WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO:
“Discover what drives you at your CORE, focus on it, and do more of it. ”
EXPOSED STRUCTURE
All buildings have posts and beams. These commonly get hidden by drywall and trim. This is unfortunate because posts and beams are beautiful. The texture of wood and steel is intriguing whether rough or sanded, painted or stained, or simply left raw with stamps from the lumber yard. We fight to keep the structure exposed and never to wrap real beams with fake trim because the texture is inspiring, and it is a travesty to hide it with boring drywall. Framers tend to slap up a post, drywallers end up wrapping it in drywall, then finish carpenters carefully wrap the drywall with wood trim to try and make it look like a wood post again. This is dishonest, wasteful, and a shame that the original wood post could not be featured as a structural element AND a finished material. We work diligently to coordinate the construction to ensure the materials are thoughtfully installed and portrayed honestly.
NATURAL MATERIALS
Raw steel with a real patina, exposed concrete with the texture of the form boards, and local wood indigenous to the region all provide a material palette that relates to the area and weathers in unique ways that create a visual symphony that changes over time. We limit the use of unnatural materials to 20% of a facade. We do NOT do cheap hardie panel boxes. We diligently work to promote visual interest through the use of natural materials.
FUNCTIONALITY REALITY
We consider the best spatial relationships of different rooms as they relate to privacy, views, adjacency requirements, convenience, daylighting, ventilation, efficiency of construction, and promoting an inspiring lifestyle. We present pros and cons, and we weigh the advantages of all options until the DATA proves which iteration makes the most sense. We remove emotion from the equation, we tell clients “NO” when something doesn’t work, and we insist on the best solution.
BUILDING SCIENCE
We design the structure and envelope with the best systems and materials to maximize energy efficiency, structural safety, and to keep applicable areas weatherproof. Although there are cheaper ways of building, we design buildings with the best available science, and we work with clients and builders to reduce the scope (not the quality) when the budget is limited.
COUNSELOR TO CLIENTS
First and foremost, we advocate for our clients’ best interests over all other parties. We fight to ensure our clients’ goals are properly aligned and are successfully achieved despite any adverse opinions or resistance from others. We work tirelessly and expediently to provide the information and counsel needed for our clients to make informed decisions, and we owe it to our clients to care about their project as much as they do.
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