Age: 34
Firm: Fuentesdesign
I’ve worked in and out of my house during the last 10 years. In 2004, I bought a 19th-century stone house just south of Boulder, Colo. There was a stone garage, and we put a steel roof on it and straw bales on the inside. That was my office. But there were rats and it was freezing cold. I ended up moving back downtown. Now we’re in a warehouse with a steel fabricator, a builder, and a hardwood-flooring guy.
Today I’m working on my laptop from my condo. Tonight I’ll be working from a coffee shop. Tomorrow morning I’m going into the office to meet my employee. We’re going to do a little charrette action in the a.m., then go for a ride.
Once I established my business, I started racing bikes harder. I didn’t have a car, so I’d ride my bike to projects. Commuting is good training. I’m definitely less productive when I can’t ride. When I worked in an office, at 2 p.m. I’d be drafting and would not be that productive. Now I get on the bike for a couple hours and come back refreshed.
I’m going to be married next August. My fiancée and I are building a house. That’s kind of put the kibosh on my racing. Architecture culture is for workaholics. I’ve made an effort not to do that. I’m only going to work until I’m tired and not productive. Then I’m going to ride, or sleep, and then come back and hit it hard again.There has to be a healthier way to do architecture and we’re trying to discover it. I don’t know if it’s the right way, but we’ve survived so far. —As told to Alex Hoyt
