A Passion for "Building Knowledge"
A home for those who design and build buildings - with a high standard, a driving passion, and a desire to learn, brought to you by an industry veteran.
Buildings are awesome….and to build them well, you need *a lot* of knowledge. After nearly 20 years of school, work, experience, and adventures in various sectors of the industry, I’ve learned a thing or two - and I’m sharing that knowledge here,
I want as many people as possible to know about construction, design, and how buildings work. It can feel overwhelming, there’s a ton of lingo, it’s a rough-and-tumble industry…but that’s why I’m here for you!
With some established classics from Twitter like the “Sound Smarter on the Jobsite” series to some new gems on the horizon like reveals of my favorite details, specs, and products, floorplan markups, stories from my GC days, and more, I’m looking forward to bringing you some serious value here - whether you’re an architect, a builder, a developer, a realtor, an owner, an investor, a subcontractor, a DIYer, or just a fan of buildings.
Join us!
About Marilyn
From the time I was a little kid, I’ve been doodling floorplans, building models and forts, and drawing giant land plats to divide up.
My career started with an undergrad degree in Architecture [with a second major focused on Military History, and a minor in Architecture History], followed by a stint in construction. I started out in the field, hauling gravel in buckets, and worked my way up to estimator, assistant project manager, then finally project manager over the course of about 4 years. I then went back to get my Master’s in Architecture, moved to Boston, started working in an architecture firm specializing in multifamily, and traveled the world on a fellowship researching and documenting vernacular housing on 5 continents.
I then transitioned to full time academia, where I ran a series of design-build projects that paired architecture students with local non-profits, and built curriculum around construction knowledge and building science. But I couldn’t stay away from architecture…and left gainful W2 employment to start my own practice in 2013. Since then, we’ve worked primarily in the greater Boston area [and now expanding to SE/SC Pennsylvania], on a wide variety of housing, custom residential, industrial, and specialized commercial projects. We’ve done feasibility for 500,000 sf facilities, pinch hit with several other architects on a wide variety of multifamily projects, and honed our skills in the tough world of full-gut residential renovations.
Meanwhile, I began investing in properties, doing small value-adds, and learning how to operate rental real estate, and renovated my own home, a 1730s stone farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania.
These posts are coming to you from that well of experience, which I delight in broadening and deepening with every passing day out on the jobsite. Thanks for joining me!