Union Studio Architecture & Community Design

Union Studio Architecture & Community Design Places of Value. Value of Place. We use the power of design to enrich lives & strengthen communities.

06/01/2026

Ribbon Cutting | Meshacket Commons, Edgartown, MA

Martha's Vineyard has long struggled to provide housing for the people who actually live and work there year-round, and Meshacket Commons is a real step forward.

Union designed a neighborhood of multifamily buildings that weave into the existing fabric of Edgartown. 36 rental units across 8 buildings, plus 2 affordable homeownership duplexes with dedicated yard space. The site centers on a large common green with a community building and communal porch, designed for the kind of everyday life that makes a neighborhood feel like one.

Building designs are rooted in the vernacular architecture of Martha's Vineyard, and all-electric systems with on-site solar are sized to cover heating, cooling, and hot water costs, keeping living affordable beyond just the rent.

Welcome Peter Bontempo!Peter believes good architecture serves the people who live, work, and grow within the places it ...
05/26/2026

Welcome Peter Bontempo!

Peter believes good architecture serves the people who live, work, and grow within the places it shapes. With over a decade of design experience, research, and teaching, he brings a deep technical foundation and a steady commitment to that idea at every stage of a project. Grounded in history and driven by community, his work is about earning the trust of a place as much as designing within it.

Peter grew up in one of New Jersey's historic shore towns, where an early fascination with architectural character and well-designed places took hold. That curiosity led him to the University of Notre Dame, where he earned his Bachelor of Architecture and a lasting love for traditional and vernacular design. After six years in Washington, D.C., he spent a year and a half traveling the country—studying towns and cities firsthand and collaborating with local communities to exchange design ideas.

Outside the studio, Peter walks the streets of Providence with a sketchbook or camera, documenting the urban moments that inspire him. An Eagle Scout at heart, he's equally at home outdoors—and always on the lookout for a great sandwich.
Peter, we're delighted to welcome your talent and perspective to Union!

Our Associate Principal Kara Babcock has been invited to Advancing Resilient Communities: A Travelers Across America Inn...
05/22/2026

Our Associate Principal Kara Babcock has been invited to Advancing Resilient Communities: A Travelers Across America Innovation Lab, June 1–2 at Mystic Seaport Museum 🏛️🌊
The Lab is part of Travelers Across America, an initiative launched in 2025 to mark America's upcoming 250th anniversary, dedicated to restoring and protecting historic landmarks across the country.
Kara leads our resiliency planning work, including the coastal climate adaptation masterplan for the House of the Seven Gables in Salem, MA — helping one of America's most storied historic sites prepare for rising seas and stronger storms.
We're proud to see her join a national conversation on protecting the places that matter.

05/14/2026

At the corner of Knight and Westminster in Providence, SWAP, Inc. - Stop Wasting Abandoned Property gathered neighbors, builders, funders, and elected leaders to sign their names to 1077 Westminster — 41 affordable homes rising on a long-idle lot at the heart of the West End. Thirteen one-bedrooms. Nineteen two-bedrooms. Nine three-bedrooms. A mix made for families, with a portion of homes shaped in partnership with West Bay for residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Five stories of housing above community and commercial space at the street.

Several of us from the Union team were there to add our signatures to the steel — a small thing, and a lasting one. We are honored to be the architect, and grateful to walk this one alongside SWAP and the West End.

05/14/2026

Join us on June 2 for Leverage 2026—a celebration of design that shapes more vibrant, equitable Philadelphia neighborhoods. Union is glad to be among this year's sponsors!

The evening brings together leaders in architecture, design, development, and community building—with bites, drinks, immersive design displays, and good company. This year's theme, 35 Years of Design, Partnership, and Possibility, honors what unfolds when communities lead and designers listen: equity, agency, and lasting change, built together.

Our history with the Community Design Collaborative runs through projects like Life Do Grow farm in North Philly -- we helped shape a vision for three acres of land Urban Creators had tended for over a decade.

Hope you'll join us on June 2!

Sponsorship and donations supports the Collaborative's work of translating community vision into design that endures https://givebutter.com/Leverage2026

Our Union Studio Architecture & Community Design team is heading to Northwest Arkansas for CNU34, presenting two session...
05/12/2026

Our Union Studio Architecture & Community Design team is heading to Northwest Arkansas for CNU34, presenting two sessions on Thursday, May 14. At 2:30pm, Donald Powers and Lawrence "Murphy" Antoine of Torti Gallas + Partners present The Transect & Firm Culture: A Tale of Two Practices. At 4:00pm, Christina Carlson, Eric Kronberg of Kronberg Urbanists + Architects, and Allison Quinlan of Range + IncDev present Streamlining Housing Development with Pre-Approved Plans.

See you in Bentonville and Fayetteville, May 13–16!
Congress for the New Urbanism

03/23/2026

Three years in, and this gathering keeps getting better. We're proud to open our doors once again alongside Passive House RI for Building Science & Beer — good people, good conversation, and a shared belief that buildings can do more. This week's focus: home energy retrofits, looked at honestly, from every angle. Hope to see you here!

03/17/2026

United in Design 2026 Scholarship / Internship | Now Accepting Applications through March 30.

Union Studio Architecture & Community Design is excited to kick off our 8th annual United in Design scholarship/internship program! Supporting the professional growth and development of emerging architects is central to who we are. We're committed to supporting rising design professionals in architecture and planning with diverse backgrounds, experiences and points of view. Interested? https://unionstudioarch.com/about/scholarship/

03/11/2026

Victoria sat down with at the For Love to Thrive Cultural Heritage Celebration to talk Tanner House 🎙️
From researching the rich history of the Tanner family, to coordinating engineers, interior designers, and trades — to now being just weeks away from final construction documents. The story of this project runs deep, and we're honored to be part of telling it.
Listen to the full conversation and learn more about The Tanner House here: https://unionstudioarch.com/2026/03/03/tanner-house-for-love-to-thrive-black-cultural-heritage-celebration/

03/06/2026

Five years in the making, the Ade Bethune House on Bristol Ferry Road is nearly ready to open its doors. Recently, 16 of us walked the site alongside Church Community Housing Corporation CCHC and Behan Bros., Inc. , guided by Paul Attemann and Evelyn Ehgotz from the project team— touring the senior center, the apartments, the many shared spaces and amenities — and came away with a clearer sense of why this work matters. Fifty-four affordable apartments for older adults. A fully reimagined senior center. One site, one community, five years of collaboration between the Town of Portsmouth, Church Community Housing Corporation, and the Portsmouth Senior Center — made real. Named after the local artist and social activist who believed beauty belongs to everyone, this building took shape through years of that shared conviction. The result is a place that holds all of them.

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160 Mathewson Street, Suite 201
Providence, RI
02903

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