a 'marriage of convenience' so to speak. They both have very strong
opinions as to the trajectory of the design firm. As you can imagine,
they're on a mission to continue to strive toward excellence.
“I think it's all sort of little things too,” said Erickson. “Just in general, like we both love to travel, and we both love art. We both
love design. We both have a lot of fun tracking where themes are
going. For example, in industrial design, furniture and appliances,
and things like that, we work nationwide and that just feels right
for both of us.”
tification. “It all falls into place – in the right place, and it's good
practice. And it's just good architecture.” Erickson said. Zabala followed with, “We have a vision, not just something to do. The good
side is the goal.”
At the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, in Naples, one of the
buildings is a hospital for wildlife, another is a museum, yet another
building is an auditorium, and there's a glass building for corporate
staff, scientific support; activities, and last but not least, volunteers.
Clearly, the upscale design duo both have a much bigger view of
where they are and where they want to be, other than just being “myopic,” according to Erickson, without fully expanding on the
grander opportunities for full exposure. Additionally, having some
exposure in various areas would be a plus. “Working out West in
Montana – it's just fun.” Naturally, it lends itself to a lot of variety,
as well as keeping what they do exciting and fresh. With sound
reasoning like that it's no wonder they say they don't only do this
in order to pay the bills. Rather, they do what they love and what
they're passionate about.
It's more than a dream situation for the architects. Partnering up
has taken them to unimaginable places, whether within the country
or on international project sites. They go where ever the client takes
them. What matters to Zabala Erickson, LLC is finding the right solution for their client's problems. That's the driving force behind
the themes in their designs; leaving little to no margin for error or
dissatisfied clients. Neither partner suspected it would amass such
accomplishments, nor that the opportunities would be so vast.
Fernando's aspiration was to create great architecture. It didn't matter to him what. In the past, he created a newspaper kiosk, and
together Carl and Fernando designed, or redesigned various projects. For example, a condo/hotel on the shore line of Costa Rica;
beach front homes in the U.S.; a sk i chalet, among many, many
other projects.
They managed to modernize the interior of a historic building, Persian Bistro, a restaurant on 5th Avenue in Naples, FL, without disrupting the integrity of neither the original concept nor the materials that has been there for decades. It's the only historic building
left on that street. Built in 1950, it was first utilized as a hardware
store, then a lawyer's office. The new owner approached the designers and asked for insight on what the possibilities could be with
the design of the building. Zabala felt it to be a “no brainer.” This
was a great opportunity to reuse design materials from the historic
building. For exceptional designer's, this was an exciting project to
encounter. What seemed like a dilemma for a new owner of an
antiquated building was a treasure trove for the design partners.
They strongly urged the client to keep the historic dimensions of the
building and they took on the project. Fernando pointed out how
they conduct their practice. The environment as well as preservation
of the identity of the building is of significant importance, in addition
to having a clear vision of the buildings culture.
One of the largest projects currently in progress is the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. This is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization
with 7 buildings that are LEED Gold certified. A standard of excellence the firm acquired to facilitate the environmental project. LEED
stands for (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Code Design).
It is a certified program for buildings that are sensitive to the environment. The Conservancy of Southwest Florida is committed to advocating specifically for the environment & educational efforts. This
program also awards those that are certified – including companies
such as Zabala Erickson, LLC. To that end, the duo are proud of their
'conservative and prudent' means to utilize the funding allotted for
the non-profit, and their ability to achieve the goals and challenges
presented to them.
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida project began in 2009 and is
nearing completion with one final building to be completed. These
buildings provided opportunities for things they never thought they
would be working on, such as a multipurpose auditorium – having
reused 50% of the buildings architectural integrity before starting
the job. They were able to recover the wood and get an LEED cer-
“...eventful, creative, technically sound thinking.”
The architects are broadly diverse in that they are interested and
capable of working in urban areas as well. Work has been done in
an urban building that provides shade and shelter; sunscreens have
been installed on windows, durable enough to minimize SW Florida's
heat conditions. This also provides natural lighting as well. These
are some of the services Zabala Erickson, LLC have implemented
prior to their LEED Gold Certification. They are also a DBE firm. DBE
means ZE, LLC is certified to participate in a program that helps support minorities by putting more people to work on federally funded
projects. This allows for more access to and visibility in places like
SW Florida International Airport, and beyond.
They are devoted to working hard, keeping their families in mind.
“It's a business. We need to make money, and it's how we support
our families. It's not like we don't care about the monetary bottom
line.” Seemingly, the objective doesn't lie exclusively in the profit
margin. The designers are extremely happy doing what they do as
evidenced in the projection of their level-headed demeanor. Who
could doubt this goes a long way while dealing with uncertain clients
and their needs with design dilemmas to overcome? It's obvious;
neither would be as content in their chosen field as architectural
designers.
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