Years ago, when BUILD first started out as a company, we took on a project that included a rainscreen siding system. At that time rainscreens were relatively new to the industry here in the Pacific Northwest and we called on a professional acquaintance who had a bit of experience with them. Upon inquiring about the building wrap we were told that it was “proprietary information” and that they couldn’t give us the name of the product. We were stunned… still are actually. We couldn’t believe that this was the way in which professionals conducted themselves in the architecture and construction industry. We imagined how the world might be if parallel professions operated with such secrecy and pettiness. Where would the SARS epidemic be, had the medical professions around the globe refused to collaborate and work together to find solutions? Not only was the move immature but the manufacturer (Vapro Shield as it turns out) was denied a recommendation of their product. Everybody lost. Not that there is a direct correlation here, but it’s interesting that the architecture firm is out of business now.
The architecture and construction industries are changing. Design is becoming less cryptic and more straight-forward and coherent. Doing business is becoming more transparent. Young architects are sharing information and collaborating – even amongst competition. Keeping secrets, hiding information, and closed systems are not a tactic for success. Being useful, technically knowledgeable, communicative and hard working make an architect successful in today’s society. Professionals holding onto the old guard are in for some challenging times ahead. They can hold their secrets tight and continue to maintain their esoteric veils. We’re going to keep blogging about ideas, experiences, knowledge and solutions. As our buddy Chase is fond of saying (and we’ve taken to this as a mantra), “rising tides raise all boats.” Thanks for joining us on the adventure.
Tomorrow the BUILDblog will turn 2 years old and, in spirit of the collaboration theme, we thought we’d share some information about a current project of ours. For most projects, we put together material samples for the owners to review. The images in this post cover the primary materials inside and outside the house. Maybe they’re useful to you, maybe they’re not – but there’s some good products in the mix. And as it turns out, none of it is proprietary to us.
Cheers from your friends at the BUILDblog
[From left to right: Kevin Eckert, Bart Gibson, Duff Bangs, Andrew van Leeuwen]