“I think our clients especially appreciate the team’s reach and ambitious design focus at Clark Green + Bek, balanced by our sensitivity to the landscapes and community the Berkshires affords.” —Jacob Bek, partner and principal architect of CGB
In case you haven’t noticed, the Berkshire landscape is changing. In keeping with architectural trends involving materials and techniques over the past two decades, our region has come alive with intriguing new structures.
While maintaining value and quality—both critical elements of traditional architecture—these novel properties also incorporate modern architecture goals of providing solutions for global-related concerns and preserving natural resources.
One of the firms contributing significantly to transforming the old and designing the new is Clark Green + Bek Architecture Design. Balancing tradition and innovation, Clark Green + Bek, with offices in Berkshire County and New York City, is committed to “transformative and enduring architectural design.”
Since 1988, the firm has brought its unique design philosophy to various building projects across our region (and beyond), including residential homes, cultural institutions, municipal projects, and commercial buildings. That philosophy involves fulfilling each client’s program and adding special touches to make it poetic with timeless features “that resonate with you as you round a corner.”
As Stephan Green wrote in his 2021 newsletter, the architectural firm began in 1988 “as a two-person practice [Clark and Green] with a few projects and a whole lot of hope for the future.” It has continued to work hard to maintain “the highest level of design, integrated with best practices keeping in mind the environment, health, and durability.”
Just as the foundation is critical to any structure, so too Clark Green + Bek’s core values and approach are crucial to the firm’s success—values like strong relationships, putting client needs and aspirations first, respecting and integrating with the landscape, upholding low energy/high sustainability design, and leveraging relationships with landscape architects, structural engineers, and builders to support the needs of each project.
Their services encompass everything from the first “napkin sketch” to the final stage of construction. In addition, the firm conducts feasibility studies, master plans, and property assessments.
“We welcome all project types,” states principal architect and partner Jacob Bek. “There isn’t one criterion we’re seeking when evaluating new work. Each project and client is unique, and we look to bring those qualities to the forefront of our work.” He explains they are always interested in exploring something new—a challenging site, a new design type, or a client-requested distinctive program. “I would say the one consistent aspect the team considers on every local project is how it may contribute to or impact the community,” he adds.
A founding partner with a lasting legacy
Stephan Green landed in the Berkshires in the early 1970s when his car broke down on the Mass Turnpike. He worked as a carpenter for three years before beginning architectural studies at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Following graduation in 1979, he spent the 80s working in the “high-intensity world of New York City architecture.”
He returned to the Berkshires to raise his family and, in 1989, partnered with Alan Clark to found Clark & Green, Inc. in Great Barrington. Green expanded the firm’s scope to include commercial and cultural buildings as well as residences, including prominent local landmarks such as Berkshire South Regional Community Center, Community Access To the Arts (CATA), the Great Barrington fire station, the Beacon Cinema, and the Elaine Bernstein Theatre at Shakespeare & Company.
Green retired in October 2022 after entrusting the firm’s leadership to Bek—and after living with Parkinson’s Disease for a number of years. Sadly, Green passed away in May 2023. He leaves a 30-year legacy at the core of the firm’s history, identity, and values—but his absence in everyday interactions is still deeply felt by everyone in the firm.
“Stephan always brought that broader perspective to the work,” Bek notes. “If we were caught in the weeds or felt overwhelmed by problems in a design, Stephan always helped us step back and remember the broader goals, making sure those aspects weren’t compromised.”
According to design director Glenn Goble, who has been with the firm for 20-plus years, “Stephan and Alan both worked as builders/carpenters and had a lot of respect for how things were made. They brought a deep love for the materials (wood, stone, metal, glass) and used their essential elements as part of the poetry of the architecture.” He explains that the partners respected both the old life and the new function, asking, “What’s the core/heart of what that wants to be?”
Goble continues, “Stephan also taught us to respect the context [history and natural landscape] in which we were building, making it an important part of the design. The Berkshires are a special place, and there is a shared desire to preserve that quality and stay real and authentic while moving forward, not getting stuck in the past.”
