Know your neighbor: Sean Size

By Megan Williamson, Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahara Neighborhood Association

Sean Size is a community builder with a clear mission: to reimagine spaces with vision and care. Size, “The Neighborhood Rebuilder,” is a Madison West High School graduate who has influenced the look and feel of our neighborhood in many subtle and not so subtle ways. Size is a partner at Threshold Builds, an architect-led design build business that is located on Eastwood Avenue.

Size champions sustainable design that goes beyond energy efficiency — his projects honor the principles of reuse and recycle while acknowledging community roots. He re-imagines spaces with vision and care and his solutions are both inventive and respect the earth and its future.

He subscribes to values like “embody energy” which honors and emphasizes the chain of life and energy that goes into any object creation. For example, as he explained to me, the cherry trim on Threshold Builds’ conference table is fully visualized by recognizing the chain saw that felled the tree, the truck that hauled the tree to a wood shop and the tools that were used to cut, shape and treat the beautiful cherry wood.

Size has no advanced schooling but has always been a maker and a builder. He was responsible for helping to shape the Community Gardens that run along St. Paul Avenue. In fact, he helped install the water spigots with hose attachments every 20 feet for gardeners to use. He was an early creator of Little Free Libraries and built one for Trinity Lutheran Church that was a replica of that building. Libraries that he built were all made using local wood and supplies.

He volunteers his time and knowledge at Sector67 by identifying and using/reusing materials taken from local torn down buildings, organizing volunteers and problem-solving the orientation of that unique space on Corry Street.

Threshold Builds has been the creator of some of the most incredibly beautiful spaces right here in the neighborhood. Responsible for architecture and construction, it has designed and built the Atwood Music Hall, the Bur Oak and the West African restaurant Les Délices de Awa.

By combining forward-thinking architecture with a deep commitment to environmental stewardship, Size also helps to shape homes that are not only future-ready but are also grounded in values that matter deeply to him. He is passionate about passive home construction, which is the name for ultra-low energy consumption buildings. The rebuilding of the Zion Lutheran Church property is a perfect example of such construction. It has been officially designated as passive home construction project, one of the few such designations in the country.