Another new project involves an interesting design for a second floor conservatory addition to the home of some of our best friends, Molly and Michael.

You might have noticed the frequent mention of Molly and Michael on our website, because in addition to owning one of our favorite Tanglewood conservatories, they are about to embark on an unprecedented FIFTH project with us!

First there was a beautiful lantern over their entry foyer which though initially proposed as a solution to a leak in their roof, became a focal point in the front of their home allowing the sunlight pouring through stained glass windows to light up the wide curved staircase below. This project was accomplished quickly while planning the main addition, the jewel box spa conservatory out in the garden.

That custom conservatory was a unique collaboration with them and the spa enclosure room that resulted, one of our most loved conservatories, was chronicled in the video about their project.

Molly and Michael were so smitten with Tanglewood’s work by then that during a major renovation to their kitchen, they asked us to turn what was then an odd left over space leading out to a back patio, into a mahogany paneled sitting room with two story mahogany and stained glass windows looking out the their rhododendron gardens.

I admit that I was a bit skeptical that the resulting space which was only ten feet wide, would actually feel like a real room when we finished, but Molly’s vision was right on and the new cozy paneled space, furnished with red leather wingchairs became a perfect parlor, a custom mini conservatory.

Next came a large elaborate gothic window, also mahogany with stained glass, in their upstairs bedroom.

The newest project will be a domed-roof custom conservatory situated off their second floor master bedroom. It will replace an aging and poorly built sunroom that has been an eyesore for years. The room that is adjacent to the new conservatory will get the same mahogany paneling as before and the windows in the new conservatory will feature elaborate mahogany and stained glass patterns as well.

Coupled with the new conservatory room upstairs will be a rather unique bay window in the existing kitchen. It will have a rolled copper roof and base along with mahogany and stained glass windows to match the rest of the work.

Both these new additions are fun projects as their unusual designs will make a huge impact on the appearance and functionality of their home.

I’ll post pictures of these unique conservatories as we progress.

Alan

Yesterday, Nancy and I visited with some friends who are planning a conservatory addition to their suburban home. We met with them and the general contractor they had selected to work on the project which includes the custom conservatory, a swimming pool enclosure for an endless pool located below the new conservatory and an exercise room adjacent to the indoor swimming pool enclosure.

When we arrived, they were struggling with a thorny planning issue involving the floor heights of the new rooms below the conservatory.

Since the existing home has several steps going down into the living room which is the room the new conservatory will be attached to, to achieve adequate head height in the swimming pool enclosure below, the floor level would end up being below the level of a small but charming outdoor patio they loved.

No one liked the idea of having to step up from floor of the pool enclosure and exercise rooms to get outside to the patio. This would create a potential problem with water tending to run into the new rooms so a number of elaborate schemes were being discussed to alleviate the problem when Nancy and I arrived.

Of importance to our friends was that the floor levels of the new lower rooms, the swimming pool enclosure and the exercise room be on the same level with the outside patio so that the spaces flowed smoothly one into the other. The concept was that all three spaces would feel as if they were extensions of each other.

We joined the discussion, looked at the outside of the house where the patio was and thought, maybe a simple solution would be to just lower the patio a bit. After all, it was not a large patio and some of the brickwork looked like it might need repair anyway. With lots of other construction and excavation going on right next to it, it might need to get rebuilt anyway.

After some discussion, we all agreed that was the best solution as it would preserve the simplicity of the design concept of the three spaces.

Now, on to the conservatory part of the project.

Alan

We recently received an email from Ken Tate, the project architect for the large renovation project that incorporated a Tanglewood Conservatories steel and glass pool pavilion. Ken is a pretty high level architect and has been named as one of the top 100 architects by Architectural Digest magazine. It was for the project that was featured in Architectural Digest magazine in June and included a full page interior picture of the custom pool house we designed and built.

Ken wanted us to have a testimonial from him and wrote:

“My experiences with Tanglewood Conservatories have been exceptional ones…from the early design and coordination phase, to the shop drawing and construction phases. Tanglewood is a couture conservatory company, meaning that every detail is custom designed and all shop construction is overseen personally by the owner Alan Stein himself! And Alan, being an architect, is always refining the smallest details. My first project with Tanglewood was featured in “Architectural Digest “ (July 2010 page 89) as part of a feature article on the house that the conservatory was attached to. So, the “proof-is-in-the-pudding”.

