Photo courtesy of Flavin Architects
Colin Flavin
Founding Principal, Flavin Architects
Age: 68
Industry experience: 40 years
As a young architect, Colin Flavin started his career at Benjamin Thompson & Associates where he absorbed the firm’s commitment to modernism and its applications in commercial and residential properties. The influence shaped Flavin’s career when he founded Flavin Architects in 1991. The Boston-based firm has shifted to an exclusive focus on residential designs in the past two decades, leaving its mark with contemporary homes ranging from updates to a 1967 midcentury modern house in Lincoln to a Concord retreat that seemingly balances atop a pair of small hills near Walden Pond.
Q: How do you describe your firm’s specialty in “natural modernism”?
A: That’s designing a house integrated with the natural setting, and indoor-outdoor living. While we understand this is New England and the weather is not perfect 12 months a year, we really try and take advantage of the nice times and even the shoulder season. We carefully orient our homes to the sunshine. With our relatively cloudy winters, it’s really important to design a house that captures as much sunlight as possible. Many clients have remarked that when they live in one of our homes, their mood has improved. Part of the process is working carefully with a landscape architecture firm. We find a lot of clients do not want to have any more lawn than what maybe a child or grandchild is going to use, so the front lawn is very rarely part of our designs. We love meadow grasses.
Q: What was the impetus to found your own firm?
A: In 1991, we were in quite a recession. I still had a job, and I was happily working there, but I had an opportunity with a client and I thought, “That would be a great time to start a firm if I’ve got some work on my own. Now it’s time to take a shot.” I’d always been told that the best time to start a business is during a recession. If you can make it work, you can make it work in the good times as well. I’m originally from California and my mentor was a famous architect, Mark Mills, who designed exclusively houses. That was my vision for a career. But after going to MIT and taking the job with Ben Thompson [at The Architects Collaborative], I got moved in more of a direction toward commercial work. But 15 years ago, we exclusively decided to only do private homes.
Q: Do you work with homeowners, developers or a combination?
A: We work with the homeowner. They reach out to us typically after they’ve purchased a parcel, or they’ve bought a parcel that has a house on it that they want to take down or do a major renovation.
Q: Do clients have a clear-cut idea for their home design initially?
A: We have a recognizable style, so our clients really come to us because they love the way our homes look. They really love the relationship between the house and the site. We do ask our clients to keep an open mind because each parcel is different. What I typically tell clients is that almost all of the good lots have already been built on, and any lots that are left over are on the market without a building on them, are that way for a reason. They’re difficult to build on. Many of our projects are on quite sloping lots, and it’s a wonderful challenge to incorporate the topography and the building to the site and not overwhelm it. One of the inspirations for our projects are the midcentury houses designed in the 1950s and 1960s throughout New England. And what we find is we love how intimately scale and how well they’re integrated to their sites.
Q: What are the drawbacks to the midcentury style and how does that influence renovations and updates?
A: They aren’t necessarily well adapted to our climate. They’re cold in the winter. They’re hot in the summer. We’ve learned a tremendous amount from those midcentury houses in terms of both smart things to do, and things to be careful of when you’re doing a substantial renovation. A big challenge that we have is a concrete slab-on-grade. That’s oftentimes not insulated properly. So, either we’ll remove the slab and put the proper insulation and radiant floor heat there, or we’ll build over the top of that concrete slab with a radiant heated floor. The other part is we find the roof is often insulated inadequately, so we’ll take that on as well.
Q: When did you notice the upsurge in homeowner and buyer interest in Modernist designs?
A: I like to say that our niche of modern architecture in New England is an inch wide and a mile deep. There is that tremendous passion for Modernism, but it’s sort of a self-selected group. I can’t recall getting a phone call asking for a Colonial house, or a gable roof. We’ve tried to be really clear and communicate what we’re really good at. We tell our clients our best advice in terms of choosing an architect is: choose one whose work you really like, because that’s probably something they’re really passionate about. So we don’t tend to have a challenge with our clients in terms of being on board. They’ve seen what we do.
Q: What are the typical elements of a “smart home” design?
A: Most clients want to be able to maintain the heating, cooling and lighting when they’re not there. And monitoring security. That’s the core package. And added to that is audio visual and networking for computers. One trend that is interesting is the audiophile is coming back with the turntable, and the speakers that you would remember from your childhood that sit on the floor: those big, beautiful speakers. That makes me very happy.
Q: Are you getting inquiries about designing luxury ADU’s following the recent statewide legalization?
A: We’re working on an ADU project in Lincoln right now. That’s very exciting, the extent to which we can increase our density without adding a lot more infrastructure and roadways. I think it is a really smart move. Many of our clients are thinking about multi-generational living and wanting to be able to invite parents to live at the house, and recognizing that, trying to think longer term. Maybe that ADU could become a rental for income at a later date, or maybe a child could live in the house with a small family. For many, if not most of our clients, it’s their forever home that we’re making for them.
Flavin’s Five Favorite Buildings to Sketch in Boston:
- Harvard’s Austin Hall, by H.H. Richardson
- Harvard’s Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, by Le Corbusier
- Erich Lindemann Building, by Paul Rudolph
- ICA Boston, by Diller Scofidio + Renfro
- International Trust Company Building, by William Gibbons Preston
