Established in 2006, Stonorov Workshop was founded on the belief that good design makes life better. We use sustainable materials and methods in honest and simple expressions to create warm, kind, and tough modern works.
Our Beliefs
Fundamental to our process is the belief that making and designing are intrinsic to each other. Knowledge of one strengthens and informs the expression of the other. We build many of our own projects and incorporate this experience into all of our designs. We enjoy the hard work and considered details we know good outcomes require.
Our designs are developed with careful consideration of our client’s needs, a rigorous study of site and an open and involved creative process tempered by ecological sensibility.
We offer discounted rates for projects that promote community wellness and urban invigoration. We offer the same to green businesses and non-profits.
Who we are
Stonorov Workshop Architects is a small firm with big ideals. We get our hands dirty, use tools, and make what we’ve talked about. We’re scrappy and refined. We think a project’s inside is as important than the outside, that function is more important than looks, but we know that all of these things, and a whole lot more, matter and must be addressed. Environmental considerations and a focus on local materials are implicit. We start with what resonates and the rest follows.
Tolya Stonorov, AIA
Founder and Partner
Tolya Stonorov is a licensed architect, an Associate Director and Associate Professor of Architecture at the School of Architecture + Art at Norwich University and an avid Maker. Tolya has received multiple awards including the AIA Vermont John Dale Award for Creativity and Service, the Vermont Women in Higher Education Peggy Williams Award in 2016, a University Award for Mentoring and multiple AIA Vermont Awards for her Stonorov Workshop and student projects. Tolya was the primary editor for the books FABRIC[ated] | Fabric Innovation and Material Responsibility in Architecture and The Design Build Studio | Crafting Meaningful Work in Architecture Education, published in 2017 by Routledge, Taylor and Francis. She received a Master of Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley where she was awarded the Howard Freeman Purchase Prize, The Chester Miller Fellowship and multiple grants. Tolya has traveled extensively through Southeast Asia and Europe and brings these experiences to her work. Tolya worked as a clothing designer and painter prior to becoming an architect.
tolya@stonorovworkshop.com
Otto Stonorov
Founder and Partner
Otto is a licensed architect and a passionate craftsman. He grew up in Alaska and Pennsylvania amongst architects, artists and builders. Otto received a Masters of Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley in 2004. As an undergraduate, he attended the University of Montana, Missoula.
His studies were interspersed with extensive travel throughout the United States, as well as through South East Asia and Europe. Past architectural work requirements were met at design and construction firms in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In addition to the expected influences of travel, work, and education, his Architectural views owe heavily to the practical legacy of family and friends, who, as a matter of course, are involved in art, planning, preservation and building at all scales.
otto@stonorovworkshop.com
Blue Heelers
An important part of daily life.
Awards
PROFESSIONAL + GRADUATE ACADEMIC AWARDS
2023 AIA Vermont John Dale Award for Creativity and Service, Service to Their Profession and Community.
2024 Dana Research Fellowship, Norwich University.
2023 VHIP ADU Grant, Vermont state grant for the construction of an Accessory Dwelling Unit, ADU.
2022/23/24 Service Learning Norwich Award, Funding for experiential field trip for AP211, Submitted with Zach Seibold.
2021 AIA New England Excellence in Design Award, Honor, LIFT House, Norwich University, with Danny Sagan.
2021 Dana Research Fellowship, Norwich University.
2021 Dana Category One Grant, Norwich University.
2020 AIA New England Excellence in Design Award, Merit, The NEST, Norwich University.
2019 AIA Vermont Excellence in Design Award, Citation, The NEST, Norwich University.
2019 AIA Vermont Excellence in Design Award, Citation, Rabble-Rouser Chocolate & Craft Co.
2018 AIA Vermont Merit Award, Remote Lake Camp.
2018 Passive House National Awards, Honorable Mention, Habitat for Humanity Passive House.
2018 Efficiency Vermont Best of the Best Awards, Honor Award, Habitat for Humanity Passive House.
2017 AIA Vermont Design Award, Remote Lake Camp, People’s Choice Award.
2010 Berkeley Heritage Award, Professor’s House and Library, Noteworthy.
2003 Howard Friedman Purchase Prize, UC Berkeley. Permanent UC Berkeley Wurster collection.
2002 The Chester Miller Fellowship, UC Berkeley. Funded travel research.
TEACHING + RESEARCH AWARDS
2019 AIA Vermont Excellence in Design Award, Citation, The NEST, Norwich University.
2015,17,19 Homer L. Dodge Award Nomination, Norwich University.
2018 Significant Scholarly Research Award, Norwich University.
2016 AIA Vermont Design Award, CASA 802, People’s Choice Award.
2016 Junior Faculty Mentoring Award, Norwich University.
2016 Vermont Women in Higher Education, Peggy R. Williams Emerging Professional Award, Winner.
2016 Dana Research Fellowship, Norwich University.
2015 Dana Category One Grant, Norwich University.
2014 AIA Vermont Design Award, Archistream, Citation.
2014+2016 Time Release Award, Norwich University.
