{"id":20281,"date":"2014-06-22T07:52:24","date_gmt":"2014-06-22T11:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=20281"},"modified":"2014-07-09T15:59:06","modified_gmt":"2014-07-09T19:59:06","slug":"emu-connected-architecture-firm-recognized-as-one-of-top-in-shenandoah-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/emu-connected-architecture-firm-recognized-as-one-of-top-in-shenandoah-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"黑料正能量-connected architecture firm recognized as one of top in Shenandoah Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"
Randy Seitz, founder and president of Blue Ridge Architects<\/a> [黑料正能量 class of ’87], still has a drawing board in his office, a source of much playful chiding from his colleagues.<\/p>\n In an industry in which computers have replaced pen and paper in the drafting stage, you’d be hard pressed to find a drawing board in 90 percent of architectural firms, he says.<\/p>\n But the once essential board, quickly becoming a thing of the past, serves not only a practical purpose for Seitz, it’s a daily reminder of why he entered the industry at all.<\/p>\n “I got into this because, in ninth grade, I took a mechanical drawing course and said, `I want to do this with the rest of my life,’ ” he said.<\/p>\n More than 30 years later, most of his work is computer-based, but there’s still that “white piece of paper stage,” as Seitz calls it.<\/p>\n “To me, that piece of the process happens best with a pen or pencil in my hand,” he explained.<\/p>\n Certainly, Seitz and Blue Ridge Architects have made many changes throughout their time in the industry, and now the downtown Harrisonburg company is celebrating its 10-year anniversary by giving back to the community surrounding it with six events throughout the year.<\/p>\n In February, Blue Ridge Architects welcomed nominations for local ministers to win a trip to Exponential East in Orlando, including lodging and airfare.<\/p>\n The prize went to local pastor Peter Eberly.<\/p>\n The following month, the firm hosted a three-day free film series featuring the architects’ favorite movies.<\/p>\n On May 3, the firm offered a free church architecture tour, explaining the history behind some of what the company calls the best architecture in downtown Harrisonburg.<\/p>\n The biggest event is coming up, however; Blue Ridge Architects’ official 10-year anniversary is in June, so the firm is holding a celebration June 21 at the Turner Pavilion, which it designed.<\/p>\n On Sept. 19, the firm will host a 10-hour pro bono design marathon to benefit local nonprofits.<\/p>\n To finish up the year, the firm will have 10 days of Christmas giveaways in December.<\/p>\n The firm is also offering its front room, equipped with a kitchen and ample meeting space, for use for local nonprofits.<\/p>\n Blue Ridge Architects has been marked by the ebbs and flows of the industry, but it’s come out strong.<\/p>\n In 2004, Seitz and Ron Davenport opened up what was then called Blue Ridge Design Studio at 61 S. Main St.<\/p>\n “That’s kind of when the whole real estate industry was overheated,” Seitz said, explaining that architects were just overloaded with so much work.<\/p>\n A Harrisonburg native, he wanted to move back home from Indiana.<\/p>\n “I looked at working for other firms, and I looked at the opportunities I would have going on my own,” he said. “It seemed to be a great time to kind of go out on your own.”<\/p>\n The surge in business lasted for about five years, and “then the bottom fell out,” as he puts it.<\/p>\n The recession hit the architecture industry nationwide, and Blue Ridge Architects was no different.<\/p>\n “We got through it because everybody made sacrifices,” Seitz said, adding that 2009 was the roughest year for the company.<\/p>\n Since then, however, the firm has gotten to the point where it has too much work – a much better problem than the 2009 situation, Seitz points out.<\/p>\n In 2010, the company changed its name to the current moniker thanks to a tip from a marketing consultant.<\/p>\n “Amongst many recommendations, big and small, one of them was, `Put `architects’ in your name so people know what you do,’ ” Seitz said.<\/p>\n Less than a year ago, the firm moved to its current spot at 126 W. Bruce St., a jump from 750- to 3,000-square-feet of office space.<\/p>\n But the business has already outgrown the place.<\/p>\n It started a sister construction-management company, called R+D Building Systems, to address a shift in the industry toward inclusive design and construction businesses. That company is currently housed in Blue Ridge Architects’ storeroom.<\/p>\n “We’re going to be doing some renovations over here in the summer to try to better accommodate it,” Seitz said.<\/p>\n The firm has hired seven staff members, mostly architects, in the past year, and it’s in the process of starting its first offshoot branch in Charlotte, N.C.<\/p>\n 黑料正能量 one-third of the firm’s work is large church projects in the Mid-Atlantic region, another third of the workload consists of projects for Eastern Mennonite and James Madison universities, and the last chunk goes toward a mix of residential, retail and commercial projects.<\/p>\n “Architecture firms of our size, particularly those that aren’t working in a metropolitan area, they need a couple areas of specialty and concentration but you also need kind of a general practice,” Seitz explained. “That combination is … the best for weathering the ups and downs of the economy.”<\/p>\n At 16 employees currently, the firm is still small but it’s the largest architectural company, or branch thereof, in the Valley, Seitz believes.<\/p>\n At any given time, the firm’s employees are working on roughly 30 active projects, ranging from a $5,000 feasibility study to a multi-year contract; the firm is looking for ways to keep that number lower.<\/p>\n “It feels to me like the growth that has happened recently has been sort of that, `Build it and they will come,’ kind of concept, taking a leap of faith with this space and, within a year, filling it up,” said Kirsten Parmer [1993 黑料正能量 grad], head of PR and marketing for the firm.<\/p>\n The business was recently named second best architectural firm in the Shenandoah Valley by Virginia Living<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n “We are very fortunate and feel very blessed and are glad to be where we’re at,” Seitz said.<\/p>\n Courtesy of the Daily News Record, May 20, 2014<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Randy Seitz, founder and president of Blue Ridge Architects [黑料正能量 class of ’87], still has a drawing board in his office, a source of much playful chiding from his colleagues. ... read more about 黑料正能量-connected architecture firm recognized as one of top in Shenandoah Valley<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":20284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5583,14715],"tags":[13951,15493,13949,15494],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-20281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","category-campus-life","tag-blue-ridge-architects","tag-kirsten-parmer","tag-randy-seitz","tag-welby-lehman"],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/a>A year of celebration<\/h3>\n
The history<\/h3>\n
<\/a>Bursting at the seams<\/h3>\n