River Architects

10/01/2026

The Bank Lofts is a 2026 METROPOLIS Planet Positive Award winner! We’re incredibly proud to see this project recognized as the winner in the Retrofit or Repositioning category.
The Bank Lofts began with an ambitious question: How can we preserve a building that carries the history of a community while preparing it for a very different future?
Our transformation of this long-vacant 1880s bank in Richfield Springs, New York, preserves the building’s historic character while introducing a high-performance envelope, all-electric systems, renewable energy, and nine new homes alongside civic and commercial space. The project meets Phius CORE REVIVE standards and demonstrates what can be possible when preservation and building science are considered together.
We’re deeply grateful to our clients and to the entire team of collaborators, consultants, builders, and craftspeople who helped give this building a new chapter.
Thank you to METROPOLIS and the 2026 Planet Positive Awards jury for this recognition.

Post-Construction Photos by Pamela R Cook


https://metropolismag.com/planet-positive-awards/river-architects/

09/14/2026

The architecture begins to reveal itself in the framing: at Jaycox Pond House, the structure is taking shape, and with it, the relationship between the home’s interconnected volumes, rooflines, and openings to the surrounding landscape.

This stage of construction offers a temporary view of the building we rarely get to see once it is complete: the repetition of rafters, the intersections between forms, and the structural framework that will ultimately disappear behind the finished envelope.

Designed by River Architects to meet the Phius ZERO 2024 standard, Jaycox Pond House brings high-performance building principles together with a design shaped by its wooded site and connection to the landscape.

We love seeing the ideas developed through drawings and models become tangible on site.

Construction Management: Sustainable Design Works

09/09/2026

Where does the home office belong when working from home becomes part of everyday life? For many of our residential projects, the answer isn't necessarily a separate room.

Workspaces can be integrated into kitchens and living areas, tucked into overlooked corners, or designed to serve more than one purpose throughout the day. Natural light, views, acoustic privacy, ergonomics, and the relationship between work and family life all influence where these spaces belong.

Juhee Lee-Hartford recently spoke with Forbes contributor Terri Williams about how we approach work-from-home spaces and the small design decisions that can make them more comfortable, functional, and adaptable.

We're sharing a few examples from River Architects projects here.

Read the full article, WFH Office Design Trends, Part 2: Creating a View, Carving Out Space: www.forbes.com/sites/terriwilliams/2026/08/27/wfh-office-design-trends-part-2--creating-a-view-carving-out-space/

09/01/2026

A snapshot from the site in Damascus, PA: with exterior cladding underway, the relationship between the home’s simple gabled forms and taller central volume is coming into focus. At the top, an observation room creates a perch for taking in the expansive views, while standing-seam metal roofs and a restrained palette of dark exterior materials bring the composition together.

Designed as a family retreat today and a home that can adapt to its residents over time, the project considers gathering, privacy, aging in place, and connection to the surrounding landscape from the outset.

We love this stage of construction, when finished materials meet exposed building assemblies and both the architecture and the process behind it are visible.

08/25/2026

Inside China Pond Passive: natural materials, carefully framed views, and a restrained palette shape the everyday spaces of the home, from the kitchen at its center to the cedar-lined sauna tucked within.

Throughout China Pond, comfort and performance were considered together. The result is a Phius Certified Passive house designed not only to use dramatically less energy, but to feel quiet, tactile, and deeply connected to its surroundings.

Architecture + Interiors: River Architects
Photography: Pamela Cook

08/17/2026

We’re thrilled to share that two River Architects projects have been named finalists in the 2026 METROPOLIS Planet Positive Awards.

China Pond Passive is a finalist in the Single Family category, while The Bank Lofts is a finalist for Retrofit or Repositioning.

Though one is a new Passive House in the Hudson Valley landscape and the other is the transformation of a long-vacant 1880s bank, both projects demonstrate the potential for architecture to pair ambitious environmental performance with thoughtful, enduring design.

Thank you to METROPOLIS for the recognition and to the many clients, consultants, builders, craftspeople, and team members who contributed to these projects.

Winners will be announced September 30 in San Francisco. We’re honored to be among this year’s finalists.

See the full list:

Discover this year’s finalists in the Innovation and Project categories before winners are announced this fall.

08/12/2026

Interested in seeing a Passive Building project while it’s still under construction?

On Thursday, August 13, builder Simple Integrity will lead a Phius tour of The Grove, a River Architects-designed development currently under construction in Cooperstown, New York.

The three-building project includes an 11-unit apartment building, a new duplex, and the adaptive reuse of a historic house as a second duplex. During the tour, Simple Integrity will share a behind-the-scenes look at the project's mechanical systems, airtightness strategies, construction sequencing, and lessons learned through our team's previous collaborations.

We’re grateful to work with builders who share our commitment to high-performance construction and are excited to see The Grove opened to the Passive Building community for an afternoon of learning and conversation.

Thursday, August 13 | 4:30–6:30 PM

Advance registration is required and space is limited:
https://www.phius.org/passive-house-tour-grove