2014+2013 Vermont Women in Higher Education, Peggy R. Williams Emerging Professional Award, Finalist/Nomination.
Press
Professional Publications, Stonorov Workshop
Peer Review
2022 Duravit, Pro Duravit.com. ”Remote Lake Cabin” 2022.
2021 Architectural Record, House of the Month. ”Remote Lake Cabin” 2021.
2021 Arch Daily, “Remote Lake Cabin” 2021. ArchDaily. Accessed 25 Jan 2021.Online circulation 13.6 mil. readers/month.
2021 ArciEcho, Remote Lake Cabin, Online circulation 13.6 million readers/month.
2019 Dwell, 34 Modern Accessories for Perfect for your…Pet, Rockridge Studio, Online circulation page views + 3.3 million.
2017 Better Buildings by Design Conference, Team presentation, Habitat House design + construction, Submitted by others.
2015 The San Francisco Chronicle, 100-year-old Oakland Barn Becomes Contemporary Tiny Home, republish of Dwell article.
2012 Dwell, The Windows Have It, Rockridge Studio, Online circulation page views + 3.3 million.
2012 Dwell, The Dogs of Dwell, Rockridge Studio, Online circulation page views + 3.3 million.
2012 Alaska Home Magazine, Exterior Motives, Spring 2012, Circulation 108,723.
2011 Herman Miller Modern Architecture Blog, Stonorov Workshop Q + A with the editor Cerentha Harris.
2011 – 2006 Rockridge Kitchen Tour, Taft Street Kitchen; In-laws, Out-laws and Granny flats, Taunton Press, Rockridge Studio chapter; Remodelista, Apartment Therapy, Tiny House Blog, Ffffound, etc Work Cited on Numerous websites.
2009 Dwell, Built In Style, June Issue 2009, 350,000 Circulation and + 3.3 million monthly online page views.
2009 In-laws, outlaws and granny flats, Michael Litchfield, A Taunton Press Book, Chapter on The Rockridge Studio
Other
2019 Times Argus, Top Prize Winners, visited 12.06.2019
2019 VermontBiz.com, Vermont Excellence in Architecture Award recipients revealed, visited 12.11.2019
2017 Passive House Buildings | New England Forges Ahead, Low Carbon Productions, Habitat House Chapter.
2016 Times Argus, Passive House with Active Help, Article about the Habitat for Humanity house.
2016 Green Energy Times, Article on the Habitat for Humanity House.
2016 Domain.com, 10 of the World’s Best Tiny Homes; Article on Rockridge Studio.
2003 Homer News, Recent Bunnell Opening Showcases Young at Art, Bunnell Street Gallery Show, Group show.
Academic Publications, Peer Review
2024 FABRIC[ated] Book Review in the Journal of Architecture Education, Katie Macdonald.
2023 FABRIC[ated]|Fabric Innovation and Material Responsibility in Architecture, Routledge, Taylor and Francis.
2020 International EEAE VIBRARCH Conference, Paper publication, Valencia Spain.
2019 Design Build Foundations, Chapter in Fieldwork Design Build, (forthcoming book), Emilie Taylor, Tulane University.
2019 Body as Context, Skin as Vessel, National Conference on the Beginning Design Student: University of Colorado, Denver.
2017 The Design Build Studio | Crafting Meaningful Work in Architecture Education, Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, Global publisher; Editor, Author of Introduction, Time Map history, (with Danny Sagan), Archistream chapter and Conclusion; Editor for all other contributing chapters.
The Design Build Studio is currently being taught at Tulane University, U. of Colorado, Design Build Bluff, Utah, U. of Melbourne, Au., Technical University of Berlin, Germany and Oxford Brooks University, London, England, among others.
Review of The Design Build Studio, Architectural Record, Circulation 93,000 and 300,000 website visitors monthly, 2018.
Architecture Alumna Tolya Stonorov Set to Publish Book, UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design Website, 2017.
2016 Garment, Component, Edge, Cal Poly Proceedings, National Conference on the Beginning Design Student.
2014 Making: Between Digital and the Hand, IIT Chicago Proceedings, National Conference on the Beginning Design Student.
Academic Project Publications on Stonorov Led Student work in Architecture Studios
Peer Review
2018 Vermont Arts Council, Article on the NEST studio design build project with 10 students.
2017 University of California, Berkeley Website, Architecture Alumna Wins AIA Vermont, Emerging Professional Award
2015 Architect, National architectural journal, Article on the Archistream studio design build project with 10 students.
2014 ABX 2014 Conference, Boston, Proceedings, The Archistream studio design build project with 10 students.
2013 AIArchitecture, Article about the Archistream studio design build project with 10 students.