Beacon Concepts is our in-house design department that works in conjunction with our third-party architectural firms to ensure every design is sustainable, functional, and beautiful at each Beacon development. Led by Mercedes Farrando, Beacon Concepts incorporates the principles of high-end design into affordable and mixed-income housing.  The Beacon Concepts team believes well-designed spaces should be available to all incomes and is particularly skilled at high impact design interventions sensitive to budget constraints.  Through thoughtful design, Beacon Concepts aims to inspire resident pride, create spaces for healthy living, and encourage community connections.  

Beacon is committed to staying at the cutting edge of green building. Since 2008, almost all of Beacon’s new developments have been LEED- or NGBS-certifiable.  When we start new developments, we explore – and typically pursue – building to the Passive House standard, in which buildings consume minimal energy for their heating, cooling, and lighting needs.  Through our design decisions, we work to encourage healthy living, reduce our residents’ utility bills, minimize environmental impacts, and increase environmental awareness. As housing managers, we monitor energy use, limit the amount of chemicals we use in landscaping, and maintain our developments to maximize useful life. In all these ways, we work to lessen our environmental footprint and make the built environment better and more environmentally sensitive than when we found it.