Building The Bridge
Construction proceeds briskly on The Bridge, OPAL’s new central building for the Waring School, a private liberal arts middle and high school school in in Beverly, Massachusetts. The structural framing is complete, and work is underway on the building’s electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems. When construction began late last winter, coinciding almost exactly with the onset of the current pandemic, we took none of the above for granted. Despite the additional safety measures required, however,... November, 2020
Decor Maine Features Boxed In(fill)
Decor Maine’s October 2020 issue includes a feature story on Boxed In(fill), a project that marks our firm’s first foray into the vibrant residential market of Portland, Maine. Located in the city’s historic Munjoy Hill neighborhood, the project’s design responds to a challenging program: two living units, plus off-street parking for two cars, on a tight 3,000-square-foot urban lot. Writer Allison Paige does an admirable job of explaining our solution: an inverted layout, with a... November, 2020
Chewonki Girls Camp is Complete
We are pleased to announce the completion of the new Girls Camp at Chewonki, in Wiscasset, Maine. Phase One of a master plan to accommodate Chewonki’s growth over the coming decade, the project accomplishes the long-standing goal of relocating Girls Camp—formerly on a remote site—to the main campus, where it will enjoy equal standing with the parallel Boys Camp program. A collaborative effort by a team of talented partners, the project consists of a wash... November, 2020
OPAL Surpasses AIA Carbon-Reduction Target
The American Institute of Architects has announced that OPAL is one of a small group of firms nationwide that met the current carbon-neutrality goal of its 2030 Commitment program. This recognition represents a milestone for our firm. The 2030 Commitment program, initiated in 2010, sets a stepped sequence of targets for all new buildings, developments, and major renovations, culminating in 100 percent operational carbon neutrality by 2030. Of the 311 firms participating, OPAL was among only... November, 2020
AIA New England Honors Alnoba
The New England chapter of the American Institute of Architects has recognized OPAL’s Alnoba project with an Honor award, the highest designation in its annual design awards program. Located in Kensington, New Hampshire, on the 400-acre campus of the Alnoba retreat center, the project drew praise for incorporating regional vernacular elements, including exposed, reclaimed-timber structural frames, in a design with the distinction of delivering Passive House performance in a large institutional building. Presenting the award... November, 2020
Matt O’Malia Talks Shou Sugi Ban with Maine Homes Magazine
Maine Homes magazine spoke recently with OPAL partner Matt O’Malia about shou sugi ban, the traditional Japanese technique of wood preservation we used on a new-home project in Hope. Shou sugi ban involves carefully charring the wood’s surface and yields a durable, natural finish with a character that is at once subtle and intense. On our Hope project, we opted to treat unfinished siding boards on site—using propane torches and wire brushes—but a growing number of... July, 2020
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