Community Architects #231

Caleb Johnson:

You know when you test out all the different options and you land on one, then you feel like you feel confident that you've made a good choice and I feel very confident about that.

Kevin Browne:

Grandfather was the same way. He used to be a drafter and my mom shared some of those drawings as I was growing up. You know, old steam engines he would draw and stuff like that. But as I went along I realized it was the right profession and track for Life.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

This is Dr. Lisa Belisle and you are listening to Love Maine radio show number 231, Community Architects airing for the first time on Sunday, February 21, 2016. The spaces in which we dwell, work and recreate have an undeniable impact on our well being. Who are the people that design our spaces and why have they chosen this profession? Today we speak with architects Caleb Johnson and Kevin Brown about their love of space and how this is translated into interactions with the community at large. Thank you for joining us.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

guest is an individual who should be well known to readers of Maine Magazine Maine Home Design. This is Caleb Johnson who is a Maine licensed architect. He and his wife Dana are very well connected in the Southern Maine community and Their three children. It's quite fun to be able to have Caleb in here to talk about some of the work that he's been doing and his connections to southern Maine and probably Maine at large. Thanks for being in here.

Caleb Johnson:

Absolutely. Pleasure to be here.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Caleb, I want to go back a little bit and talk about why you went into architecture in the first place.

Caleb Johnson:

Sure. Yeah. I think it's an interesting discussion. And for me, my path to architecture was through art. I began my life really quite early in grade school, very interested in art and very interested in drawing. And I pursued it pretty passionately, actually, in grade school and through high school, and came to a point where I was highly encouraged by my parents to go into fine arts and was given the support, was told they would support me through college doing it, but came to a point where I realized that I wanted something maybe a little bit more practical, where I could be involved in things that had more of a daily need and purpose and what I thought at the time a larger impact on communities. I maybe changed my view of that a little bit, but at times I've actually said to friends that I kind of wimped out of art and went into architecture. So that was my path, is a love of art and. And never looked back once. I chose my junior year in architecture, or, I mean, junior year in high school to go into architecture, and I think it was a great decision.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What type of art are you fond of?

Caleb Johnson:

Well, I started with a real passion for impressionism and then that. That morphed into many other types of art that I became passionate about, but it was always kind of centered around landscape painting. College I studied with a portrait painter the entire time I was doing architecture for no credits. I just wanted to do it. So always found it important in any creative endeavor, you know, ideas start in the mind, and eventually you need to communicate those to somebody else. And in the visual arts, which architecture could, you know, is closely aligned with. In the visual arts, the easiest way to communicate an idea is often through a picture. And so the ability to go quickly from an idea in your mind to a picture gives you the ability to convey your ideas to others accurately. And so that was. That's been just a huge part of my entire career. And I kept that up through college and keep it up to this day. Still doing just restarted down at Engin and Biddeford, some figure drawing classes or sessions, which has been a lot of fun. So art is definitely remains a major part of my career.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Have you been able to incorporate your love of art and Drawing and painting into the work that you do with architectural design?

Caleb Johnson:

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I draw every day. There's not a day that I don't draw because once again, it's the communication of ideas that are visual. At some point it's got to pass through a pencil or a computer. But, you know, for me, I can get an idea across very quickly by just putting pen to paper or pencil to paper, where, if I was to attempt that with a computer, you might wait a half an hour before I showed you what I could show you in 30 seconds of what an idea is in my head. So everyday ideas from up here onto a piece of paper so that you and I can talk about that idea and bat it back and forth and see what you think of it. And so every day art is a part of my life.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Different people have different ways of communicating. So if you're working with a client and perhaps building a home or maybe even working on something that's larger, like I know that you're working in Biddeford on some pretty big projects, how do you communicate with other people who maybe aren't as visual? Maybe their way of communicating is more just spoken word. Maybe they're more kinesthetic. Maybe they need to touch things. How do you deal with that?