Green loved drawing—a passion Goble shares. “He used it as a continual discovery process to form the best idea. ‘Kill your darlings’ doesn’t only apply to writing. You have to be willing to go where the project is taking you—to be constantly evolving,” he acknowledges.
A new partner to continue the vision
In early 2022, Green started a conversation with Bek, who at the time was the founding partner at JBA Collective. In October of that same year, Bek joined Clark & Green.
Bek was no stranger to the Berkshires—it has been a second home since his father ran a real estate and construction company in the 80s and 90s. He credits his time attending Bard College at Simon’s Rock with cultivating his creative vision and early internships in the Berkshires with broadening his connections to things outside the world of architecture. Having also earned his degree from Pratt Institute (where he is a visiting professor) created “more fortuitous overlaps” with Green. “We spoke the same language, rooted in our earliest architectural education at Pratt,” he acknowledges. “While architecture is a technical profession, there is a narrative, artistic, poetic, and historical side that is fundamental to the way we think here. Immediately upon seeing the work, you observe how those ideas come through everything the firm has produced for 30 years.”
His professional career began by working with preeminent architecture offices internationally (including Norman Foster/Foster + Partners and Reiser+Umemoto, RUR Architecture). His work has been recognized in numerous symposiums, exhibitions, and publications (such as Domus, Architectural Record, Vogue, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal).
“It takes an office of a certain size and breadth to take on this scope of work,” Bek comments, noting the unique combination of the small boutique attention with the expertise and ability of a large New York firm. The firm currently has a core team of eight to 10 architects, with another 10 to 15 collaborators working remotely on a project-by-project basis.
“Our clients benefit from the collaboration between our New York and Berkshire studios, providing a wider reach and additional resources, along with deep knowledge of the local Great Barrington community,” Bek explains.
Preserving and celebrating Berkshire history
“Growing up in the community, we were aware of W.E.B. Du Bois, though his legacy in the town was certainly under-recognized,” Bek notes. “As a student, I remember visiting his homesite, but we were forced to fight through the overgrown trail leading to it. Now having the opportunity to work on the Du Bois Freedom Center, right here in Great Barrington, is pretty amazing, full circle,” Bek says. “We feel incredibly honored to help the town celebrate one of its most important historical figures.”
Lead architect Steve McAlister was chosen to complete the design of The Du Bois Freedom Center, located at the former Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church, with which Du Bois had ties early in his life.
“When we first started out, Steve McAlister of Clark and Green did an excellent job on our historic structure report, and we’re very happy to have the firm on board as we move forward,” commends Wray Gunn, Sr., president of the nonprofit. “The team is extremely well qualified—and they really care about the project.”
After a day spent examining every corner of the vacant church, McAlister sent an email to Gunn and his wife, Cora Portnoff, longtime past congregants turned board members. “It’s always a melancholy experience to work on an empty building that once teemed with life, joy and occasional sorrow but we have to look forward at those times and approach the building with a sense of respect,” McAlister wrote.
Eugenie Sills, Project Manager, reiterates, “Their team of architects and engineers marries decades of experience preserving historic buildings in New England with a commitment to using sustainable building systems, materials, and strategies—an essential balance for a project that is adapting a 135-year-old structure for use as a cultural heritage center housing contemporary programming and museum-quality exhibits.” She adds, “Steve understands the deep significance of W. E. B. Du Bois and the historic Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church to Great Barrington and the wider world, and he and his team have approached the project with humility and respect.”
“This center of Black thought and remembrance will constitute the first museum and living memorial in North America dedicated to Du Bois’ life and legacy,” Sills states. Once completed, The Du Bois Freedom Center will house exhibits and programming that educate the public about the life and legacy of the civil rights pioneer, the church’s central role in community life, and the Berkshires’ rich African American history. It will also be home to the Du Bois Forum for scholars, writers, and artists of color.
Clark Green + Bek has also been involved in restoring the James Weldon Johnson cabin—a small writing cabin at the edge of the Berkshire retreat Johnson shared with his wife, Grace Nail Johnson—both notable civil rights activists. It was here that Johnson created many works, including his masterpiece “God’s Trombones”.
