Michael is honored to be a member of the newly formed University of Maine at Augusta Bachelor of Architecture Advisory Board.
Join us at The Alamo Theater in Bucksport, Maine this Thursday, March 23, 2017. Michael is presenting "Collaboration, The Importance of Working as One" as part of the Design Norvmbega Lecture Series.
2016 Year in Review
Completed Projects
58 Fore Street Master Development Plan
Private Residence Winchester Mass
Construction Underway
Big Sky Residence Big Sky, Montana
Dormitory at Bigelow Lab Boothbay, Maine
Dunes House East Hampton, New York
Institute for Contemporary Art
at Virginia Commonwealth University
North Fork Residence East Marion, New York
Private Residence Bellport, New York
Private Residence Delaplane, Virginia
Private Residence Seal Harbor, Maine
Private Residence Telluride, Colorado
Private Residence Truckee, California
Jeff served on the jury for the 2017 New Hampshire Home Magazine Design Awards.
Michael joined the Board for the Portland Society for Architecture, a non-profit membership organization founded in 2006 to promote the progress and economic development of Greater Portland by encouraging innovation and vision in design and planning.
Jeff participated in the final architecture design reviews for the semester at the University of Maine Augusta.
Join Michael at the University of Colorado Boulder for the Environmental Design Lecture Series. He is presenting on Monday, November 14th.
The Craft of Residential Landscapes through Personal Narratives, join Michael along with Shane Coen and Andrea Cochran on Monday, October 24th at the ASLA Annual Meeting & Expo in New Orleans.
mbla, in collaboration with Canal 5 Studio, is studying various ways to improve this underused plaza in downtown Portland, Maine. The team explored opportunities for accommodating various events to better serve the diverse building occupants and draw more foot traffic from the street. The Portland Press Herald recently published this article elaborating on City support for the project. Construction is anticipated to be completed in 2017.
mbla is part of the design team for the
10 acre waterfront property at 58 ForeSt
in Portland, Maine. Conceptual designs include plans to reinvigorate the historic core of the former Portland Company site and re-engage the waterfront. The team recently submitted a Master Development Plan to the City of Portland. The press release from CPB2 can be found here and the full application is available on the
mbla is immensely proud to have been a
member of John Ronan Architects’ team competing for the opportunity to design the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Ronan’s team was one of seven finalists and among those who presented designs for the Jackson Park and the Washington Park sites to the Obama Foundation Board and to the President and Mrs. Obama.
The finalists for the Congress Square Redesign project will speak at a public forum on Wednesday, May 4th at the Portland Museum of Art from 5:30 - 7:30pm. The event will be free and open to the public and will include a presentation from each finalist and a question and answer session.
mbla is a design consultant to the team of MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects, FBM and Ekistics, who are collaborating with the Armour Group to develop a masterplan and design studies for the Queen's Marque Waterfront Development in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Currently a parking lot, this prime waterfront site is being developed into a mixed-use district including a hotel, luxury residential units, office space, commercial space and public space. Read more on The Armour Group's website.
Gretchen has joined the SPACE Gallery facade committee. SPACE will be soliciting proposals from artists/architects/designers to reimagine/redesign the gallery façade.
On May 9th, ground was broken to begin construction in earnest for a new 32-bed residence for students and visiting scientists at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, Maine. It is expected that the new residence will be ready for occupancy in September 2017.
michael served on the jury for the 2016 Boston Society of Landscape Architects Awards Program recognizing excellence in the diverse practices of landscape architecture. Check out the 23 selected projects on the BSLA website. Congratulations to the winners!
Michael has joined the Building Committee at Wolfe's Neck Farm. This committee will help guide the planned changes to the farm proposed by the recent master planning effort.
House Over the Water, a residence in Surry, Maine designed by Elliott + Elliott Architecture, was awarded an AIA Maine 2016 Design Award. The awards reception is on Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 5:30 at the Fort Andross Mill in Brunswick, Maine.
mbla is pleased to have been named one of the four finalist design teams by the City of Portland Planning & Urban Development Department for the Congress Square Redesign project. We are leading an all local, multidisciplinary team that includes Becker Engineering, Woodard & Curran, Wright-Ryan Construction and Carol Wishcamper Consulting.
The Department of Landscape Architecture at The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is holding a charette to reflect on the 150 year history of the campus. Michael along with OLIN, Peter Walker and Partners, and site design group is leading a team of students to propose a flexible master plan for the coming fifty years in this charette titled IMAGINING THE ILLINOIS CAMPUS: 2017-2067
We recently completed preliminary design for the Telluride Forever Park. This public park is a gift to the community from the Telluride Foundation and will provide outdoor space for world-class sculpture as well as public gathering space.