Caleb Johnson:

Yeah, it's a really good question because, you know, in the end, if I'm working on a project for a municipality or I'm working on a project for a private residence, in the end I have to somehow connect with you and get you to trust that the ideas that I'm putting forward meet your needs and hopefully go much beyond meeting your needs and get into the realm of inspiring you or changing what you think was possible. And so you're right, I definitely run into clients. I could show them drawings all day and they won't get it. And in those situations we'll, you know, could be three dimensional modeling in a computer, could be three dimensional modeling right in front on a table. Often the quickest route is. Let me show you a bunch of pictures that are more like vignettes that get across into motion and people can connect with that. And, you know, you show me, for instance, a picture of a living room that you really love. There might be absolutely nothing about the architecture of that picture that you like. It might be in some style that you would never build for yourself, but you might really connect with the emotional, kind of the emotional impact of that picture. And I can learn something from that and I can translate that into the conversations you've told me. Where you're looking for this, but you're showing me a picture that's, you know, at odds. So I think, I think photographs is another great way of communicating. But also, you know, you really can. If you can be articulate in the way you talk and you run into somebody that just is not following you in the visual languages, you know, you can earn somebody's trust by saying, I understand you. I'm listening to you in the way that you're engaging with them, and they'll build a trust in you. And some of our best, certainly our best projects revolve around clients who trust us and engage with us in conversations about ideas. Because in the end, that's what architecture for me is about. And so that can happen just by conversation as well as batting back and forth drawings.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I know that you and your wife Dana are very interested in health. Dana is a health coach. From what I understand from your business partner, Shannon, there's a lot of really interesting things going on, even in your office, that you're really trying to get people to live their lives in a full and healthy way. Why is that?

Caleb Johnson:

Well, as far as I understand it, right, we have one life to live, so it's either get on with it or, or don't. And so I'm thinking in the, in the scheme of things, working takes up a pretty good chunk of our lives. So for me, I love what I do, and I'm not going to do it if I don't. I love my freedom and don't like to be stuck in a box and told when to go and come. And so I think there is the reality of running a business and the reality of deadlines and money that are ever present. But to, to the ability that we have to allow the people we work with freedom to kind of make choices about their daily lives. We certainly do that. So some, you know, one of the biggest things I think we offer, which a lot of businesses are doing these days, is we, we offer flex time. You know, it's like, come and go with reason as you please, make sure that you can collaborate with your peers and collaborate with, with me and other people. But come and go as, and you know, that gives people, I think, in our office just kind of the feeling of, you're not a cog in the wheel. You're part of an overall conversation. You're part of an overall effort to be a part of the community and to be a part of the architectural community and to kind of chart your own course. And so I think that's you know, that's a. That's one of the biggest things that we do is do our best to offer people their freedom and autonomy and not feel like a cog, you know, So I think. And then I think is, you know, naturally, I think the people in Maine, a lot of people in our office, they love exercise, they love being outside. That's why they're here. And we do our best not to get in the way of that and do our best to encourage it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So why has Maine become such an important part of your life? Why were you. Why were you drawn to Maine, and why do you continue to be here?

Caleb Johnson:

Yeah, I think it's an interesting question, because I see that here in Maine, there's just a lot of people that I feel pretty close kind of kinship with, similar minds, similar ideas about life. And I think that there's. I think. I hate to use the word brand, but Maine just has such a strong brand to it of. It's about the outdoors. It's about beautiful, you know, small towns. It's about the coast. It's about New England. And I love all of those things, and I think the people who really stay around here love those things as well. And that's what brought my wife and I here in 2000. And we enjoy all of that every week, you know, every day. And I love to travel. I go to other places, and then I'm very happy to come back to Maine every time. And so I'm not. I'm not drawn away from Maine by any other. By any other location nationally or internationally. And. And before I came to Maine, I was itching for a place to settle down because I was never longer. Never in one place longer than five years. And during my whole life, did a lot of travel internationally and around the country. And so, you know, when you test out all the different options and you land on one, then you feel like. You feel confident that you've had. You've made a good choice, and I feel very confident about that. My wife and I both do.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So where are you originally from?

