Custom Residence

Four thousand square foot custom residence includes a private study, breakfast room, exercise room and walk-out basement.

House in the Woods

This design was inspired by one of my former employers.

There are two sections:  Living and Sleeping.  The living area is open with a center kitchen, dining room, living room and recreation area.  To maintain openness in the kitchen, "wall cabinets" were hung from the ceiling.

South elevation above shows a new enclosed porch.

North and East views at the back of the house overlook the Cleveland Metro Parks and the east branch of the Rocky River. The site is populated with mature oak, beech, black walnut and hickory.  

The stained glass window at the entry came from a demolished house in University Circle.

The living room faces a valley overlooking a creek that runs to the river.

There are 36 windows in the house. 24 were custom built on site. The remaining 12 are manufactured operable windows. 

The solid oak floor was installed over 2x2 sleepers on a concrete slab. 

Unbuilt Residence

north park studio, Architects LLC

The location for this new residence has a dramatic western view.  January and February offer extraordinarily beautiful sunsets. Siting the house on the crest of the hill provided easy access from the road . 

This sketch emerged after the first site visit.  Minor modifications were made to the initial concept as a result of  program requirements. The final design, with a three story set of windows facing west was never built.

Magnificat Chapel

north park studio, Architects LLC

The Sisters of the Humility of Mary had attempted to renovate their chapel some 7 years prior to my involvement. Internal support did not exist so the work was abandoned.

The attempt began anew when the interior finishes had deteriorated to the point that something had to be done. So a team of 8 nuns embarked on interviewing architects and finally taking on the burden of a radical renovation for a community.

The chapel, designed and built following the revision from Vatican II, maintained a raised altar platform and fixed seating. Our design explorations emphasized expanded flexibility.

One visitor commented "I see that the chapel has been renovated but I cannot tell where the old ends and the new begins."



The ambo, a reading lectern, was designed as two pieces.  The standing side is for common use.  The "sitting side" allows for wheel-chair access. Interestingly a nun who stood only 4'6" was the first to use the lower side. This processional cross contains a corpus from the original chapel's. Used as a basis for this new work, New York artist, Milarchi created a dynamic work that includes small bells at the bottom. 

Norco Equipment Company

north park studio, Architects LLC

This two story office is one of a number of additions designed for Norco Equipment Company, a supplier and repair shop for air compressors. The banded windows reflect the dark brown mansard roof of the existing office seen on the left. The wide windows offer substantial natural light to the administrative and sales offices inside.

Office Buildings

north park studio, Architects LLC

These 2 office buildings were designed and developed for 2 very unique properties.

The Royal Ridge Professional Office Building

The Royal Ridge site slopes dramatically from north to south. The back of the building becomes three stories with dramatic views to the south. Interior spaces are divided into 625 square feet modules. This allows a reception area, two offices and a utility space as base rental. The building, designed in the early 1980's, has operable windows that take advantage of the mild weather occurring during northeast Ohio's spring and fall seasons.

8000 West Professional Office Building

This professional office building occupied a corner site with its back to residential areas and front facing commercial strips on the other three corners. The mirrored surface, buffered by a line of trees at the back were meant to disappear toward its residential neighbors. The center stem and end enclosures are a green cement panel textured to simulate slate. The height was limited to three stories. The setback worked very well with the building presentation on the street.

Saint Joseph Village

north park studio, Architects LLC

The Congregation of Saint Joseph in Cleveland, Ohio asked to consolidate their community member in one location. It was my task to develop a design fr 30 separate residential units. The suites, interspersed with common lounges, were linked to the existing mother-house, chapel and apartments with enclosed corridors. Although originally designed to encourage shared dining, a last minute change required the addition of a small kitchenette in each suite.

A variety of obstacles threatened the work beginning with objections by neighbors regarding the proposed plans. Several meetings with constituents quickly resolve concerns and the work proceeded.

The abandoned gas well proved to be a bit more difficult. The unidentified old gas well, of which there were several on site, happened to occur with one of the suites. A discussion with state officials outlined the necessary procedures. The well was capped, vented and carefully concealed with an access panel all with the approval of the state regulators.

The buildings of the Village are the first encountered when entering the property.