ARCHITALX announced their 2016 speaker series. Michael serves as an advisor to this non-profit volunteer organization fostering evocative and creative dialogue within the design community of Maine. Jeff and Amy serve as board members.
2015 Year in Review
Completed Projects
Lake Austin House Austin, Texas
Modern Texas Prefab Austin, Texas
Private Villa Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation (competition)
Construction Underway
Big Sky Residence Big Sky, Montana
Dunes House East Hampton, New York
Institute for Contemporary Art
at Virginia Commonwealth University
North Fork Residence East Marion, New York
Private Residence Bellport, New York
Private Residence Winchester, Massachusetts
The Bigelow Laboratory Dormitory has received funding from the Harold Alfond Foundation and is scheduled to break ground in April. For more information,visit the Bigelow Laboratory news page.
Michael is attending the 2015 ASLA Annual Meeting & Expo in Chicago, IL
November 6-10, and acting as host for an educational session presented by several note firms on new park planning in Chicago.
Modern Texas Prefab is featured on designboom this week. Check it out!
Michael is visiting Telluride, CO on November 5th to begin design studies for a new, urban park.
mbla is pleased to welcome another new member to our team,
Tyler Holmquist.
He is a recent graduate
of the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor Degree in
Landscape Architecture.
mbla welcomes the
newest member of our team,
Qianyu Li.
She is a recent graduate
of the University of Illinois with a Masters Degree in
Landscape Architecture.
Michael is attending Immersion Workshop as a visiting lecturer for the second year in a row. This year's studio will be held from August 1st-8th and will be led by architects Rick Joy, Peter Stutchbury and Richard Leplastrier.
Modern Texas Prefab residence, a collaboration with Aadmodt/Plumb Architects recently won a 2015 AIA Austin Design Award for excellence in design. Click the video above to hear jurors comments.
Amy is attending the Woody Plant Conference on Friday, July 17, 2015 at the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College. This conference has been held annually since 1996 to educate, prompt, and stimulate conversation about woody plants in our landscapes.
The Bently Heritage Distillery project officially broke ground this week in Minden, Nevada. Two buildings on the National Register of Historic Places will be restored as part of this world class estate distillery.
mbla welcomes the
newest member of our team,
Amy Magida.
She is a licensed
landscape architect who
previously worked at OLIN,
in Philadelphia.
Michael is attending the ASLA Annual Meeting, this year held in Denver, CO, November 21-24.
mbla has commenced work on a a new dormitory for the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science in East Boothbay with
mbla extends
congratulations to
Seth Kimball
for his recent
professional registration as a
Maine Licensed
Landscape Architect
mbla has joined 8 INC's design team for the Bently Heritage Distillery project in Minden, Nevada.
mbla is pleased to recognize Seth Kimball as he celebrates 10 years with mbla. Seth has played an integral role designing and managing many projects over the years. We congratulate him on this milestone and invite everyone to do the same!
The conclusion of 2014 marked
20 Years of
Michael Boucher Landscape Architecture
mbla wishes everyone a happy and successful new year!
Michael visited Immersion Workshop, a traveling architecture studio focused on contextually responsive design, who hosted a week long master class in Woodstock Vermont, led this year by architects Rick Joy, Marlon Blackwell and Tom Kundig. Michael presented an evening lecture of MBLA’s work and assisted student teams as they developed their design proposals.
Virginia Commonwealth University has officially broken ground on the Institute for Contemporary Art. This project with Steven Holl Architects is featured this week on ArchDaily.
mbla teamed with Oudens Ello Architecture in a competitive design charette to develop a concept to maximize the full potential of a historic property in Maine - Woodlawn Museum, Gardens and Park. We are pleased to announce that our team has been selected to develop the master plan for the estate. Check it out in this week's addition of the Bangor Daily News.
Michael has been appointed by Portland Mayor Michael Brennan to the Congress Square Re-Design Study Group.
Sun Valley House, with Rick Joy Architects, has been featured as a Record House this month in Architectural Record.
We are pleased to announce that Jeff Pelletier has been named an Associate of the firm. Jeff has contributed a great deal to the success of the office over the past ten years and we look forward to his continued dedication and leadership in this new role.
New Project Announcements:
A waterfront residence on the North Fork of Long Island, with Olson Kundig Architects and RPMiller Design, and Schuchart/Dow contractors and project managers.