Caleb Johnson:

It's a hard question, but I've lived everywhere from North Dakota to. To New York City, rural New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Chicago, on and on and on. So, like I said, I'm pretty confident that I love it here and we're not going anywhere.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I've noticed one of the reasons that I know you a little bit better than many of the people that we work with, with the magazines is that you and Dana and Shannon and her husband Galen, you are out in the community you're at the Kennebunkport Festival. I think you were at Bruising Tunes last summer, you know, with your kids, and you were at the Danforth Inn on New Year's Eve. I mean, I can't turn around without you being there, you and your group and you're so engaged, I mean, all of you. And it's such a nice. It's just such a nice feeling that you want to be interacting. That's not necessarily the norm for people who work in the architecture field.

Caleb Johnson:

No. So there's a couple things going on there. Yeah, we love to be out, but I wouldn't say I was always that way. Certainly I remember one of my closest friends who's a photographer that's well known in Maine, Trent Bell, my first year in high school at Virginia, all of his friends encouraged him to go befriend me and get me out of my dorm room because I was just in there drawing all day. So naturally, probably more of an introvert, but you know, to practice, to practice my craft, which a well practiced craft can kind of delve into art. You can't be practicing architecture and construction and not be known and not be in a community. What that will do is mean you're practicing it on your own computer and on your own drawing pad and doing something else during the day. And so I've come to really love being a part of community, even though I started that practice because, you know, I need to get out, I need to network, I need to know people if I'm going to do what I do. And so that, though, has had a real impact on my life because where maybe, maybe originally, as, you know, as I made my way through high school and college, a handful of friends, a handful of acquaintances would do. Now I need an entire state in order to support the organization which we're building, you know, with. I think we're close to 20 employees now and all of the expenses that go along with that. So if I make it a practice to stay in my office and think and draw and do all of that and not get out, then we will quickly be running out of work. And so the net result of that, I think, is an interesting discussion because knowing people, interacting with people, it absolutely amazes me how social humans are. Right? I mean, there's. What is there close to 7 billion or just over 7 billion of us. We're everywhere. I'm looking at a hawk on the highway the other day and I'm thinking, man, what is there maybe 10,000 of those in this state? And there's a million of us. I mean, it's a good thing. We're all so social. And the more I get out and the more I enjoy friends and community, the more fun I have doing it, and the more my life is enriched by other ideas. Right. By the warmth of other people it brings on. You know, if you're going to be out in all of the communities and getting to know people and just having a good time, you can't be that negative and down on life. If you are negative and down on life, you're not going out. Right. You're gonna. You're gonna stay in and kind of think about your own problems. And so, you know, it's really had an effect on me over the past, really 13 years. I started my own business in 2003, and prior to that, you wouldn't have. You wouldn't have seen me anywhere. And since then, we get out quite a bit, as you've mentioned, and it's had a really profound effect on my life, just getting to know other people, listening to them, taking in their ideas, and making that part of my overall story and drive so transformative.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, it's interesting because I think you're identifying something that many artists struggle with, that if you are a musician, like our audio producer, Spencer Albee, or if you're one of the many. If you're a landscape artist, like Jane Damon, who came in a few weeks ago, or if you're a writer, like Tess Garrettson, who we interviewed in the fall, you have both things. You have both aspects sometimes equally strong in your personality. You need that quiet time, you need that introspection, but you also need that connection. You need it not only to sort of inform your craft, but also to build business.

Caleb Johnson:

Correct? Yep.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So it's kind of a dichotomy.

