Design Philosophy

Design is one of those common words that seems difficult to pin down. For the engineering disciplines, a design is the solution to a problem: For a given load and span, a beam can be designed. This can be done using a formula, and if the beam supports its load, the design works. For architects, design appears less straightforward.

For Sealander Architects, the design of the built environment, typically involving the construction of a building, means solving the functional needs of the client. The "architecture" of a building, in fact, can be thought of as that aspect of construction that speaks the building's function. A spire on a church, or a row of high-plume exhaust stacks on a laboratory building, tells us the function taking place within.

Projects takes shape from a deep dialogue with our client. The process of form generation, while occasionally seeming mystical in nature, becomes straigtforward as we develop an understanding of the building's function.

We are at the same time interested in how the building functions as a volume of conditioned space. How successfully and efficiently can the building modulate its raw context in order to provide a healthy, productive environment? Buildings protect their inhabitants. The ease with which a building can solve its environmental challenges also shows up as its architecture. In this way, all good architecture is regional; all good architecture responds to a region's culture, economics and climate.