“Does this look square to you?” I asked a graduate student acting as the foreman. The look of derision I received was cutting. “Does it look square? I don’t know, why don’t you check it with a square?” was the pointed response.

As I stood there, flushed with embarrassment, I realized a flaw in my current career path. I intended to design buildings—buildings that someone would build—without knowing how to build myself. Over the course of that term, I developed an intense admiration for my classmates with construction experience. This reverence changed the trajectory of my career. I knew I needed to learn how to build.

I made that my mission.

I worked as a welder in a custom metal fabrication shop in Seattle. My fabrication and installation experience began to influence not only how I designed, but what I favored as a design process. Later, I honed my woodworking skills at boatbuilding school: sighting fair curves, understanding how wood moves under changing conditions, adjusting the rake of a fastener to prevent it from dislodging, and considering water’s path.

I then transitioned from builder to designer while living in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, where I worked as an intern in two architectural firms that treated the desert with reverence. I began to learn the subtle gestures that engage the desert’s beauty and the construction methods so suited to the terrain.

Following my tenure in the desert, I returned to Seattle to attend graduate school and complete my architectural apprenticeship. I worked for a small firm committed to a rigorous design process and well-crafted design. I was partnered with Krekow Jennings—only now as an architect. I had the opportunity to observe the integrity, care, and dedication that each KJ teammate I worked with possessed.

As an undergrad, my focus was on learning. As a graduate student, I began to lead. I was a Teacher’s Assistant for the very Design|Build course that had such an indelible impact on me. I was awarded a Valle Research Scholarship, which allowed me to travel through Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Norway for five months by bicycle, researching traditional Scandinavian building techniques. I wrote a thesis. For the first time, I developed my own definition of what architecture is—for me.

I graduated, passed my exams, and earned my architect’s license.

I finally had the freedom to critically assess the next phase of my career. When I arrived in Seattle, I had not anticipated that my return to design would run parallel to my return to building. But through my experience in the wood and metal shop during graduate school—first as a shop assistant, and later as an instructor—I found I was most fulfilled when trying to figure out how to build something, when solving problems, when supporting the conceptual design of others, and working toward its realization.

At Krekow Jennings, I get to do that and more. I work with architects to ensure that the design intent is understood. I work with craftsmen to develop how the building will be built. I serve as an advocate for the client. My priority is to shepherd the design through the construction process—and I relish every moment of it.