Why noroof?

When our first built work received national recognition, we needed a name. Certainly a part of the decision to call the collaboration noroof architects is that the alliance began with support from teaching and practice under other roofs. But the main reason is our aim: To find inlets into the public realm as architects in ways difficult to do under our other roofs.

Although some of our work is proposed at an urban scale, our first built project is 1000 square feet—the two-family slot house. This small house reminded us that engaging community isn’t an issue of size or location. Big or small, each piece added to the places that we live and work is vital if it allows us to experience ordinary stuff in slightly extraordinary ways. Right now we think big and build small.

On this website you will see a collection of our work as noroof, and under other roofs. Proposing, constructing, writing, and teaching, are used as tools to figure out how to make modest and engaging contributions to the spaces we inhabit. Noroof is an open collaboration, with a wide range of people working with us. Each person’s knowledge and expertise—clients, trades, suppliers, artisans and other designers—is actively brought into the project. We think that remaining alert to the project’s context and to the many people involved in the work is a good way to make architecture that is shared by many.