Caleb Johnson:

Yeah. I don't. I wouldn't see it so much as a. If you wanted to really get into it, I wouldn't say it so much as a dichotomy, as so much as really the one informs the other and the one can't do without the other, because an artist alone eventually is going to lose touch with the things that are really important to humanity. There might be some artists out there who would say, well, my art isn't about that. My art is about my solitary pursuits and thoughts. I personally am not interested in that art. So I'm interested in art that can have an effect on all of us. And you got to be out there. You got to know what's going on. You got to Travel, you got to know people, otherwise your ideas are going to be stale. And I have certainly found that that just, just really being part of the

Caleb Johnson:

enhances the ideas and enhances the craft. And then once that, once you have a command of that craft, you can take that craft and do unexpected things with it, which starts to get into the world of art, you know. And so, yeah, it's, it's a very interesting conversation, but like I said, it's just, it's a really fascinating discussion to me about just how social humans are. And that definitely has a lot to do with architecture, because architecture, you know, kind of holds, holds people together by, by the nature of what it is. And the way you design a building has a large effect on the way people interact with each other. And so it's worth thinking about one of my heroes, Steve Jobs, who's had a huge effect on, you know, really worldwide, had a massive effect on the way office buildings are designed. And the way he insisted that his headquarters be built was to encourage kind of accidental collaboration between everybody so that you would cross paths all the time and, you know, kind of cross fertilize ideas, which is, which is what we were talking about a minute ago. That's just really essential. And if you're going to come up with original ideas that have an effect on people, much better to start off where the rest of humanity left off. And so in order to do that and then move the envelope one little step farther in your career, you've really got to just be out there, talk to people, understand it. Look, a lot of books, do a lot of traveling.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

As you've moved from a smaller to a larger organization, which you said employs 20.

Caleb Johnson:

Roughly.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah, roughly 20 people. What have you learned? There's a big difference between learning working for yourself and being the one who responsible for people. You're responsible for their health and well being, you know, health insurance and making sure that they get a paycheck to pay their mortgages. And what have you learned from this?

Caleb Johnson:

Yeah, it comes back to this idea for me of kind of discovering just how social and how important other people are to each one of us. You know, you think of these, you think of like wolf packs or gorilla packs and how social they are and they're all, all over each other all the time. And you look at like, you look like healthy, you get healthy communities of engaged people. And it's, it's, it's pretty similar. You know, we can't get enough of each other. And so what I did realize a long time ago. I remember one of my longtime collaborators, Jessica Jolin, who works at my office, she reminds me that way back in like 2006 or something, I said to her she was straight out of school as, you know, like, don't worry about that little issue in architecture. The most important thing you're ever gonna deal with is just your relationships with other people. And the more farther I go, what I am realizing is that the thing that has the most impact on my own well being and my own happiness is the quality of relationships I have with other people. And probably you would tell me as a doctor that if my mental attitude is bright instead of gloomy, that that's going to have an effect on my overall physical health as well. And the best way I can say to stay bright and not down is, is just really foster collaborative teams of people happy to be together, happy to be working together, happy to be working on the same issues together and to have real challenges in front of them. Right? I mean, what we do is, I don't care how you cut it, it is just not easy. Every day there is a massive problem to be dealt with. Whether it be a budget problem, a schedule problem, a human resources problem. There's always big issues out there and we all have to be happy to tackle those challenges with a really positive attitude. And so I guess if I was to say what have I learned by growing an organization from, you know, one person to 20? We're still a very small company, but it's just, it's just about how important leadership and very sensitive empathetic leadership is to getting something successfully done. You can't treat people like cogs on the wheel and expect to get anywhere. And where we're trying to go is to be a part of this overall architectural conversation, you know, and we're all happy to do it. So that's probably the biggest thing is just the importance of people.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What's your favorite project that you're working on right now currently?

Caleb Johnson:

That's a good question. We have right now a project in Biddeford. It's the Waterhouse Field and it's a kind of famous within Maine High School Football stadium. And it has the opportunity to kind of reignite a passion in Biddeford amongst a certain crowd and potentially the whole community for kind of a civic community pride. It has the opportunity to give students of Biddeford a chance to be really proud of their city and proud of who they are as athletes. And if we can find a way with the limited resources we have for the project, and with the political hurdles that we'll have to cross to get the project funded, if we find a way to accomplish that then I love what that project could do for a community of people and bringing them together and helping them find common ground. You know, might not have the biggest architectural opportunities. You know, some extremely well funded homes just offer some wonderful opportunities to explore materials and beauty and all of this type of thing which I think is very exciting. But this one has, could have a real impact on a community which is taking up a good chunk of my mind at the moment.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Having spent much time at my grandmother's house, grandparents house when they used to live on Gertrude Avenue in Biddeford and having had family members who were football players for Biddeford big right many moons ago, I can certainly understand what you're saying and the importance of I guess fostering good community spirit and having that be a piece of.

