Ecological Architecture | Green Interiors + LEED Consulting
Firm Profile
We collaborate with our clients to create buildings that grace the landscape. Our goal is a marriage of beautiful design and high performance. We often say that the most sustainable thing we can do is to create a beautiful building. If people love a building, it will be cared for and maintained; extending its life as long as possible and reducing the building's ecological footprint.
We are inspired by our clients. We respond to program, site, climate, solar orientation, natural ventilation, passive heating and cooling, durability, moisture management, and indoor air quality. Our projects seek to produce as much energy as they consume, clean the air, grow habitat and food, process their own waste. We specify natural materials with low embodied energy, such as reclaimed wood and recycled content products locally produced. By reducing our ecological footprint, we educate younger generations about investing in the natural capital of the earth, rather than depleting her resources.
Above all, we create buildings of beauty; enduring, timeless, inspired and contextual.
Our work draws from nature and environment, our clients and a rich architectural history of organic and modern architecture. Our tradition builds on the shoulders of those who came before us: Ruskin, Viollet Le Duc, Macintosh, Sullivan, Wright, Schinder, Lautner, Soleri, Gaudi, Prince, Kellogg, Meunnig, and Buckminster Fuller. Our designs may blend modern, rustic, geomorphic, organic, historical or urban context. It is time for us to re-learn to that which we have forgotten, that which is innate; fresh air, natural materials, humane expression. It is time to design with nature, whether from the posture of biomimicry, or simply by utilizing the resiliency of nature.
Michael Heacock + Associates began in 2003 with two residential projects in Northern California. The award winning Keohane Residence on San FranciscoBay, completed in 2005, is featured on two recent books, Good Green Kitchens and Green Homes for the 21st Century. The house features many green materials and sustainable design strategies, such as FSC and recycled wood, reclaimed materials, SIP roof panels, and a modest size. A weekend home for a young San Francisco couple, the Pioneer Cabin, was completed in 2006. The cabin is constructed from pre-fabricated polyurethane SIP panels in nearby Stockton, and then assembled on site. Michael Heacock + Associates provides Sustainability and LEED Consulting services on high performance projects seeking LEED Certification. Notable clients include the City of Oakland, CateSchool, Southern California Edison, and numerous architects and developers. We utilize LEED as a design and team building tool for institutional and commercial projects. Michael Heacock + Associates excels in high-performance creative design and an integrated team approach. We believe in collaboration with the owner and builder throughout the design and construction process. Prior to the firm’s beginnings, Michael Heacock began his career working with several exceptional architects and design/build firms in the Bay Area and Southern California. Michael’s early work with David Wilson and Chris Parlette at Wilson Associates in Berkeley achieves an impressive level of detail and spacial complexity. In his four years as Project Designer for Van der Ryn Architects, Michael expanded his expertise in green design and sustainability consulting.
Inspired, timeless, living buildings that delight the senses and grace the landscape.
