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together, the trumbull-nelson team and woodstock officials create a spacious new town garage. By chad malone photos by rich frutchey

Woodstock’s new town garage is located on the same site as the old one, just three miles from the Village green on Route 4. It is a 75–by–150–foot, steel-framed, pre-engineered Butler building with a 25–by–100–foot mezzanine. There is a minor pitch to the roof. The building’s long axis is orientated east to west, with overhead doors and parking facing due south to maximize solar gain.

In early December 2006, the project was roughly a week from completion, and Phil Swanson, Municipal Manager for the town of Woodstock, was looking forward to moving the town’s operations into the building and making use of the added space and intelligent design. According to Swanson, the existing town garage was only providing about a third of the space they needed and, as it was built in 1952, had become somewhat outdated.

The new town garage is not only spacious, but carefully planned. Aside from the orientation of the building making good use of the sun, there were other choices made throughout the process that will ensure the building remains efficient for the long-term.

Overhead doors face south to maximize solar gain.

Ingrid Moulton, of Banwell Architects in Lebanon, New Hampshire, who did the preliminary design for the building, points to the solar panel equipment that will be used to make electricity as one example. Todd Thompson, Trumbull-Nelson’s Project Manager, cites the owner’s decision to upgrade the roof’s insulation by using Thermal Environment’s Simple Saver System as another.

“We are very pleased with the way this project turned out,” said Thompson. “Thanks to the decision-making of Phil Swanson, Town Highway Foreman Dave Green, and the selectmen (Bruce Gould, Matt Maxham, and John Doten), this building will provide years of efficient service to the town. They all had clear ideas about what choices would provide good value.”

While there is nothing but smooth sailing ahead, this project did not come without its challenges. In fact, Tim Schaal, the structural engineer responsible for the building foundation, said, “On a scale of one to ten the smoothness of the structural engineering process was a five.”

The reason? Multiple challenges imposed by the site.

Situated on a 25-foot-tall, 10 percent slope, a lot of sitework was required, and Willis Consulting engineers had to be enlisted to provide a steep-slope design for the fill side of the building. Moreover, poor soils had to be removed and replaced, and the State of Vermont storm water permits took nearly five months to obtain.

When asked how these challenges were overcome, Todd Thompson attributed it to teamwork. “We had an excellent working relationship with the Town, our consultants, and our subcontractors,” he said.

Multiple challenges were imposed by the site.

“Our consultants included Banwell Architects, Bruno Associates, Willis Consulting, and Schaal Engineering. All of them were responsive to the project’s needs, and timely and pragmatic in their approach. We also got great work from two local subcontractors, Ottaquechee Plumbing and Heating and LDT Electrical, whose expertise in designing and coordinating mechanical and electrical systems was surpassed only by their ability to staff the project with experienced employees.”

Ingrid Moulton agreed, “From my standpoint, the process couldn’t have gone any smoother. It went according to schedule and came in under budget—can’t get much better than that.”

“It has been a great project,” Phil Swanson affirmed. “If anyone ever called me to talk about Trumbull-Nelson, I’d recommend them.

“We went with Trumbull-Nelson because they’re a local company with a great reputation and we’ve used them in the past. The reason we felt comfortable with Trumbull-Nelson is the same reason we now have a great new facility—they’re reliable and good at what they do.”

the new woodstock town garage is on route 4, three miles from the town green.