Do We Really Need a Soils Report?
The quick answer is… Yes! Occasionally we will have a client who wants to build a small professional or commercial building. Sometimes this is a one-time client like an accountant, doctor or dentist with little or no experience with construction. We always act as guides for our clients, but in this type of […]
Downtown Arlington Urban Progress
From 1908 to 2026 The City of Arlington is celebrating its founding 150 years ago. About 10 years ago I came into possession of a panoramic photograph of downtown Arlington in 1908 by the label on the print. The photograph is centered on the intersection of S. Center Street and South Street. The […]
A Sense of Place
What does it mean to have a “Sense of Place”? People have used this phrase to describe numerous types of places that they have visited or which perhaps exist nearby. To me, when you use this phrase, you have experienced a geographical, natural, historical or architectural location that provides you with a deep […]
From the T-Square to A.I.
My Reflections Over the last five decades, I have witnessed quite a change in the methods and tools we use to create architectural plans. During my time in undergraduate college, we would only use a T-square and a right triangle. When you look at old pictures of an architect’s office, like Frank Lloyd […]
Building “Green” for Ordinary Folks
Over the last few decades, the term “Green” has become a standard phrase to describe a certain architectural design strategy. A green building design project is one that has met certain certifications and standards for environmental sustainability and resource efficiency. The main one of these certifications was developed by the U.S. Green Building Cou
Do I really need an Interior Decorator?
Over the last 40 years we have completed numerous professional offices, dental offices, medical offices, churches, retail stores, restaurants, schools and industrial facilities. In many of these projects the client has asked me “Do we really need to hire an Interior Decorator?” The short answer is “YES”. However, the person or firm required to make [
The Joy of Hand Drawing
I have always enjoyed drawing by hand. Since I was a child, I have been drawing with pencils, pens, crayons, markers and other implements. The drawings would have been simple creations at first, but I forced myself to expand my abilities and the complexities. One reason I gravitated to architecture as a profession is […]
The Corporate Headquarters Design Process.
New retail headquarters, conceptual floor plan New headquarters, Render New retail headquarters We have recently designed two corporate headquarters located in Arlington, Texas. The first one was for a company which provides services for the retail convenience store markets. The second was for a very large plumbing contracting company which serves the north
An interview with my younger self.
I thought it might be interesting to have my current 70-year-old self, interview my past 25- year-old self. In going through this exercise, I hope to reveal my experiences as an architect to the up-and-coming young men and women in this profession. The 25-year-old me has just graduated with a Master of Architecture (M. ARCH) […]
Designing for Dentists
I have designed numerous dental clinics over the course of my 42-year career as an architect. Every one of the dental building projects is different from the others. There are similarities of course, but every project is unique. Some have a very contemporary nature which utilizes large amounts of glass, brick and sleek horizontal […]