Ken Tate Architect

Aside from just being a great recommendation and making us feel really good, Ken points to one of the defining features of Tanglewood Conservatories. While many conservatory builders refer to themselves as “custom” or “bespoke”, what they are mainly commenting on is their ability to mix and match their standard parts to make different looking conservatories.

What we did for Ken was to conceive an entirely new way to build a conservatory, using entirely new materials – steel and glass instead of wood, based on his desire to have an “old world” steel and glass conservatory.

The fact that Tanglewood Conservatories is willing and able to explore with architects and clients how best to achieve their vision without limitation– no matter where it leads, is what makes the company’s approach completely unique.

Yes, other conservatory builders make conservatories that look like some of ours and we make some that look like theirs, but Tanglewood is pretty unique when it comes to our ability to listen to our clients, both their expressed desires as well as the not as obvious ones and to build rooms that capture the essence of their dream in great ways they had not even thought of.

Alan

I hope everyone has had a chance to look at the new video’s we’ve posted in the video section of our site. They are also linked from our Homepage in the area called Latest Video.

The ones titled “A View Inside –
Tanglewood recreates the grand conservatory at Biltmore Estate” are very interesting. Part One shows a very unique conservatory project being created in our workshop and Part Two shows the installation of the same custom conservatory on the jobsite. It gives everyone more of an insight as to how our beautiful conservatories are created.

This particular custom conservatory had as it’s inspiration, the great historic conservatories at the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, North Carolina. On the estate are several conservatories, the one on the main house which is just off the main entrance hall being the one that the owner of this latest Tanglewood conservatory project fell in love with and wanted Tanglewood to recreate.

The other classic conservatories are in the garden and serve horticultural purposes. These are beautiful steel and glass greenhouses much like many of the other grand conservatories of the age.

The video titled: “The Design Process-
Working together with clients to create their dream conservatory” is about how our process works with a client when we are designing their conservatory. This is the story of our journey with the owners to create their dream conservatory. It is the one shown in our Conservatory Gallery at: http://www.tanglewoodconservatories.com/ourportfolio/green-house.htm

From our first meeting with Molly and Michael, it was clear that theirs would be a most unusual project. They were actually looking for a custom designed greenhouse at first but after visiting Tanglewood’s workshop decided in favor of one of our beautiful mahogany conservatories instead. The custom greenhouse would come later.

I hope everyone takes a look at these videos.

Alan

Pages from George Acock’s desktop calendar series.

For the second year in a row, a lovely little calendar has shown up at my office, sent to me by our good friend, George Acock, who is an architect.

George’s firm, Acock Associates Architects in Columbus Ohio, designed a new home for a client of ours a few years ago. Acock Associates is a full service architectural firm specializing in custom high end residential as well as commercial and institutional projects. George came to Tanglewood Conservatories searching for a company to design and build the custom conservatory that the owner of the property had envisioned being attached to the new kitchen.

The owners, the general contractor and George visited Nancy and I at Tanglewood to “kick our tires” and to plan the new room. Over the course of the next year, Tanglewood designed, fabricated, installed the room and became friends.

In addition to being a very talented architect, George it turns out, is also an excellent painter who has a very unique way of sharing his exquisite works with friends and associates.

Each year, George and his wife travel someplace interesting for a vacation and George paints watercolor scenes of the notable buildings and landscapes he finds there. Upon his return, he prints the images on small cards that fit into a CD jewel case along with a calendar of each month and sends them out as New Years presents. The plastic CD case folds back and becomes a stand that all the cards sit in and as each month passes, the cards are rotated. Very clever and very beautiful.

Two years ago, George and his wife traveled to Tuscany and last year to Puerto Rico. So I was not surprised when the little gem showed up but I was taken by the quality of the images. George paints with an expressive touch that draws one deeply in.

He has some of his watercolors from years past on his website that I’d like to recommend to everyone. The images are in the Gallery section of his company’s website.
http://www.acock.com/Gallery/tabid/83/Default.aspx

Alan

What do Hot Rods and conservatories have in common?

One of our shop guys brought this magazine article to my attention recently. He is an avid owner and builder of Hot Rods, souped up classic stock cars, and he reads the magazines on breaks and lunch.

