How do you feel about the evolution of the architectural industry during your career as an architect? The evolution of the part of the architectural industry I am involved with has evolved a lot, but it has to keep evolving to keep up with the needs of the world. It sometimes is painfully slow, but progress is being made with every new generation of clients, designers and builders. Designers can always find new ways to use new materials; it’s part of our DNA, but someone needs to pay for it, and someone needs to develop it. What is your favorite project you have worked on? Our favorite projects are client-related. We have been blessed to have some really terrific people to work for. The best are brave in that they don’t have fixed images in their head when they start; they are open to unfamiliar things and trust the process and our experience. Not that they give us carte blanche, they certainly don’t, but they tell us what they want in terms of lifestyle and use, and we work through what that means. What do you see as the biggest challenge for Idaho architects today? Cost of construction is a big problem, so once again, the problem for architects is providing value to their clients. Architects need to understand the value issue and what it means to do good design work within a strict budget. What is the value added by using an architect? From many clients’ and builders’ points of view, value in the housing market has led to big houses with big volumes with big gestures. The commonly called “McMansion” is in evidence throughout the country. Most are unbelievably ugly and misguided. What can Idaho do to try to manage growth? This is a huge issue handled differently in communities of different scales. I feel that most Idahoans would like to live in towns with a unique identity and don’t feel like “Anywhere USA.” But looking to the past is not the way to solve the problems in growing communities. In our own area, people fight to keep things the same by fighting change via zoning regulations that just move development to a new place. Towns need to plan for the future, not fight it. Rural areas should be preserved, and towns need to accommodate change and growth in a way that deals with density, scale and circulation that builds the culture of the town and creates places that help define community identity. What can architects do to address affordable housing in Idaho? Architects are quite willing to design such projects, but few developers are interested in projects of such limited profitability. I’ve toured projects that use a variety of techniques to reduce costs, from modular to prefab components to conventional construction. But somehow, the financing of the projects must rise to the need. Good design will follow. Final thoughts to pass on to up-and-coming architects? The future is yours. Dive in, get to know how things work but always keep your mind on the future, where everything will be done differently. Quality is always the point, but how you get there will be different in five years. Be flexible, talk to many people in the industry, keep your ears and eyes open. Try new things, find young clients who want to experiment. Have fun! Any last thoughts? As someone who has maintained a business for over 30 years, I guess I can say I worked hard to figure out what I wanted in this profession when I was young, then worked to keep my eyes on that goal. That goal has remained the same for me, and I am happy I didn’t get distracted by things I didn’t really want. Luckily, what I wanted workwise remained the same, so I broadened my life by adding family, where I choose to live, and a healthy lifestyle. b Photos courtesy of Williams | Partners Architects 14 AIA IDAHO ARCHITECTURE | 2023 | aiaidaho.com
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