David Gleason - Architectural Consulting

In over 3 decades of experience in engineering, design, business management and related areas, my focus has always been on fundamentals. When these are overlooked or misunderstood, weaknesses result and long-term value is reduced. The fundamentals of architecture and engineering go back millennia, yet architects generally strive for little more than meeting client requirements in the fastest, easiest way, resulting in often unremarkable results for all but the highest budget projects and most uncompromising clients.

Ultimately the client should have the intuitive appreciation of fundamentals, attention to detail, and the necessary time and funding to complete a project such that it achieves timeless elegance that enhances its surroundings. Concepts mastered by the true innovators over past centuries have to be taken into account, as do modern insights and practicalities. These concepts include light, space, energy, air, water, moisture, thermodynamics, topography, landscape, structural simplicity, ease of construction and maintenance, symmetry/balance, materials science, and aesthetic, cultural, historical, and perceptual considerations.

Architects design large expensive structures intended to serve the needs and desires of people for many decades. The entire lifecycle of the structure should be thought through, and things like modularity, adaptability, energy efficiency, structural simplicity, and durability should be properly analyzed, with design weaknesses, alternatives, and optimizations evaluated at each step. This cannot be done quickly but is generally better done prior to construction.

I take a comprehensive multi-disciplinary approach to look at client requirements and existing site conditions, ask the necessary questions and properly identify and investigate any potential design weaknesses and contingencies, and create/refine the high-level project design, while working with other professionals as needed to translate this into final documents. With the complexity of construction today a broad foundation and focus on fundamentals is critical in achieving truly exceptional results.

Once the high-level design has been done with proper due diligence, the overall time investment is in fact relatively small compared to the total project scope, while major long-term value can be added and costs and schedules can often be reduced. Lower-level design details necessary to complete all plan details, obtain permits and start construction can involve significant additional work and can generally be done by specialists in the local area.