News From Us
See our blog for new projects, announcements, and all things TMS Architects & Interiors.A Beacon Hill Beauty
In a delightful departure from some of TMS Architect’s other projects, TMS Principal Bill Soupcoff had an opportunity to work with long-time clients on the renovation of their Beacon Hill pied a terre. The couple are owners of a successful inn on the seacoast of New Hampshire and wanted a small apartment in Boston where they could decompress and enjoy the cultural opportunities offered by the city.
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The Bottomline in this Renovation is Creative and Collaborative Space
TMS Architects, under a design team headed by project architect, Jason Bailey AIA, and interior desiger, Laura Malloy of Malloy Interiors, just completed another extensive renovation for Bottomline Technologies’s Portsmouth headquarters to accommodate their growing Marketing and Creative Design Team departments. Bottomline Technologies is a world leader in cloud-based payment, invoice and banking solutions for corporations, financial institutions and banks around the world and TMS has worked with Bottomline for several years, revamping office space in Portsmouth as well as other Bottomline locations around the country.
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TMS Field Trip!
Last Sunday, a large group of TMS employees and assorted spouses, friends and children embarked on a bus trip to western Massachusetts to view the TMS-designed Hampden Country Club. We are all very proud of this project that has taken shape over the past two years on bucolic hills overlooking the distant Berkshire Mountains. The TMS project team consisted of Shannon Alther, AIA, Principal, Jason Bailey, AIA, Project Architect and Cristina Marais, Interior Designer. All three did an amazing job and it was wonderful to be able to tour it as a group!
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A Very Special New Hampshire Garden
Several years ago, a few members of “team TMS” were lucky enough to tour an amazing place known as Bedrock Gardens, located in Lee, New Hampshire, 20 miles inland from NH’s coast and halfway between Boston and Portland. We recently received a postcard announcing this year’s series of Open House events at the gardens which prompted this post about the gardens and to urge you to attend one of these marvelous self-directed tours. It is an experience not to be missed!
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Portsmouth’s Other Lost Public Spaces
There has been a considerable amount of publicity lately about replicating The Old State House, which is presumed to have once stood in the center of Market Square. This got our guest historian, J. Dennis Robinson, thinking about other Portsmouth buildings that have also been lost over time.
“Here we go again. Just when you thought Portsmouth’s Old State House was never to return, it’s back in the news. A well-intentioned group wants to build a replica of the 1760-era colonial state house on the site of the city’s federal building off Daniel Street. That dream has been kicking around Portsmouth for almost a century. Architect John Mead Howells tossed out the idea back in the 1930s. I sat on a city committee to study the issue and TMS Architects helped with an in-depth study of the surviving remnants of the building.
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First Glimpse of a TMS-Designed Beach House
TMS Architects was asked recently to design a beach house for a family currently living in “All for the Family“, their TMS-designed main home. The owners had their eyes on this spectacular beachfront lot for many years and were able to purchase it when it became available.
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TMS Architect, Bill Soupcoff, Builds a Business from the Ground Up!
Morey Stettner, a business reporter for The Portsmouth Herald recently interviewed William Soupcoff, a founder and principal architect of TMS Architects. It was a very informative piece as we all learned some things about Bill that we didn’t know before….such as his first “real” job:
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Transformation of a Master Suite
Lafe Covill, Associate AIA , TMS Architects Project Manager and Cristina Marais, our Interior Designer, spent the morning at a renovation they have been working on for some time and we were thrilled to see the construction photographs they brought back with them! Located in the mid part of New Hampshire, this project involves a complete renovation of the master suite, the main living spaces and bathrooms. TMS has been collaborating once again with CMRugusa Builders on this renovation as we have on completed TMS projects, Seaside Renovation and Family Room Renovation.
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Madbury Commons On Schedule In Spite of Tough Winter
According to a recent article in the Manchester Union Leader, the TMS-designed, Madbury Commons project is on schedule for an August completion date thanks to construction company ProCon’s valiant efforts in battling one of the worst winters in the Northeast. According to developer Ken Rubin, President of Golden Goose Capital in Durham, “It’s a very important project for the town…the whole concept was to extend downtown and create quality public space.”
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What Makes It Work?
New England Home Magazine recently debuted a section called Perspectives which shares interesting tidbits from various architects and designers such as “What I’m Looking At” and “Shopping Bag”. One of articles in this section is called “What Makes It Work” and we were delighted that the March-April issue featured a home designed by TMS Architect, Shannon Alther, AIA.
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Portsmouth’s Forgotten Textile Industry
TMS always learns something interesting about Portsmouth when we publish a post from J. Dennis Robinson, our guest historical contributor. Last time we learned about the building that presently houses our offices when it was part of the Eldredge Brewing Company ; this time we learned more about its earlier history in the textile industry.