Caleb Johnson:

That could really be a leg up to a young athlete or kids from Biddeford to have like a pride in their community. Right. To leave a community to go to do something else. But to remember, to think back and have positive memories could really boost their, you know, give just a little push to their self esteem and it's just so important, you know and an athletic program can really do that, you know, give, give kind of a framework by which you could start to understand the possibilities you have. So I think, I think it's really important and you, you know, you can't overstate what one little project is going to do in a kid's life. But all these little incremental, you know, pushes on the flywheel if you will, can help out and I think that's a, that's one significant piece that we're working on.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Caleb, how can people find out about your architectural firm and the work that you're doing?

Caleb Johnson:

Type in my name and main and you're all set.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Caleb Johnson. Google Caleb Johnson.

Caleb Johnson:

That's it. Yep. Be careful of the Caleb Johnson who won some singing contestants. Caleb Johnson, Maine. You'll find us.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It's pretty basic and they can also of course go to Maine Home Design, Maine magazine websites. They can read about the things you've done, see the beautiful photos.

Caleb Johnson:

Right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I think you have several projects that are in the pipeline, so.

Caleb Johnson:

We have several projects in the pipeline that is true. Yep.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, it's been a great pleasure to speak with you. We've been having a conversation with Caleb Johnson who is a main licensed architect and I appreciate all the work that you're doing for our state and for coming in and talking with me today.

Caleb Johnson:

Absolutely. It was a pleasure.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It is my great pleasure to speak with Kevin Brown, who is a Maine licensed architect, a member of the National Council of Registration Boards and a member of the American Institute of Architects. He's also a member of the U.S. green Building Council and the Portland Society of Architecture. He lives in West Falmouth with his wife and two children. Kevin is an active member of the Falmouth Memorial Library Board of Trustees, where he's currently co chairman of the Library Expansion Committee. You've got a finger in every organization, don't you?

Kevin Browne:

I try to. I don't attend all the meetings but you know, I try to. It's nice joining other colleagues to communicate every once in a while.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah, I think that's pretty great. It seems like you have really made a lot of connections within the architecture community and the community at large.

Kevin Browne:

I've been trying. I've been trying. It's been a long process, but it's getting there.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, tell me a little bit about yourself. Where are you originally from?

Kevin Browne:

I grew up in eastern Pennsylvania and I lived there for a little bit after I graduated from college in 1998 for about a year and worked in a commercial firm, architecture firm that did mostly colleges and schools and realized that you're much smaller when you're in a big organization like that and wasn't really what I wanted to do. So my roommate from college worked in Camden at the time, so he was like we're looking for people. So I ended up moving to Camden, Maine and lived there for three years and worked in a high end residential firm which was the first time I've ever worked on the residential side of things and fell in love. And I've moved south after living there for three years. But it's just such a great area. That's why I enjoy it so much.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Why architecture? Why did you decide that this was the way that you wanted to spend your working life?

Kevin Browne:

Well, you know, I didn't really know in high school, you know, I took a bunch of technical drawing classes which were just, you know, basically drafting with pencil at the time. Now it's all computerized, but. And I started out after high school after taking three years of that technical drawing type. Of course I went to community college because my parents wanted to make sure if they were paying for college that it's a five year program. So they wanted to make sure before they spent all that money that this is something I was serious about. So I went to community college for two years. I got my associate's degree in architecture. That was in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, like the next town from where I grew up. Then from there I went on to get my Bachelor of architecture in Vermont, Norwich University. And at that point, you know, going at the end of the community college, I really liked it and you know, I really got a sense of what it was all about. Even though you really don't get a full sense, excuse me, until you get into the real world and then you really understand, you know, all the stuff that you do in school is sort of, you know, dream world, but it sets you up for what you're going to encounter in the real world.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

When you were growing up, what types of things did you like to do? I mean, did you like to do art? Were you interested in math or science?

