Over our 35 years of experience at the Gaines Group, our team has emerged as a leader in multi-family residential design. We have proudly completed projects throughout Virginia ranging from smaller, single-building urban solutions to large 14 building residential communities.
Our depth of experience allows us to quickly identify economic and feasible solutions to a specific site while considering both zoning and parking requirements, fire safety, and accessible design requirements. We work to ensure the site layout and grading allows us to maximize the number of dwelling units without sacrificing valuable amenity space.
Each project solution involves working closely with our developer’s goals and market information specific to the project location. Whether we are working with limited square footage or large luxury units, efficiency is key in multi-family design. Efficiency becomes paramount when designing units that need to meet accessible design requirements and clearances.
Most of our projects take advantage of green building programs to qualify for specific financing credits. We are well-versed in helping clients find the sustainable solutions that are most valuable to a project. Many of our completed projects have received the Earthcraft multifamily certification without a significant increase in budget.
Fostering a sense of community in every multi-family project we take on is central to our mission. We strive to make a difference in our communities through design, and know that creating spaces where residents love living, allows them to stay and invest in their communities. Our amenity spaces are designed to “wow” future residents while providing design that promotes community growth. We are proud that our projects have a track record of leasing up quickly!
When our firm takes on a project, there are numerous creative minds behind each detail of the design. We recognize the depth of talent and knowledge held in our team and want to celebrate the faces behind our designs. We are carving out space to share a bit more about our team members and how their paths led them to the Gaines Group. To kick off this effort, we are spotlighting Trevor Jones, a team member working in our Charlottesville office.
Since early childhood, Trevor aspired to pursue a career in architecture. This passion led him to complete a Master of Architecture degree from Hampton University in 2015 where he gained a strong foundation in building and architectural design. During his time at Hampton University, he participated in a traveling studio program to France where he learned to sketch the vernacular architecture. Trevor credits this experience with expanding his views and being a catalyst in his pursuit of the “glorious” field of architecture.
Trevor officially joined the Gaines Group in November 2016 and has been shocked by how fast his 5-year tenure has rapidly passed. He truly hit the ground running as he quickly took in stride the learning curves of growing and applying his knowledge of construction administration paperwork, submittals, and relearning the ins and outs of AutoCAD. Once he strengthened these skills, Trevor took the next leap into design work. He supported the team in completing large, multifamily design projects across the Commonwealth and developed a focus on accessible design. Within his growing skillset, he learned how to apply his knowledge in accessibility requirements, buildings codes, and health and safety requirements.
The pandemic provided opportunities for our team in both the Charlottesville and Harrisonburg offices to work more closely on projects as remote work became essential This opened the door for Trevor to learn and support custom home design projects. Although the last few years of the pandemic have felt like a “blur” to many of us, Trevor continues to meditate on his five-year tenure and is grateful for his work experiences, growing relationships with colleagues and clients, learning from great mentors, and his continued love for architecture that will grow for many years to come!
No project is too small, no dream is too big when it comes to the projects we design. One of our strengths as a firm is our diversified portfolio and eagerness to take on a range of projects. From custom residential to commercial, industrial, multi-family, church, school, and even a backyard playhouse, we enjoy the creative challenges these projects allow us. We value serving as a resource to our greater communities in designing a variety of projects and solutions.
We love sharing our work and will be highlighting the diversity of our designs under #WeDesignThatToo to help inspire your next project!
A backyard greenhouse in Albemarle County, Virginia.Modern home in Harrisonburg, Virginia.A 108,000 square foot award-winning warehouse in Harrisonburg, Virginia.Multifamily Community in Charlottesville, Virginia.Custom playhouse designed by Charles Hendricks.
As a small architecture firm, we love being a dynamic team that is ready for the next creative challenge. Our portfolio and upcoming posts under #WeDesignThatToo on our social media pages are a great source of inspiration and demonstrate our ability to take on many different types, sizes, and styles of projects. Think you might have a design idea and want to explore it further? Reach out and we will gladly talk through your vision!
We understand residents who are seeking accessible homes already face numerous challenges in their day-to-day lives. Our goal is to design accessible spaces that minimize these challenges and promote the highest quality of life and a sense of independence in everyday living. We prioritize creating both indoor and outdoor spaces that are conducive to varying gathering sizes and movement abilities while minimizing excessive ramping or paved surfaces.