In our last history installment we learned that the site of the modern TMS Architects offices was once a brewery. Heman (not Herman) Eldredge and his sons ran the Eldredge Brewing Company on the same spot off Bartlett Street in the second half of the 19th century. Although their brew, including Portsmouth Ale, was hugely popular, the Eldredge brand was drowned out by the even greater success of the Frank Jones Brewery just across the tracks in the city’s West End.
But there’s more. The brewery was built on the site of an equally important, but now forgotten, textile factory. Yes, during the 1800s, Portsmouth was also known as a key city for the production of stockings. Who knew?
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Hampden Country Club Entering the Home Stretch!
A TMS Architects designed project in western Massachusetts, the Hampden Country Club, is in the final stages of completion with an opening date of early May scheduled for the new Clubhouse and end of June for the Banquet Facility. This three year project features a 24,000 square foot Clubhouse complete with a generous dining room, separate bar and lounge, men and women’s lounges, a pro shop, luxurious spa, golf simulator room, exercise room, conference room and a wedding garden.
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Reinvented and Renovated Space
We recently photographed a beautifully renovated space that was the result of a collaboration between TMS Architcts, Cebula Design and Ragusa Builders. The homeowners had operated a small business out of their home for many years and after their retirement, they decided to convert the shipping/warehouse space into a cozy family room and mudroom with an elegantly detailed connection to the main house. They confess that with the convenient gas fireplace, large screen TV and comfortable seating, most of their leisure time is spent relaxing in this new space! As they say, “pictures speak a thousand words” and Rob Karosis’s photographs of this elegant space certainly capture the beauty of this renovation.
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Building Upon Building
When our guest historian, J. Dennis Robinson, recently wrote about the old Eldredge Brewery in one of his columns for The Portsmouth Herald, we were intrigued because the building in which TMS Architects offices are located is called Eldredge Park. We asked him what the connection might be and he supplied us with the following information…he always knows the answer to local lore!
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Madbury Commons Construction Update
In spite of a challenging New England winter, TMS Architects and ProCon Construction have kept the Madbury Commons student housing on track in Durham, New Hampshire. The project is located in downtown Durham, close to the University of New Hampshire and all the downtown Durham amenities. The property will have 126 apartments and accommodate 525 students. Featuring fully furnished, modern apartments complete with air conditioning and washer/dryers, the complex will be opened for the 2015-16 school year. TMS principal architect, Shannon Alther, AIA, and project manager, Josh White, recently visited the site and returned with these progress photos.
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Visit The Music Hall This December for the Holidays
Several years ago we worked on the historic renovation of The Music Hall theater in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The renovations breathed new life into the architectural gem, which remains a fixture of the local arts scene and community. If you haven’t visited since the renovation, the holiday season is a great time to have a look while enjoying a play, concert, or other event at the theater this December.
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Visit the Candlelight Stroll at Strawbery Bank Museum
One of the specialties of our architecture firm is historic preservation, so we have an interest in historical activities and events in our community. From historic homes and building projects to the sense of nostalgia we feel as a result of fond memories, history plays an important role in everyday life. The holiday season is the perfect time of year to look back on history and celebrate days of old.
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TD Garden Unveils ProShop Upgrade!
Congratulations to TD Garden and Bruin and Celtic team executives as they cut the ribbon on the next phase of their planned $70 million renovation of the 20 year old arena. This phase involved a $4.5 million upgrade and TMS Architects, along with Cambridge 7, was delighted to be a member of the design team that created this dynamic new space.
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A Preview of Oppportunity Works New Building!
The mission of this extraordinary organization, Opportunity Works, is “Empowering people with disabilities to experience the freedom to live, work and enjoy a valued role in society and TMS Architects is proud of the role we have played in their new building under construction in Haverhill, MA.
Opportunity Works is a private, not-for-profit corporation serving more than 216 men and women, ranging in age from 22 years to 75 years, who come from eighteen Merrimack Valley and North Shore communities in Massachusetts. The agency operates with a staff who bring a broad range of experience in working with people with disabilities. OW is headquartered in Newburyport and currently leases a satellite facility in Haverhill , MA. However, this facility does not meet the specific requirements of the Opportunity Works community and it was decided to design and construct a custom facility in Haverhill to meet their needs.
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“Field of Dreams”
We just finished photographing this beautiful TMS-designed home and wanted to share some of the photos with you. This was a dream house for the homeowners, idyllically sited in a beautiful New England meadow. The exterior massing of the house respects the style of the surrounding neighborhood as well as grounding the home to the site more naturally. Large overhangs, material choices and low slung rooms help create horizontal datum bans that connect the massing of the home attractively to the site, overlooking the meadow as it rolls towards the rear of the house.
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