January 2026
Happy New Year from Graphite!
We turned the corner and 2026 is right here! Graphite-land is pumped with energy to turn a new leaf and begin with some exciting projects happening in our community.
Warmly,
Andrew and the Graphite Team!
WMAIA Annual Gathering 2025
This year’s Western Mass AIA meeting took place in the Northampton Center for the Arts following a tour The renovation and transformation of 33 Hawley for the Northampton Community Arts Trust was led by Bonham & Douglas Architecture, who designed the adaptive reuse of the existing prefabricated building into a flexible, contemporary arts hub.
Graphite Talks with Toto
Toilets! For our recent Toto Lunch and Learn, the conversation quickly moved past the old “low-flow vs. performance” debate and into what actually makes a toilet work well in practice. A good fixture today keeps the flush volume down around 1.28 gallons per flush (gpf), consistently clearing bulk waste in a single flush, and maintaining a clean bowl surface without demanding harsh cleaners or constant scrubbing. Toto’s current offerings made for a useful case study because many of their toilets pair 1.28 gpf or even 1.0 gpf operation with a few specific technologies like the ‘tornado flush’, which uses directed jets to create a cyclonic rinse that helps waste slide off. Do you have a favorite toilet brand?