Kevin Browne:

I was more of a hands on, I'm more of a technical person. I'm not as much. And that sort of helped my decision. When I was looking at schools, there was a lot of schools that were more art related than there were more that were more technical. And I've always been sort of a hands on, sort of trying to understand how it works. It was either architecture or engineering was the other thought that I would go into. But that's kind of sort of my. I think it goes back to. My grandfather was the same way. He used to be a drafter and my mom shared some of those drawings as I was growing up. You know, old steam engines, he would draw and stuff like that. So. But as I went along I realized it was the right profession and you know, track for life.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I like that your parents wanted to make sure that you are certain as the As a parent of a couple of college age children, I'm very interested in getting a good return on investment.

Kevin Browne:

Oh sure, yeah. And it's much cheaper to do a community college. And the community college was really a great professor that ran the architecture program and made a world of difference.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So you said that you started doing basically home building, home architectural design when you came up to Maine. What were you doing before you did that?

Kevin Browne:

It was a commercial firm that there was probably 30 people. But we had a lot of universities that we did work for and we did sort of field houses. They also did medical hospital, smaller hospital additions and things like that. So at that point I was low man on a totem pole just fresh out of school and I actually interned, I think the summer before I graduated with the same firm. And you get little pieces of the puzzle, you know, you don't. No one gets to jump right in full two feet after college. You have to work your way up. And I felt like it would be a much longer progress procession to do that in a larger firm or going to residential. You jump in and you're doing all aspects of a project. It's a little scary at first and it took a little getting used to, but it was a great learning experience, you know, learning that way.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So if you're working on say a hospital project or a healthcare facility, what aspect of that would they give you to work on?

Kevin Browne:

Probably I think, I think what I was working on I did some. I did a lot of models actually, which I really enjoy and I've always liked building things and I did a lot of models for as I was. And that's. I tend to give the fresh out of school kids that to do. So I did models for like interiors of the spaces and I did an outside model for like a field house at Susquehanna University at the time. So those types of things. And then other times I would just do what they call red lines is basically the lead architect on the project would mark up drawings and you know, just to make corrections and adjustments and all those things. So I would pick up. It's a much you don't. It's kind of like just busy work, you know, there's not a lot of you just shifting things and adjusting them to what they mark it up. But they do all the sort of thinking about it and then you're just sort of almost like a drafter in a way.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So if you're building a model, you're actually building like a scale version of what's something that's going to be built.

Kevin Browne:

Exactly.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So that's kind of perfect for somebody who likes hands on stuff.

Kevin Browne:

Yeah, yeah. That's why I enjoyed it so much. We don't get to do that much these days because it's all computer. So it's. So it was nice doing that a lot early in my career.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, tell me about that. I mean, I think about. I write a lot and I still like to go back and put pen on paper. There's still something that's very tangible, something very satisfying about that. I love the sort of. I can go in the computer and I can write an article for Maine Magazine and I can make edits really quickly. That's great. But if I want to do any really soulful writing, I get in there with my pen and paper. Is there something similar about that for an architect?

Kevin Browne:

Definitely. Every project I start, you can't jump onto the computer and start designing and getting your thoughts out freely because you'll hit a roadblock right away. Every project I start very rough, very schematically the first stage of a project we call schematic design. And really it's with trace paper you're doing trace after trace after trace and you're just trying to get something that feels like it flows good in terms of a floor plan and space between the spaces. And at the same time you've got to understand what the mass of the house is going to look like on the outside and sort of trying to doodle. You're doodling basically and it's very rough and it's very. It may not make any sense when you look at it, but you and your mind know that your pen marks mean something. And then from there it gets refined and refined every time. And it's just a lot of repetitive sort of tracing and tracing over and sort of tweaking as you go along. But that's the way I start every project. And just to then from there then you get to a certain point where you reach. You have certain pieces of the house that seem like they work and then to develop them further, I then start putting them into the computer program to sort of. If it's something you're tracing, you know it works and you're going to develop it further as you. And it's just sort of the progress, the process as you go through it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So I'm sure this sounds like a silly question, but is that why it's called drafting?