There are a variety of standards that regulate the requirements for designing spaces that promote equal access for varying abilities including Fair Housing regulations, ADA, ANSI 117, Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS), and Universal Design standards. Meeting these regulations can often be challenging, but we believe they can be an excellent opportunity to provide housing equality to all residents and visitors. Following and adapting to these regulations inspires our architects to be creative in the design process and deliver solutions that serve all abilities.
The above sink has been lowered in a clubhouse kitchen for increased accessibility.
Although the different classifications of accessible homes can vary within a multifamily community, most homes do not require much more space than a standard kitchen or bathroom. The clearances required for these homes make the space more adaptable for people of all abilities, ensuring a functional arrangement that can be well utilized by everyone. Designing spaces that are adaptable to changing needs allows residents the ability to remain in their homes despite changes in health and mobility.
These are removable cabinets with a shallow roll-under sink. The adjacent cabinet is removable and can be lowered into a work surface.
The biggest challenge in designing for accessibility in multifamily projects is creating accessible routes throughout the community. It is critical to provide easy access for people of all abilities to fully utilize all amenity spaces. One of our team’s favorite challenges is designing a swimming pool that can be used by many different ages and abilities. This is an example in which we consider specific pool depths, layouts, and entry points. In a previous project, the first apartment leased was a fully accessible home because the resident fell in love with the ramp access to the pool!
Accessible pool entrance at the Goose Creek Apartments Project in Fishersville, Virginia.
Construction is wrapping up on another successful, multi-family community project designed for our incredible clients at Denstock Management. The Knoll at Stone View, a luxurious apartment community located in Ruckersville, Virginia, exemplifies the quality of design we want to deliver to all of our clients. Known as “The Knoll”, this community is designed for people who want to experience a well-designed, comfortable home with the convenience of resort-like amenities.
The Knoll boasts many modern and luxurious features that allowed our architects to get creative in the design process. The 200 apartment homes are centered around a large, community clubhouse that houses top-notch amenities. Both the clubhouse and apartments have an open feel with large windows that maximize incoming natural light and capture the surrounding mountain views. The openness of the grand clubhouse is matched with equally large barn doors that give way to a game room, a place you will want to hang out with family and friends. Also accessible from the clubhouse is a fitness center, a fully outfitted theater, a modern and inviting kitchen, and an expansive patio raised over a community pool. These spaces are an entertainer’s delight!
Natural light floods the clubhouse through grand windows.
No matter the scale of the project, our design goals are focused on how life will be lived in the spaces created. Each of the 200 apartments is carefully thought through and outfitted with quality building materials and layouts suited for the modern adult. Ample storage, elevator-accessibility, walk-out closets, 9-foot ceilings, and tough granite countertops are just a few design features we incorporated into the apartments. We love refining our designs with the smallest of considerations and especially love how the modern steel accentuates the balcony experience.
Our commitment to designing for the future was not compromised as the Knoll is on track to become EarthCraft Certified. This certification not only focuses on energy-efficiency, but also health and durability for buildings. The finishing touches are being crafted and we are delighted to hear the enormous community interest for those who want to call The Knoll home. To learn more about this project, visit their website https://www.theknollatstoneview.com/.
Adrienne and her team, led by Ray Gaines are working on luxury living communities around the commonwealth. One that is now under construction is Kelton Station Apartments, a 204 unit Earthcraft Multifamily project. Located in Lightfoot, just north of Williamsburg, Va, this community is anticipating opening in early 2021. The project contractor is KBS.
I asked Adrienne to describe the project and process for the design: Given the beautiful weather in that part of Virginia, we really focused on creating spaces for enjoying the outdoors. These units have larger decks than most of our communities, and they are all screened to create a more comfortable living space. The clubhouse contains a large wrap-around front porch, and a large rear screened porch that overlooks the pool. Amenities such as the open air grilling pavilion, the fenced dog park, and the covered bike storage buildings further encourage outdoor enjoyment.
This is our first multi-family project in Hampton Roads. With most of our luxury communities, there has been a struggle to keep the site accessible due to the slopes from our central Virginia hills and Shenandoah mountains. With this project, our site was so flat that the challenge became creating enough slope to keep the water flowing to the correct places, and away from our buildings. It was really interesting for us to have to think about site planning in a different way.
This project was really exciting for me especially because my family lives in this area. My niece would deliver project updates every time she rode by in the car. I surprised the contractors a couple of times by knowing what was going on on-site before we had gotten their updates because I had an excited 7-year-old call to tell me about what new equipment had arrived or that there were new walls going up.
This is just one of many Earthcraft multi-family luxury living communities in process from the Charlottesville team. If you have a multi-family project in mind, reach out and we may be able to help.
