#426 - NOAH WALKER, President & Owner of Walker Workshop
SUMMARY
This week David and Marina of FAME Architecture & Design are joined by Noah Walker, President & Owner of Walker Workshop. The three discussed Noah’s childhood and education; his early career; the Oak Pass project; Walker Workshop timeline; maintaining design integrity in design-build; benefits of design-build projects as an architecture-focused firm; mixing architects with construction specialists; Walker Workshop’s design process; clients' response to design-build model; challenges in growing a firm; and more. Enjoy!
ABOUT NOAH
Noah Walker, AIA, is an American Architect and the founder of Walker Workshop, a Los Angeles-based company renowned for creating modern structures that are warmly minimal and deeply rooted in the context of their location. One of Walker’s first projects, Oak Pass House, gained international acclaim, including winning “Home of the Year” in 2016 and inclusion in the ArchDaily 100, a list of the 100 most important works of Architecture in the United States. He was a finalist for HGTV’s Fresh Faces of Design in 2017 and, most recently, named one of “the Esteemed 10 International Design Visionaries” by est Magazine. His work is featured in Dwell, AD, est., The Local Project, and The Los Angeles Times. Walker received a Master's in Architecture from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in the Growth and Structure of Cities from Haverford College in Philadelphia, PA. He has over twenty years of global experience in high-end residential projects, with a specific focus on design-build methods of project delivery. Noah is both a Registered Architect and a licensed general contractor in the state of California.
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Noah's education and early career.
(13:50) Oak Pass project.
(22:19) Timeline of Walker Workshop.
“I think one of the great joys of doing what we do in architecture is the level of inventiveness we can bring to every project. We try to create a unique, magical quality that is hopefully different on every project. If I start doing projects that are cookie-cutter copies of the previous one, I would be a little disappointed in myself. Part of the joy of architecture is finding something that's really special and uniquely tailored to all of those constraints we deal with. One thing that makes the profession so interesting and rewarding is the level of limitation and constraint that you have to navigate to create something that is hopefully a work of art. It's that sort of navigation that can be fun. It can be exhausting, but it’s a joy when you get it right.” (28:01)
(29:17) Maintaining design integrity in Design-Build.
(32:59) Benefits of design-build projects as an architecture-focused firm.
“I want to design like we're going to have to build the thing. It creates an ethic about making and construction. Even with our design-only projects, we think, “Oh, maybe we will build this. Let's figure it out in a way that we could execute [it in construction].” With architects that aren't as connected to [construction], there is a gap between what they envision and what has to happen to create the project. A lot of translations take place and sometimes it's an impossible road. It's great for the office to be grounded in the fact that we're still making things and constructing. It’s important for the office's philosophy or identity and I don't want to give it up. I think the projects we've built can stand on their own and are beautiful, magical homes. There's a sense of reward when you show up and not only did you design the place, but you also created it.” (33:38)
(43:09) Future plans for Walker Workshop.
“The level of creative dilution that happens as you become a bigger firm can be pronounced to the point where it doesn't feel like it's the same product anymore. For me, that probably taps out at around 30 people…When the architecture firm’s brand is based on a person, there's a lot of strain on me oftentimes because I have to be at every client meeting. For example, if I'm not there or it looks like I've passed the project off to another person in the office, sometimes I get a phone call saying, “Oh, we hired you...” The dilution of the principle’s time and the scaling of that is [tricky to navigate]. It becomes a trap when you start to brand yourself based on a personality or a name versus a more generic way of working.” (43:45)
(45:22) Design Process of Walker Workshop.
“I often say that the design process is like a spiral and the goal is in the middle, but it's never a direct path to that solution. You can see it there, but you're not going straight towards it. You're moving around it and hopefully, you’ll find it eventually. But it's a process of macro-level decisions in the beginning and constant refinement as the project develops.” (48:13)
(52:51) Clients' response to design-build model.
(55:21) The Architecture team’s influence on the design-build portion of the office.
(58:55) Challenges in growth and evolution of Walker Workshop.
“For younger architects, the benefit of being in the office has been notable. Being around your peers and listening to them talk; picking up on a phone conversation; or talking to somebody next to you about details; there's so much more learning and progress happening when people are together in a hive mind versus at home. It's easy for somebody to become lost at home, and you may not hear from them for days. It's like, “Well, are you still working? What's going on?” Even just walking to the conference room, I might see something on somebody's monitor, and it gives me a chance to stop and say hi, or help them make appropriate corrections promptly. Whereas when they’re working at home, I might not be able to drop in as easily. It makes the process more efficient.” (01:04:50)
(01:12:05) Noah's favorite building.