Kevin Browne:

Exactly, yeah. And you know, when I, going through school, we didn't do anything on the computer. Right after I graduated is when, you know we did some. We learned, but they wanted you to learn that way. And you did everything with pen and ink, you know, as your final drafting. But, you know, use the slide rule. And I still have one, but I don't really use it because everything's freehand that I'm doing by hand and then and from there. Plus it takes up a lot of space, too, to have the big drafting boards. But yeah, so it's the drafting part of it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You have become very involved in not only the architectural community, because at the beginning I listed off all these different organizations you're a member of, but also your own community. As a member of the board of trustees and a co chairman of the library expansion committee for the Falmouth Library. Why has that been an interest of yours?

Kevin Browne:

It goes back probably five or six years ago. I was approached to sort of team up with another Falmouth architect to do a facilities analysis for the library because they are bursting at their seams and they wanted to expand. And so we did an exercise to see what were the options. And at the time, the Falmouth was looking to build a new school, but the old schools, the elementary school was going to be. Two of the elementary schools were going to be vacated. So myself and my Kay is the other Falmouth architect, teamed up and collaborated on sort of just doing some facilities studies. And it was just really schematic sketches, like we were talking earlier and just trying to come up with space planning ideas. Could we use this school or the other school that was vacant, or do we build new? So that was an exercise that we went through over a course of months and ultimately went to a town bond issue that we had a vote on, and it never did pass. But years later it's been revisited because everybody soundly said that the library wanted to stay on site. At the time, I wasn't on the board of trustees, but you know, when that. Then the next people, when they were trying to reorganize and go try to get this library because they ultimately still need to expand, I was approached to join. There was a vacant seat on the board of trustees, and they were looking to assemble any new board members with people that have experience in sort of building or construction and just trying to help guide them through the next years to get to where they need to be, which they've been trying for, I think, 10, 15 years to try to get the expansion going. And it's exciting because now I'm able to give back to the community which I've. It's, you know, I've tried. I've been on a couple committees in town. Before there was a Trails committee, you know, because I do a lot of mountain biking, so it was sort of a Falmouth Trails Committee, but that. That got absorbed into another group. So this, to me is more meaningful because I can really give my expertise and help. Help them and as we go through this process. But it's also nice being on the other side of the table and not actually having to do the work, but actually overseeing. And it's more of a. It's commercial work. So it's a little different that I'm in my world than I'm used to in the residential end of things. So it's been really exciting. It's been, you know, it's a lot of time commitment. We meet once a week and it's probably an hour, hour and a half each time we meet, but we're slowly getting through this and now we're going through the fundraising stage, so we're trying to balance the fundraising. But it's been a good process and it's a great committee to be a part of, and everybody gives a different aspect to the committee. So it's been interesting and learning for me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I've enjoyed the conversations in the past that I've had with your fellow architects, Rob Whitten and also Scott Simons, who worked on the Portland Library. And it's an interesting idea for me, the idea of working on a library in particular, because it's got such emotional attachment, it's actually not unlike working on residential spaces. These are going to become people's homes and people become very attached to ideas about what they want that to look like. But a library. I remember growing up in Yarmouth, I was at the library two, three times a week as a little kid, dragging my wheelbarrow full of books back behind me to my house. And the idea of kind of keeping it the same and yet allowing it to expand adequately to move into the next era of use. That's an interesting one.