I’ve been aware of the resurgence of interest in both great classic conservatories and great classic cars but I’ve never connected them before.

Both of these have a home in my heart. As a youngster, I like many boys my age, loved cars. The freedom of having your own car – at a time when not every kid had a car, was intoxicating. Most of us could not afford anything very nice or very new so we had to learn how to take an old clunker and fix it up into a really sweet rod. We’d swap out the engines and trans to get something with more power, add a hood scoop and a custom paint job, cool wheels and we’d be set to show it off.

It was a terrific creative outlet. Before I knew anything about “creating art”, the cars and bikes that I built myself, were my pieces of art. Their creation required the same sensitivity that any designer exercises. I also learned to use my own hands to make things and to discipline myself so that I could accomplish some really big projects which took a lot of time.

Later in life, when my interest turned to conservatories and building a company, many of the skills and lessons I learned applied.

The great classic conservatories were also an inspiration to me as we set about figuring out how to create Tanglewood’s buildings. I loved the sense of novelty and the creativity that their builders evidently had. After all, back in the nineteenth century, conservatories were a new building type and it was up to the architects and builders of the time to figure out how to create such fantastic structures.

They had use of the new technology of the Industrial Revolution which made iron, steel and large pieces of glass available and their ability to devise structural systems and express them as architectural designs was limited only by their imagination.

I realized however, as I set about essentially the same task 100 years later, that times had changed. No longer, for example, were custom made parts such as cast iron widely available at low cost. Modern building systems, themselves highly standardized (think 2 x 4’s and 4 x 8 sheets), render it impossible to create the kind of conservatory I wanted. I tried in the beginning but could not come close to the look of the beloved “old ones”.

Often, people come to us looking for just a glass roof system to go onto standard construction walls. I always feel that an opportunity to create a really great room has been missed. Usually it is the result of budget constraints.

Now however, I find ourselves in the midst of another Industrial Revolution. It seems to me that for years, the systems that developed to achieve the efficiencies of mass production and led to standardization, have forced everyone to build basically the same stuff. There are lot’s of different ways to arrange all those standardized pieces (windows, bricks, pieces of steel, plywood), into varying shaped buildings but if you’re limited to using these standardized pieces, it’s very difficult to invent something really new.

With the arrival in the last ten years of relatively inexpensive CNC (computer-operated) machinery, the equation has been changed and short runs of highly custom items are feasible again – maybe for the first time in 100 years. It might have been Henry Ford who put an end to it last time and we’ve been thinking that more and more standardization is best ever since!

I think the reason people love conservatories is just because they are so unique, so different from every other room in their house. By placing the classic car in front of the conservatory, the author makes a great point. It’s not just that interest has been rekindled in many things that embody classic design but the creative inventiveness and ingenuity of the guy customizing the car is akin to the creative inventiveness and ingenuity embodied in these great old conservatory buildings.

I’d take it a step further and say that the creative inventive spirit behind the car and the conservatory is also behind our company as well.

The author says of the cars’ creator, a man named Alex Test: “…his passion has always been custom work. As far back as he can recall, he has had the urge to modify. His “mad scientist” mentality hasn’t stopped yet.”

I read that and thought of our work here at Tanglewood Conservatories.

By the way, the conservatory is in Detroit.

Alan

The thought occurred to me as I was recently reading, that most books are like skeletons in the graveyard. The flash of creative life that was genesis of the work (if there was any to begin with) is long gone and only the words, empty of that force, remain.

Words seem to mean something entirely different for each person. Sometimes I’m reminded of that Sunday school story of the Tower of Babel, (if I remember it correctly), where they were trying to build a tower up to heaven until God made them all speak in different languages at which time their work came to an immediate halt.

It seems that we are all still speaking in different languages even though we are using the exact same words – and we don’t normally realize it, and we get really upset with other people when they don’t agree with us!

It’s not surprising that there is so much discord in the world, if you look at it from this perspective.

One of the most important things we are working on here at Tanglewood is communication. The perspective that we have focused on is that of personality types. It seems that compounding the “language barrier”, (or maybe being part of it), is the difference in how each of us relate to the world based on our particular personality type. No matter which personality typing system that you use, the basic concept is the same.

