Christina Griffin has had a lot of “firsts” in her career: She designed the first Habitat for Humanity affordable housing project in Westchester; she received the first Platinum LEED for Homes certification in Westchester; along with a group of other architects, she’s assembling the first Sustainable Design Database for the Westchester chapter of the AIA; and she received one of Westchester Home magazine’s first design awards for her renovation of a 1950s ranch home in Mamaroneck, the same home for which she won an AIA award later that year.
Griffin says she always had a passion for architecture—as soon as she learned what it was. “Getting the license just made it official,” she says. She did her undergraduate work at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, became a LEED AP, and, just last year, she became a Certified Passive House Consultant, meaning she can apply the physics of building design to create a home that requires very little energy for heating or cooling.
The demanding technical requirements of LEED certification don’t get in the way of Griffin’s imaginative designs, which “elevate the spirit” and have “meaning for the homeowners and their dreams and life.”
The House: The design challenge of the Taylor residence was three-fold: It was “a dull 1948 ranch” with a treacherous stone staircase as the main entrance; the couple would only live in the suburbs if the “house was really special”; and it had to incorporate the husband’s collection of images of minimalist modern buildings that inspired him.
Christina Griffin Architect PC
Christina Griffin AIA LEED AP, 10 Spring St, Hastings-on-Hudson, (914) 478-0799, christinagriffinarchitect.com
Contractor: Marshall Contracting, Dobbs Ferry
