Architecture is a collaborative effort achieved through dialogue. A participatory design approach creates architecture that is sensitive to the needs of the client, program, and inhabitants. We believe the best ideas should win – regardless of whether it comes from our client, our consultants, or our heads. We enjoy discovering what our clients think, and we enjoy seeing our clients “own” their projects by inserting some of themselves into the process. We have led visioning exercises and “problem-seeking” sessions with clients from developers to math professors for projects such as schools, retirement centers, even to private residences.

Innovation can sneak up on you. A creative approach to architecture fosters change that creates a new dimension of performance. New ideas develop through questioning and re-evaluating standard design solutions. We like to test our assumptions, look for different ways to solve the problem, re-examine the constraints, and try to find a way to make the project work. We are often tasked with projects and sites that others could not make work – and we enjoy being part of the solution that does.

Architecture should be more than just a business transaction; it should be a creative experience. Architects should bring a creative energy to a project that is inspired by the client, program, site, and context. We find inspiration in the brick details of the building across the street, in the curve of a plow handle, or the fact that the client wants to fly a kite out of his bedroom window. We want to find delight in our designs as we have delighted in the ideas expressed by our peers – those who work beside us and those who have gone before.

ARCA Design, PLLC

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