Journal
Wind, shade, water, solar and cost — what we learn on the property in Barbados, written down for anyone planning a house here.
6 articles
Design notes
Bridgetown is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a working city at the same time. Restoring it is less about freezing buildings in place than about keeping them useful.
Heritage city (Bridgetown) · Bridgetown / Heritage / Restoration
Jahmal Springer, Principal Architect, Blue Island Projects
11 August 2026 · 2 min read
Design notes
Every time I sit down with a client for a new build, I find myself going back to the same small wooden building: the chattel house. As an architect, I think it is the most quietly brilliant piece of design this island has produced.
Historic (pre-1900) · Vernacular / Chattel houses / Passive cooling
Jahmal Springer, Principal Architect, Blue Island Projects
4 August 2026 · 2 min read
Design notes
Long before anyone in Barbados had a compressor running, the island's plantation great houses were staying cool through material choice alone. When clients ask for a home that won't need AC all day, the answer already exists in buildings that are 300 years old.
Historic (pre-1900) · Heritage / Coral stone / Materials
Jahmal Springer, Principal Architect, Blue Island Projects
21 July 2026 · 2 min read
Design notes
The houses built here in the 1990s and the ones we draw today look different for concrete reasons — materials, energy costs and hurricane engineering, not fashion alone.
Transition (1990s–2000s) · 1990s to now / Tropical modern / Passive cooling
Jahmal Springer, Principal Architect, Blue Island Projects
16 June 2026 · 2 min read
Design notes
Air conditioning is easy to specify and easy to lean on. It is also the first thing that makes a tropical house stop behaving like one — so I work through the island's own cooling playbook first.
Historic (pre-1900) · Passive cooling / Vernacular / Verandas
Jahmal Springer, Principal Architect, Blue Island Projects
19 May 2026 · 2 min read
Design notes
Is Barbadian architecture modernizing, or losing its identity to generic international design? I'd push back on the premise — what I see is a genuine blending of vernacular logic with new materials and systems.
Modern (2000s–today) · Restoration / Adaptive reuse / Materials
Jahmal Springer, Principal Architect, Blue Island Projects
28 April 2026 · 2 min read
Newsletter
Choose the threads you care about — we only write when there is something worth saying, and you can reply to any email to reach the studio directly.
