In the more than two decades that R. Faucett Construction,

Inc., has been in business, the company has seen continued

growth. With a staff composed primarily of highly skilled

veteran carpenters, most jobs they work on contain a

significant carpentry component. The company likes to get

involved in every aspect of construction from the framing and

trim work to the installation of windows and doors.

 

“We’re very hands-on,” says Robert Faucett, president, R.

Faucett Construction, Inc. “We also have great working

relationships with local architects. Our approach to a project is

to form a team between us, the architect and the homeowners.

Our goal is always to satisfy the customer’s needs, interests and

budget and we’ve found that working together as a team is the

best way to achieve that.”

 

AN ARCHITECT’S BACKGROUND

Part of the reason Faucett is able to form such strong working

relationships with local architects is that midway through his

construction career, he got a degree in architecture. Though

he’s not a practicing architect, that knowledge and

understanding has been invaluable to his business and also

helped develop strong partnerships with other architects.

 

Therefore, when a repeat client he’d worked with in Princeton

came to Faucett about redesigning a sunroom that was in

disrepair, he turned to Ford3 Architects, LLC, to design the

project. Then, his company went full-speed ahead in bringing it

to life. The project won a Central Jersey National Association of

the Remodeling Industry (NARI) CotY award for the

“Residential Addition, $100,000 to $250,000 category.”

 

“This was a regular client who is an artist and was working

in a very cramped and poorly lit space to do her artwork,”

explains Faucett. “The home had a dysfunctional sunroom

that was leaking and bug-infested and basically needed to be

taken down. So the project entailed transforming that space

into a brand new art studio that had some modern flair but

still flowed with the rest of the home, which was relatively

traditional.”

 

While the room itself was in disrepair, the foundation was

in decent shape and so began the process of creating a new art

studio within the footprint of the old sunroom. For the

project, it was necessary to mitigate the strong sunlight and

hot temperatures caused by the southward facing location of

the addition which caused the room to be excessively hot. It

was also important to allow cross-ventilation and to unite the

indoor with the outdoor space by creating better access from

the addition to the backyard.

 

FULFILLING GOALS

Since the homeowner is an artist, it was important that she

had plenty of wall space to mount her artwork. She also wanted a

lot of natural light in the space. To achieve this, eight

high windows were designed and installed. In addition to

keeping plenty of wall space, it also allows for generous

sunlight to come in while still tempering and softening the

light to prevent the room from overheating. A brise soleil also

helps provide some additional shade and keeps the room a

bit cooler.

 

Since light is so important in an artist’s workspace, plenty of

additional lighting was also installed for dreary days or

nighttime. “The architects incorporated a lighting strategy that

we executed for the times when there isn’t a lot of natural light

available,” says Faucett. “There’s track lighting as well as some

industrial-themed hanging lights that complement the modern

theme of the space.”

 

The new art studio also incorporated a cleaning station with

a sink to wash out brushes and some custom-made cabinetry

that was built in Faucett’s cabinet shop. And because the

homeowner is on her feet a lot, working on her art, a cork

floor was utilized. “Cork is more forgiving on the wear and

tear of joints when standing up all day long,” says Faucett.

Ultimately, the project fulfilled all of the homeowner’s

goals. “The finished product satisfied the homeowner’s interest

in creating something a bit different and unique but still had

all the functionality she needed out of the space,” says Faucett.

 

“It had an artistic design while still proving to be a good

solution both architecturally and functionally.”

In addition to winning a CotY award, this project also won

an Honor Award in the residential category for “excellence in

architecture and design” from the Bucks County chapter of the

American Institute of Architects. Over the years, R. Faucett

Construction, Inc., has been the recipient of five other regional

CotY awards as well as two national awards from NARI. Faucett

served as the president of the Central Jersey chapter of NARI

from 2008 to 2010.

 

“These types of awards are a real honor to us because we

believe in the importance of being involved with organizations

like NARI,” says Faucett. “We are a company that prides itself

on not only top-quality work, but also professionalism.”"