The firm notes that preserving as much of the historic and original fiber [the rough-sawn wood siding, trim, original chimney, and foundation] is a key objective in this project; where repairs are necessary, materials and finishes will match the original construction. The restored writing studio will serve as a place for studying and writing by current scholars and authors.
A portfolio filled with innovative design projects
The recently completed Community Access To the Arts (CATA) center incorporates visual and performing arts studios and administrative offices. The visual arts studios double as exhibition halls, and the performing arts studio can accommodate performances and lectures. “Clark Green + Bek designed a beautiful, fully accessible building for CATA rooted in universal design, with incredible, light-filled art studios that honor the creativity of our CATA artists. At every step of the process, they were deeply engaged in understanding our mission and in finding ways to embody that in the building itself,” extols executive director Margaret Keller.
The Day-Night House in Monterey is an energy-efficient lake house inspired by the Georges Braque lithograph “Le Canard.” The house is divided functionally into a single-story ‘day’ side with living spaces and a roof deck, and a two-story ‘night’ side with bedrooms and private spaces. The two sides are connected by a stair tower containing an open interior stair rising toward a skylight, exploring (per the CBG website) “the power of transitions between spaces, moments in time, and states of mind; between earth and sky, woods and field, shore and lake, sun and shadow, arriving and being there, night and day.”
The Arrowhead Barn, part of Arrowhead Farm in Pittsfield (on the National Trust for Historic Preservation Registry), is where Herman Melville penned “Moby Dick”. A New York transplant, former seaman, and world traveler, Melville “found his paradise” here from 1850 to 1863. This most recent restoration project at Arrowhead included restoring the barn siding, improving drainage, and rebuilding doors to preserve the 1840s barn.
The barn was sided with rough-sawn pine boards and battens, with very little original or old siding material remaining. CGB used the oldest pieces (if in good condition) and installed new pieces in comparable random widths using square-head nails in keeping with the old ones. Every effort was made to ensure a faithful recreation of what the barn initially looked like—including a wooden gutter system based on those found on rural buildings of comparable age.
Growing the team as a big city firm with a small boutique focus
With a vast portfolio of residential work characterized not by its uniform design but by its “each home should be unique to the client and the landscape” appeal, Clark Green + Bek is the welcome disruptor in the often cookie-cutter world of home construction. Joan and Jim Hunter, who have renovated two residences in Berkshire County and are now starting their third, all in partnership with Clark Green + Bek, share: “We chose Clark Green + Bek because their approach combined designing a home in tandem with landscape design. Their homes are unique, their attention to detail is exquisite, and the architects are artists who create beautiful spaces in dialogue with the outdoors. Our homes are peaceful and serene.”
That sense of client loyalty, whether residential or commercial, is at the core of the firm’s identity. Maintaining that loyalty requires evolution and transformation. As Green aptly noted in his 2021 newsletter, “We’re expanding our workforce, stretching our capabilities, adopting innovation while maintaining our commitment to excellence.”
That ‘expanding and stretching’ has had a significant impact. Having Bek join the firm has allowed Clark Green + Bek to leverage Bek’s New York team (at JBA Collective) and consultants worldwide to meet the increased demand since COVID for architectural services in the Berkshires. In addition, Goble stepped up to Design Director, maximizing his expertise to ensure the firm maintains its focus on transformational and enduring design.
Tobias Bernecker joined the firm in 2021, primarily working on municipal projects; Amanda O’Malley joined in 2022, leading some of the more complex residential work; and Nick Greene took on an additional role in Business Development—often the first person to speak to potential clients.
Together with Steve McAlister, Norman Anton, Roxanne Goble, and Sheena Evans-Morris, they offer our community something uniquely Berkshires—sophistication and expertise grounded in local people and longstanding values. As our landscape changes with growing numbers moving into the region, it’s reassuring to know that Clark Green + Bek is working hard to uphold authenticity and keep our homes “peaceful and serene.”
