction that includes a... November, 2018
Maine Rural Modern in Maine Home + Design
Maine is fortunate in having not only a first-rate design magazine—Maine Home + Design—but also the architects, artists, and craftspeople whose work fills its pages month after month. Every issue that crosses our desks underscores Maine’s abundance of talented and creative people, and the unique sense of place their work celebrates and strengthens. The November issue gives pride of place to GO Logic, with a cover story on our recently completed Maine Rural Modern. Located... October, 2018
Matt O’Malia Profiled in Maine Magazine’s “50 Mainers” Issue
GO Logic has completed projects across the Northeast and Midwest, but we are first and foremost a Maine-based firm, with a strong commitment to our home state. For that reason, it is especially gratifying that Maine magazine has included GO Logic partner and principal architect Matt O’Malia in its annual “50 Mainers” issue. As it does every year, this issue of the magazine highlights artists, writers, academics, businesspeople, and public advocates who have made notable... September, 2018
TreeHugger Likes GO Home
“It’s a classic design refined through trial and error; it is Passivhaus; it is prefabricated; it is boxy but beautiful. It’s practically perfect.” That’s TreeHugger design editor Lloyd Alter describing the GO Home. And while it’s always nice to get positive press, praise from this quarter is especially welcome. A prolific writer on sustainable architecture, planning, and construction (he also teaches sustainable design at the university level), Alter has both strong opinions and the technical background... September, 2018
