Team – Work – Shops

Sometimes the role of ‘client’ is bigger than just one person, or one family. A few years ago, DeForest Architects worked with a church developing a vision for a vibrant new home in the heart of Seattle’s bio/tech hub. For another project, we met a couple seeking to create a place for generations of family, friends, and community to gather and feel connected to the ‘soul of the land.’ In each case, DA organized a workshop with activities designed to encourage participants to discover new things about how they would like to live, work and play – values that would ultimately shape the built project.

Here are some ways that these custom workshops can help:

Develop Consensus

Design workshops are a great way to bring together multiple stakeholders who each have their own programmatic needs and design ideas. Whether you are interested in designing a family compound, developing a community resource, or building an institutional or commercial building, chances are there will be multiple people and personalities involved.

Build Meaning

We aren’t the type of architects who disappear into a creative cocoon only to reemerge with ‘the perfect idea’. We believe a building can be beautiful and meaningful at the same time. Participants who are given a voice are more likely to feel connected to and supportive of the resulting project, having been part of the path traveled to get there. A collaborative design process results in places that are richer and more in tune with the people who will inhabit them, who are ultimately our most important critics.

Expand Creative Possibilities

Perhaps understanding the soul of a site requires dividing into teams and exploring every nook and cranny; maybe getting a handle on the right ‘look and feel’ involves agreeing on images that inspire; or maybe there are certain challenges to overcome that require some team risk-taking. A workshop can be a great avenue for any of these situations.

Have Fun!

We’re happy to be your guides and tailor the process to the challenges that are key to your project. We see this as an opportunity to bring people together, look at a problem from new points of view, and harness imagination - all the while enriching the design and having a fun, memorable experience. Among the payoffs are a shared feeling of investment, increased accountability and buy-in, and a project that is more than the sum of its parts!