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Florence Savings Bank Ford Gillen provided feasibility studies for possible additions to the main offices of Florence Savings Bank and was Consulting Architect to Royal Design Builders for the completion of the design and construction documents. The new brick gable end block was created to evoke the character of 19th century brick buildings in the area.

Holstein Association, Brattleboro, VT Ford Gillen was hired by the Holstein Association to develop plans for new corporate headquarters on their site in downtown Brattleboro.  The project would be Brattleboro’s first major downtown expansion in a decade.  A decrepit feed/grain warehouse/store was existing on the site and had to be cleared for the new office tower construction.   The site offered many other challenges including separation of service traffic from pedestrian traffic, parking, handicap access, railroad land, and high tension lines.  Ford Gillen came up with a series of carefully crafted presentations that not only convinced the non-profit board that the expansion for current operations and future growth was necessary, but that the project would be an asset to the city of Brattleboro.

Tribeca Film Center, New York City The spirit of this project was to create a home for a fragmented independent film community in Manhattan. The dream of turning a 100 year old, 8 story coffee roasting building in Tribeca into an identifiable center was realized by programming the building in a unique way. The top two floors, developed as the ‘Tribeca Film Center’, became the home of Tribeca Productions, with offices for owner of the project, Robert DeNiro, and a variety of independent film editors, writers, and producers. The 3rd – 6th floors were sold as condominiums with basic base building upgrades, to be purchased and built out by independent film companies (such as Miramax). The second floor houses a state of the art screening room, which is available to the film community for screening of dailies and such. The original ground floor storage and loading dock area was renovated to house Tribeca Grill, a large bistro style restaurant designed to serve both the neighborhood and film community. Finally, the other half of the second floor became a rentable banquet hall, with capability for catering from within by Tribeca Grill. Kathy Ford spent two years with this project as Project Manager with Prentice & Chan Olhausen, from the very first interview, through design and construction, to the very last punch list.

Round House Feasibility Study, Northampton, MA Ford Gillen Architects was hired by the City of Northampton to design and prepare a development package for an office building and possible parking deck at the Round House site edging Pulaski Park. This project has involved generating a variety of massing options in coordination with development proformas to determine the best use for this site, and resulted in an RFP for development.

Historic restoration / renovation