Residences step along an interior drive leading to the existing mother-house in the background.




A view from the private living area looks to the entry, kitchenette and bedroom.

Berea Library

north park studio, Architects LLC

The Berea Library required a serious overhaul. Space was restricted within the original layout and fixed furnishings and finishes showed significant wear.

The new circulation desk design and layout complied with recently defined library standards which my office developed and compiled for the Cuyahoga County Public Library system.


New supplemental lighting was installed to focus attention on feature areas highlighting new arrivals and upcoming library events.

Details of the reference librarian desks are distinguished by these unique corner columns which eventually received light fixtures that would call attention to the librarians location.

Orange Library

north park studio, Architects LLC



Work at the Orange Library was fairly limited as a result of the original design. It did require a new checkout desk, new desks for the reference librarians, a new entry to the reading garden, a new sign and refinishing of walls originally construction of concrete masonry units. A 3 layer epoxy paint provided a very effective, durable finish that moderated the existing course texture.

North Royalton Library

north park studio, Architects LLC

The North Royalton Library required a complete interior renovation. The stacks were rearranged so that librarians and staff had better control. A new checkout desk and reference librarian desks for adult and children's areas were designed to accomodate updated computer systems and ready reference materials.

A new adult reading area was situated in a convenient location giving patrons a quiet location to review periodicals or the latest fiction/non-fiction arrivals.



Our work included new end panels for existing stacks set up to identify book types within the stack area and display areas for new books.

St. Mary's Church

north park studio, Architects LLC

There were numerous challenges for the renovation of St. Mary's Church. The existing roof had been replaced 20 years earlier with asbestos shingles. These had deteriorated quickly and water seeping in had begun to damage the interior plaster.

There were no existing drawings for the church so determining details and scope was almost impossible. The staff spent 2 full days doing a field survey and accumulating a substantial number of photographs. Our abilities with computer aided drawing helped in completing a very accurate set of drawings.

We were able to secure the assistance of a competent roofing contractor who assisted us in complying with all the regulations for removal, encapsulating and properly disposing of the shingles. Existing wood trim was replaced as necessary and capped with metal matching the original profiles.

Air conditioning a 90 year old church proved to be even more complex. Units were concealed in cabinetry matching the existing organ in the loft. Additional units were placed in the sacristy. Openings in the walls were visually concealed at the left and right altar alcoves with a patterned grill. Ceiling fans were installed to recirculate air and electronic controls were proposed to pre-cool the space before Saturday evening and Sunday morning services.

North Royalton Fire Station

north park studio, Architects LLC

The North Royalton Fire Station design was an attempt to secure a project within the community that I lived and served for more that 25 years. Graphically this was a first attempt at combining a photo of the existing site with a 3D computer model.

Cleveland Institute of Art - Gund Building

north park studio, Architects LLC

The Cleveland Institute of Art asked for a new reception desk at the Gund building. The existing reception was a simple hole in the wall leading back to an original coat room. A wood infill panel was built to reduce the coat room opening and a sliding glass panel installed.

This area at the top of the steps from the main entrance sets between the Reinberger Gallery and the administrative offices.

A new desk was to be designed as a contact point people with meetings and needing directions. Standard storage areas were below the desk which also housed a couple of built-in computers with screens recessed into the desk top (old technology by today's standards). The desk would also act as a serving area for fund raising events or exhibit openings at the Reinberger Gallery.

The wood infill was removed and filled with glass block so as to allow light into the room from an outside source. This tends to make a small room less confining.

The desk itself has a soft S-curve footprint. The S-curve of the upper counter, originally designed to be glass, is offset from the desk and reinforces the softness of the curves.

North Royalton Master Plan Task Force

My extensive involvement with the North Royalton community allowed me the opportunity to participate in the Master Plan Task Force headed by Craig Marvinney. I headed up the Architecture & Environment Committee to develop criteria to establish the main architectural character of the community. We also worked on potential changes in zoning and identification of the most prominent locations for development.

A charrette conducted by staff and students associated with Kent State University provided an impetus for further study of the central business district.

In 2004 the Task Force formally presented the City of North Royalton Master Plan to city council for adoption.