It seems that people “see” and relate to the world around them through the particular color of their own “glasses”. We all come to the world pre-programmed in this way both by our heredity (nature) and our upbringing (nurture). Each personality typing system seeks build some sort of classification system that groups certain traits together and hopefully helps us understand and make some sense out of our similarities and differences.

The aim, I think is, if we can understand more objectively what and who we are and what and who others are, we might have a better chance (on a good day!) of communicating more effectively and less destructively.

One other thing about all this that I recently noticed is about working together in a group. It seemed to me that my own particular way of being connected to the world (my personality type) offers me up both a potential benefit as well as a trap. If I can learn what my strengths are, what I can rely on in myself to get right in a situation, I have a valuable, powerful asset. But, unless I can also see where my blind spots are, what do I continually, almost by nature, miss in situations, I will forever go round in circles.

This is where the study of personality types might be of some assistance, since if I can identify with a particular “type”, then I might be able to benefit from a more objective view of myself. I would guess that the best of systems would also come with some tools in addition,to help one build on ones strengths and mitigate one’s weaknesses.

If I can gain some degree of objectivity, then I might actually be able to “listen” more objectively to other people and find a benefit in their alternate perspective on a situation.

At Tanglewood, we are working in just this way to be able to build a team in which people understand the limitations of their own perspective and value the perspective of others. If we can do this, our team can become infinitely stronger and more effective because we have the potential to see an issue from many more points of view than just our own personal limited one (no matter how great it is).

We have seen breakthroughs here as a result of this process and continue to push forward building a truly great, world class company, and learning something about ourselves in the process.

Well, I didn’t really mean to talk about this when I started writing today, but there it is! I’ll get to the other stuff later.

Alan

One of my favorite spaces in the “Enchanted Estate” house (that I mentioned last time) is this amazing circular library. It is a two story space ringed with beautiful mahogany bookcases with a domed ceiling. There is an intricate iron balcony at the second level that is supported by beautiful cast iron columns and a cast iron balustrade. The patterned steel floor panels of the balcony give the space an old-world industrial feel which contrasts with the rich natural woodwork. The floor panels were made from large steel plates using a CNC (computer controlled) laser which cut the decorative patterns.

The picture is of John Kiernan’s painting for the ceiling. John said that the owners were interested in creating a scene that would portray something of American history and the great American spirit of discovery. Something that reminded her of the books she had read as a child.

John says of the piece: “My vision was to give it the feel of the face of a grandfather clock with a gilded compass rose.”
It is adorned with detailed images that include Native Americans, Galileo, Christopher Columbus, and the Wright Brothers. The painting even incorporates a night sky with constellation patterns illuminated by fiber-optic lighting, identical to the same night the homeowners were married. “It was amazing to see their faces as the mural progressed,” he recalls. “The most exciting time was when the scaffold was removed and the ceiling was able to be viewed in its entirety.”
For more on John’s work and the decoration of ceilings in general, take a look at the Washington Spaces article: http://www.washingtonspaces.com/2008/3/articles/above-and-beyond

Another friend, artist Jan Kirsh, is showing some of her amazing “fruit and vegetable” sculptures in the garden of the Inn at 202 Dover in Easton, Maryland during the Waterfowl Festival week (beginning November 12th).

Jan’s work is pretty amazing, not at all what I would imagine when thinking of sculptures of fruit and vegetables. When I was an art student, I made paintings and sculptures of bowls of fruit, but Jan’s are completely different. Some are realistic renditions at larger than life-scale, others creative interpretations- all with a subtle sensual quality – completely unexpected for a leek! If you can get over to see her display, you will not be disappointed.

You can see more of Jan’s work at: www.jankirshstudio.com

The most recent issue of Washington Space magazine features an article on a home that Tanglewood Conservatories designed and built a beautiful greenhouse conservatory for:
A Riverfront House That Has it All, Including ‘The Best Basement on the Planet’

Read more: http://www.washingtonspaces.com/2009/6/articles/an-enchanting-estate#ixzz0WCQbrsU9

I was alerted to the magazine article by our friend John Kiernan, owner of Blue Line Studios and accomplished muralist. He sent me an email with a link to the article also advertising his services this way:

“You know that the holidays are fast approaching, so a room makeover would be a good way to finally pull off that unexpected surprise. Please visit www.kiernanart.com for a last minute gift idea”

John’s work is exemplary and has been on display around the world. I can’t think of a better holiday gift surprise idea – except maybe a beautiful Tanglewood conservatory!

