I hope you’re relaxing, enjoying water, gardens, and travel. Sunday afternoon we headed out on the Sudbury River for a Father’s Day picnic. Aside from the usual Blue Herons, turtles, beavers and deer, we paddled past Concord families on their decks and had a chance encounter with friends.  

In this newsletter we’re focusing on why: why you get stuck when you’re in unfamiliar territory, why rebrand after 30 some years, and why some buildings lift our spirit and others don’t.

The GPS was crucial for finding our way out of the maze of our medieval town. But by the third day trip, I was pretty sure I knew our way through the streets, out the gate, and down through hairpin turns off the hill. So that morning I took a break from squinting at the screen bouncing around in my hand as the car bumped over cobblestones and lurched around corners.

We zoomed down what looked like a familiar street and suddenly                        

      ——kaboom-rattle, kaboom-crash-rattle-crash——

We jerked to a stop in the middle of a staircase. We’d bumped our way down some very steep steps! It sounded like we’d bottomed out and totaled our little car.  

There was no room to turn around even if we could back up off the stair. Would we need to call a tow truck? Were there more steps ahead around the bend? We were stuck, bewildered, and embarrassed. Oh no, typical “turisti americani!” 

Fortunately, the car was okay and there were no more stairs around the bend. And huge sigh of relief, no Italians in sight to laugh at us.

We gingerly continued down the last few steps on that staircase and left town – slowly.

As we kept an eye on the GPS for the rest of our vacation, we discovered places that we would have missed. We became better explorers when we didn’t try to compete with the folks who drive the roads every day. We took in spectacular sights instead.

That’s when it came to me. In our professional roles, we enable a similar experience for others - the ability to explore and tap into potential they might not otherwise discover.  As an architect, I provide the roadmap so the client can enjoy the journey.

We’ve all heard horror stories from projects that rush, that aren’t managed well. But there’s even more at risk than wasted time and money. Great potential will be missed and the owner won’t even know it! That’s what really breaks my heart as an architect. 

With a thorough exploration of a homeowner’s hopes and dreams, or a commercial building user’s needs, and time spent up front on great design based on that criteria, you avoid prosaic “building” and create inspired, poetic architecture. You get more value for the same investment in time and money. With a set of detailed plans and on-site construction administration by the architect, contractors won’t have to guess and come up with solutions that work on one level, but are inconsistent with the collaborative vision that led to a remarkable overall design.

If you know someone who is about to embark on a design and construction journey, let them know that we’ve driven those streets for more years than we like to admit, and can guide them with a roadmap for their unique direction. The first step: call our office to see if we are a good fit. Then meet with us on site to help us create your STORY BOARD, the initial review and report of your needs and options.

It can seem like a maze, or the way can be clear and enjoyable as our clients discover each need being met in an unexpectedly delightful process and design.