And, with Gluckman Mayner Architects, we've begun design development for a mixed-use project that includes nearly a dozen new buildings that will accommodate a range of activities: custom furniture fabrication and exhibition, guest lodging, entertainment, and a substantial private park. The project is located on the edge of Beijing, China.
mbla is assisting with a design studio at University of Maine Augusta for second year BA architecture students. Michael and Gretchen participated in preliminary desk crits and a mid-semester review focusing on the topic of site analysis as part of the architectural design process.
Michael is a guest speaker at the AIA Arkansas Convention on October 11th.
Jeff is attending two seminars at Harvard University Graduate School of Design; Climate Adapted Design: Buildings, Neighborhoods, and Rules and Climate Adapted Design: Regions, Infrastructure, and Finance.
Hodgdon Pond House won an AIA Maine COTE Design Award and was featured in this month's issue of Maine Home + Design.
Check out our Beach House project with Aamodt Plumb Architects on ArchDaily.
mbla is commencing work
on two new residential projects;
one in Southhampton and
a village house in East Hampton.
mbla is pleased and proud to recognize Jeff Pelletier and Gretchen Giumarro as they celebrate 10 years with the firm. Gretchen and Jeff have made substantial contributions to many of our projects and to the evolution of the firm. We congratulate them on this milestone and invite everyone to do the same!
mbla extends
congratulations to
Ananda Kantner
for her recent
professional registration as a
Maine Licensed
Landscape Architect
mbla was part of the project team for Hamptons Beach House, a weekend house designed by Aamodt Plumb Architects. This project recently won the 2012 BSA Design Award for Design Excellence in Housing Design.
mbla is pleased to be part of the design team for Goose Rocks Beach House that won the 2012 AIA Maine Design Award.
Michael is presenting conceptual designs for a residential project as part of the Portland Society of Architecture's Drink 'N Crit event on January 14th at Space Gallery in Portland, Maine.
Michael visited the ruins of the old city of ad-Dir'iyah, near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia while visiting clients there.
Telluride Residence, completed in 2010 with Anmahian Winton Architects, has been featured this month in Architectural Record.
mbla is commencing work on a number of new residential projects. Among them are; a private villa near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and a family summer house on Prince Edward Island.
Michael is presenting mbla's work for
Tahar Messadi's architecture studios,
ARCH 4016: Comprehensive Design Studio and ARCH 4154: Environmental Technology 2 and Building Systems, at the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture.
mbla has commenced work on several residential projects including a new home on Islesboro, Maine, an existing home in Winchester, Massachusetts and two residences in Northwest Arkansas. We have also become engaged as land planners and landscape architects for a boutique resort in upstate New York.
mbla welcomes
the newest member of our team,
Ananda Kantner
mbla has become engaged in
the following new projects:
All Saints' Episcopal Church
Bentonville, Arkansas
Marlon Blackwell Architect
Pavilion at Eskenazi Health
Indianapolis, Indiana
Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Private Estate
Bridgehampton, New York
Gluckman Mayner Architects
Michael is visiting Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, GA to review students' work in Assistant Professor Michael Carroll's studio, and presenting mbla's work in a public lecture.
Michael is presenting mbla's Private Fishing Lodge project as part of the Portland Society of Architects' Drink 'N Crit event on March 12th at Space Gallery in Portland, Maine.
mbla is part of Rockwell Group's winning team to design an urban villa in Rio de Janeiro.
Michael is a juror for the final review of Shane Coen's landscape architecture studio: 'Modernizing MIT', at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Jeff is attending a conference at the
Museum of Modern Art,
New York: Second Wave of Modernism II: Landscape Complexity and Transformation
Michael is attending a series of workshops and events at Build Boston.
Michael is attending a reception to celebrate the
publication of DETROIT: 138 SQUARE MILES
by Julia Reyes Taubman, at the Whitney Museum of American Art, in New York.
Michael is presenting work done by mbla and participating in student reviews for Marlon Blackwell's architecture studio at the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture.
Michael is participating on the jury reviewing design proposals by students in Shane Coen's MLA Option Studio: Modernizing MIT, at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Michael is presenting a range of projects and leading discussions on the process of collaborative design for Adjunct Professor Amy Hinkley's senior architecture seminar at the University of Maine at Augusta on October 6, 2011.
Michael is attending Ghost 13 an international architecture conference hosted by MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects in Upper Kingsburg, Nova Scotia. The theme, 'Ideas in Things', addresses architecture as a commitment to place and offers a critique of the current separation of the academy and practice; the mind and the hand.