We first met John while working on this project. John was commissioned by the owners to paint the ceiling of a fantastic two-story circular library with an extraordinary narrative scene while Tanglewood of course was commissioned to design and build the greenhouse conservatory.

It is a pretty cool house with lots and lots of unbelievable stuff. They have a story on the basement which is one of the most incredible “basements” I’ve seen. “This basement is awesome – an enormous playground for children of all ages. For starters, it includes a regulation-size two-lane bowling alley…”

The recent article on the estate that can be viewed online at: http://www.washingtonspaces.com/2009/6/articles/an-enchanting-estate#ixzz0WCSXkmbz

You can see the greenhouse to the right of the main house in the picture at the beginning of the article.

Alan

I’ve been asked to participate next April in a panel discussion at the Woodworking Industry Conference in Monterey California. The program is entitled “Green User’s Forum, Simple Steps To Take To Go $Green”. The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Michael Galiazzo, Director of the Regional Manufacturing Institute (www.rmi……com) and along with myself and Dr. Galiazzo, David Beachley President of Beachley Furniture Company and Greg Moores Vice President of DEWALT Construction Engineering will share the podium.

In my experience, it is difficult for most small companies to make significant progress towards becoming greener. We have enough of a challenge just to keep the doors open, the product going out and the money coming in, especially in tough economic times. However, at Tanglewood, we’ve discovered that “going Green goes hand-in-hand with going Lean.”

What I mean by this is that if looked at from the right perspective, “green” initiatives can actually be major contributors to higher levels of efficiency in a company and increases to the bottom line. Oftentimes, we think of green initiatives as costing more money in the short term but yielding some long term or greater benefit in the larger picture. An example of this might be the recycling and re-use of our scrap wood into material that can be used in new product.

This is actually quite labor intensive and costs much more than using virgin material but we understand that the resources of the world are finite and we must do our part to utilize them in the least wasteful manner. If we were a larger company, we could purchase specialized equipment that would automate much of the process and bring down the costs however most small companies (and by far most companies out there are “small businesses”) cannot justify the expense of something like this.

In the big picture however, the recycled material is actually stronger and more stable than the virgin product so there is a bit of an advantage there to offset the higher cost. If we looked at the picture close enough and spent enough time, we might be able to verify this with real numbers. Right now however, we are content to just “know” that we are doing the right thing.

Another opportunity to combine Lean with Green is through our use of technology. For example, for years we’ve put our construction documents on sheets of paper and passed out multiple copies to everyone on our shop floor and in our office. This is not only expensive (uses lots and lots of paper) and very wasteful, but it is difficult to keep all those sets of drawings up to date with changes that one person or another might be making to the job.

The solution of having electronic copies instead of paper copies avoids wasting a huge amount of paper, eliminates the need for all the printing from ink to electricity AND makes it much easier to keep everyone updated on changes which could affect them and the job. Instead of having to have someone run around the company collecting and updating paper and hopefully not missing any copies, the electronic update is done instantaneously and everyone is always working off the same pages. A nice win-win situation. Green and Lean.

I will be presenting examples of Tanglewood Conservatories’ efforts to become a greener and more environmentally friendly company at the conference and in my blog in the future.

Here’s the blurb on the conference session in case anyone is interested in attending.

“Going $Green means cost savings, increased profits and less impact on the environment. Over the past two years, The Regional Manufacturing Institute of Maryland brought together leaders of business, education government, labor and the community at large to talk and learn about Going $Green. The results were surprising. In this presentation you will find out what companies are doing to be more sustainable and why. Increased sales, decreased costs, employee involvement, supply chain value, and corporate responsibility will be discussed. You will learn about the Lean To Green initiative of the Technology and Innovation in Manufacturing and Engineering (TIME) Center, a National Science Foundation sponsored initiative through the Community College of Baltimore County. EPA programs, like the Green Suppliers Network will be discussed. Specific ways your company can save money by Going $Green will be presented. Most important, this session will call on the audience to respond to questions about Going $Green and to engage in discussion, questions and information sharing.”

The 2010 Woodworking Industry Conference will be held this year at the Monterey Hyatt Regency Resort & Spa in Monterey California April 22- 24th 2010.

Alan