Reciprocal Frame Architecture

By Olga Popovic Larsen
Architectural Press, 2008
pp 174 – 179
ISBN: 978-0-7506-8263-3

Design Process:

“The client wanted a house that would enable her to lead an autonomous lifestyle. Both the Architect and the builder shared the client’s vision, and with her encouragement and support they were able to suggest a bold design with some imaginative design solutions.”

American Builders Quarterly

March / April 2011   pp 124 – 126
Øesch Environmental Design:
Facilitating healthful homes, energy independency, and autonomous Living

“There are few Environmental Designers who have the extensive experience, visionary ideals, and built examples of residential green design and building that Schuyler, Virginia-based, Øesch Environmental Design (ØED) does. ØED’s reputation is well-established, with a proven history of delivering state-of-the-art homes for environmentally conscious clients”

Solarpunk Society

November 2020 – Issue #1 – Digital Magazine – pp 9 – 10

What’s your inspiration?:

“Biophilic Design which is modeled after a symbiotic inter-relationship between mankind, our built environment, and Nature has been my touchstone. Organic Designers such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Malcom Wells, John Lautner, Palo Soleri, and Vincent Callebaut have been an inspiration to follow. By incorporating the principals of regenerative and resilient design, we can evolve a higher order of cultural cohesion and a sense of future destiny. Manifesting least effort and maximum advantage, our built environment can have meaning not only in the present, but also embrace accountability and consequence, by anticipating and providing an inherent potential responsiveness to future needs and conditions.”

Viridiant – 2019 Annual Report

“Twisted Trees”
Øesch Environmental Design:

“This home, which received EarthCraft Gold certification, exemplifies Biophilic Design principles to facilitate living in harmony with nature. This incorporates careful attention to natural day lighting, indoor air quality, rainwater catchment, garden food production, the home’s hearth and fire, and connected interaction with the weather and ecosystems. The entire house and detached barn are off-grid.”

C-Ville Abode

August 2017   pp 9 – 11
Entry to Paradise:
“Schuyler’s Quarry Gardens get a proper introduction”

“Local lovers of native plants have a new mecca: the Quarry Gardens in Schuyler, where owners Armand and Bernice Thieblot opened 40 acres of native habitat to visitors just this spring. Those visitors will enter through a structure designed to complement the gardens’ eco-minded mission. This building is in keeping with the underlying focus on the environment. Øesch was able to incorporate many of the sustainable strategies that are central to his work. He specified radiant floor heating, nontoxic materials, a solar array and natural day lighting.”

C-Ville Abode

May 2013   pp 39 – 43
Passive Agressive:
“Katrina suvivors start over with nature in mind”

“The Doyles’ choice of architect—Schuyler-based Fred Oesch—also reflects their environmental concern. Øesch is known for sustainability-minded homes, and his design for the Doyles maximizes energy efficiency. Largely, that’s achieved through passive means: the shape of the house, its orientation, and simple material choices (like the concrete slab that lies under the floor, soaking up heat during winter days).”

C-Ville Abode

June 2009
The Incredible Shrinking Footprint:
“Øesch Design’s – active and passive – illustrate the wider world of green”

“For Architect Fred Øesch, the Davis house represents the first off-the-grid project in his portfolio. But energy efficiency and alternative heating and cooling are common threads throughout his work. “I take a very holistic approach to try to arrive at an optimum solution,” Øesch says. “Most of the time rather than going with one exclusive system or material throughout the whole building, it makes sense to use every material or system to its best advantage in any given location within the building.”

Virginia Business – the Green Issue

April 2008   pp 12 – 13
John-Boy’s Hometown:
“Old quarries are added attraction in Schuyler”

“Fred Øesch is developing The Quarries Eco-Village, a development that preserves some of the areas old rock quarries. Approximately 12 homes have been built in the development — the village has a total of 50 home sites. “We sat one quarry aside as a private common park,” Øesch says. “We have land for a looping pedestrian trail system that connects all the lots to the quarries.”

This Old House

May 2005   pp 137 – 140
Why We Went Green:
“After a hurricane wrecked the roof of their mid-century home, one couple seized the opportunity to replace it with a roof that blooms with more than 10,000 plants.”

“Now was the time to go green, the Richmond couple decided, so they hired Charlottesville, Virginia, Architect Fred Øesch. Øesch designed an extensive gree-roof system that would add only an additional 15 pounds per square foot to the existing structure and required only one additional support beam in the living room.”

Her Home Magazine

Fall 2004   pp 23 – 26
The Grass is Always Greener…  On the Roof:

“According to Fred Øesch of Øesch Environmental Design, “The living roof, in theory, never needs to be replaced. Once established, it needs little or no maintenance.” It’s long lasting because the plants and soil nixture actually protect the underlying roof membrane from the natural elements — heat, freezing and thawing, ultraviolet light, hail, and acid rain — better than conventional roofing.”