HOME BUILDER DIGEST: “The Best Residential Architects in [the Triangle]”

Arielle Condoret Schechter, Architect

440 Bayberry Dr., Chapel Hill, NC 27517

Arielle Schechter, a registered architect recognized by the A.I.A., has made a name for herself in the Triangle area for her nationally recognized custom houses, Micropolis micro-houses, and mid century renovations. She is currently based in Chapel Hill. For over 26 years, she has specialized in warm, energy-efficient, and modernist residential architecture, including cutting-edge Net-Zero design and passive house construction… READ MORE 

THE AWARD-WINNING, NET ZERO HAW RIVER HOUSE AT DUSK. Photo by Tzu Chen

Chapel Hill Architect Arielle Condoret Schechter, AIA, Receives Two “Best of” Houzz Awards for 2021

Chapel Hill-based architect Arielle Condoret Schechter, AIA, recently learned that she has received two Best of Houzz Awards for 2021 — one for Design, the other for Client Service — adding to the four Best of Houzz Awards she’s received since 2016.

Houzz is a leading platform for home design and remodeling. Over 40 million unique monthly users comprise the Houzz community. The awards recognize just three percent of the 2.5 million active home professionals represented on the website.

Houzz presents its annual awards in three categories: Design, Customer Service, and Photography. The Design Awards honor professionals whose portfolios are the most popular among the Houzz community. (Follow this link to view Arielle’s Houzz portfolio.)

Customer Service honors are based on several factors, including a professional’s overall rating on Houzz and client reviews submitted in the previous year. Since she joined the platform in 2016, Arielle has maintained a “5 out of 5” rating for “Work Quality,” “Communication,” and “Value,” and she continues to accrue glowing reviews from her clients.

“I’m honored to receive both awards this year,” she said. “And I’m so grateful to all of my wonderful clients who took the time to write those kind reviews. No matter what they wrote, the pleasure was truly mine.”

e-ARCHITECT: “Baboolal Residence, Chapel Hill, NC”

(Photos by Tzu Chen)

e-Architect is published in Glasgow, Scotland

The Baboolal Residence is a net zero house for a multicultural family of four. The husband is Indian originally from South Africa and the wife is American. They are both in high stress professions: he is a pediatric anesthesiologist and she is a pediatric nurse. They have two small children and pets. READ MORE

CONTEMPORIST: “A Roof Covered In Solar Panels Allowed This Home To Be A Net-Zero Energy House”

From the editors: Architect Arielle Schechter has shared her latest project with us, the ‘Baboolal Residence’, which is surrounded by forest and a grassy meadow, and is located near the town of Chapel Hill in North Carolina.

(Photos by Tzu Chen)

Designed as a net-zero house for a family of four, the home features a unique roof shape that allows for the inclusion of solar panels. READ MORE

GREEN BUILDING & DESIGN: “Architect to Watch — Arielle Schechter on How Japan Inspires Her Design Philosophy”

This architect builds for the North Carolina climate and for clients who crave sustainability.

By Jessica Mordaco

Light is the most important factor in architect Arielle Schechter’s design philosophy. Much of her design inspiration comes from Japanese architects who use screens and overhangs to block the sun while creating a seamless translucence from outdoors to indoors—that, and modernist design that connects inside spaces to nature. Schechter became interested in her craft at a young age, growing up with a famous mid-century architect as a father. “I always thought I’d work for him but, when he died, I had a lot of things I wanted to say in architecture,” she says. “I totally believe there’s no point in designing anything, much less a green building unless you’re going to make it wonderful for the people who live in it, too.”  READ MORE

ARCHITECTS + ARTISANS: “On a Carolina River, a Hawk’s-eye View”

Photo by Tzu Chen

By J. Michael Welton

For a new home on the Haw River in North Carolina’s Chatham County, architect Arielle Schechter found her inspiration in two places.

One was the Haw River. The other was a rock.

“Walking down by the riverbank, there were so many trees cantilevered and bent out over the river, that I said: ‘I want this house to bend out over the river too,’” she says.

She placed the home on the only buildable knoll above the Haw, since the 21-acre site slopes steeply down to a flood plain and riparian buffer below.

As for the rock, it actually was a huge granite boulder, split down the center. “It’s super-sculptural with a thin knife-blade through the middle where rainwater flows,” she says. “The idea of bisecting something appealed to me, so I did that with the butterfly roof.”

Then there was the raptor… READ MORE

Propane.com: A Q&A with the homeowners

Photo by Tzu Chen

This Haw Riverfront home is a secluded sanctuary nestled in untamed paradise.

Nestled along the banks of the Haw River, in stark contrast to its untamed surroundings, is Scott Zimmerman and Kate Paradis’ modern, green home [designed by Arielle Condoret Schechter, AIA]. For these University of North Carolina alumni, their 21-acre piece of land is their paradise. The Propane Education & Research Council spoke to Scott about the features they love most about their “Hawsome” home and propane’s role in making their secluded sanctuary possible.

What drew you to this specific location that some might have shied away from?

You have to be there to see it. The view is unbelievable, literally, that was it. The closest neighbors are a mile away, my driveway is a mile long, you’re not here unless you’re meant to be, so there is privacy. The property is full of projects and I am retired so I have my woodworking shop, and also normal land maintenance every day. We looked for a place close to Chapel Hill that felt like it was out away from everything  — rather than buying a beach house or mountain house which we’d use two or three times a year  — but that was still close to town without feeling like it. We found this piece of property on the river and that’s where we are. It’s been a five-year project to get where we are now. It took 537 days to build the house, and we moved in late January before the coronavirus shutdown started. READ MORE

ATOMIC RANCH: “Net Zero: No Problem”

How a North Carolina architect created a private and environmentally sustainable home for a couple to break free of traditional living.

By Lauren Hofer | Photos by Keith Isaacs

PROPANE.com: “Harsh Riverfront Site Inspires Spectacular Net Zero Home”

Greywater collection, renewable energy, and a propane generator keep this Haw River dwelling resilient and self-sustaining. Photos by Tzu Chen

When architect Arielle Condoret Schechter’s clients purchased the dazzling 21-acre strip of land that would become their home on the Haw River in North Carolina, the seller had a simple condition: He wanted them to build a home that was environmentally responsible.

The buyers granted his wish by hiring Schechter, a residential architect known for building net zero or passive houses with an ultramodern aesthetic. And his directive became the first of many ways the land would dictate Schechter’s design for the Haw River House.

“It is just spectacular out there,” Schechter says. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever had a chance to work on as far as primal beauty goes.” READ MORE

The Paradis-Zimmerman house overlooks the Haw River rapids from its perch on a rocky knoll surrounded by a forest.

ARCHITECTS + ARTISANS: “Six Winners in the Matsumoto Competition”

By Micheal Welton (Photo by Tzu Chen)

It couldn’t have happened to a nicer place.

The top two winners in the 2020 Matsumoto Prize competition – for both juried and people’s choice awards – are sited on one of Carolina’s most sought-after beaches…

…Second place in the juried competition went to Arielle C. Schechter’s Haw River House. “‘It’s just enough house for the site,’ was one of the comments,” he says. Third place went to Haymond House, by Tonic Design’s Vinny Petrarca and Katherine Hogan… READ MORE