Kevin Browne:

Yeah, it definitely is. And it's been great working with Scott because he's done so many of these libraries. And it was clear when we were making the decision on who the architect should be, it was clear his expertise in the state and beyond that he was capable. But it's been a real. I have to say, I live in Falmouth, but I don't attend the library a lot. So to me, it's listening to the staff and understanding where libraries are going. And I've gone to a couple workshops with our committee just on designing a new library. We went down to Boston, to the Boston Public Library last year and they had an all day seminar just on where the libraries are, the future and what you need to account for and it's flexibility and technology. And everybody thought the advent of sort of the ebook would sort of make libraries non existent, but it's. That's not the case. From what the data I'm seeing from the library in Falmouth and just everybody else and the library of the future is more of a community center and people come. So many people work remotely and that's where we're planning for this with the new Falmouth libraries. Just planning for the laptop stations, the technology. And the challenge is we don't know where technology is going to go. So the biggest thing is making sure that this new facility, we're just going to be spending this money on this facility, making sure it's flexible enough to adapt to the future. We don't know what it is, but we have to make sure we make it flexible enough with the lighting and technology and all that other stuff. So it's been a real learning curve for me. But understanding what a library really has become because it in a town like Falmouth, there's not really a downtown. So in a way, this library being on that side of town where there's a lot of businesses and other things, people come and it's a community center and they come and have coffee together or whatever. So it's kind of exciting. When I started on the board, that was sort of what was brought to my attention and it was really kind of exciting to be a part of that building and you know, planning for the future. And it's only going to help the real estate values, I think, and just everything.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, Falmouth is an interesting example of how growth is managed and how it's managed. Well, just the town in general having, you know, Yarmouth is just on the other side of Falmouth. So I'm in Falmouth all the time. They've, you know, there's obviously been a business boom, but there's great sidewalks have been put in. I think the businesses at the time weren't that exciting along Route 1, but it's so great now to see people running on the sidewalks down Route 1. And you're right, the library is tucked back behind, you know, a bunch of different businesses that, you know, I don't know, they came into being, I don't know, maybe 20, 30 years ago, but it's still there's. Still enough of a town feel to it. Yeah, and I think that that's really important.

Kevin Browne:

And I think they're trying to. They've done extensive work, especially on Route 1, I think, which we're referring to, to make it more of a community walkable, very pedestrian friendly. And we've been, in a way, that sort of master plan that they have on Route 1 stretches up to the library in a way. So we're trying to sort of make that pedestrian connection as well with the new design and bike racks and sort of pedestrian crosswalks and things like that. The town also wants us to put parking and, you know, keeping the building closer to the. To the setbacks, just to give you that more of a community feel. And so I think overall they're changing their zoning to sort of make it more of a community like that. They're even talking about out by where I live in West Falmouth, out along Route 100, putting sidewalks and, you know, in the next couple years. And it's pretty, you know, they're trying to build that part of the business center of Falmouth, just making more business friendly and more pedestrian friendly at the same time.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah, I think that that's actually one of my favorite things that has happened to my town and to places like Falmouth is just the recognition that people will use the side of the road if they feel safe. You know, they will walk, they'll bike, they'll bring their kids out there. And so it's not just put a nice building somewhere, make that building accessible and make it kind of human friendly. So you talk about being human friendly, maybe also earth friendly. You are a member of the US Green Building Council. Talk about what that has meant to you as far as perhaps your approaches to architectural design.

Kevin Browne:

When I started out in my own practice seven years ago, my big goal was at the time. I've done a lot of high end residential over the years, but we never really paid too close attention to. And at the time, it wasn't a big. The energy wasn't as big of a discussion point as it is now. But we built these huge houses, but we never really paid close attention to the building envelope, which is the perimeter of the house. It's insulated and air sealed and all those things. And so as I developed my own practice, I could take it anywhere I wanted. And that was kind of the goal, was to learn and just school myself. And I'm still learning. There's so much out there, all these new wall systems to use and just Trying to build a better energy efficient house that you don't have to heat or cool as much because the shell of the building you spend time detailing. And you know, I tell clients that if they're going to spend money to make sure that they spend a little extra in a building shell just because it'll be more comfortable over time and it's going to save them over time. They may pay a little bit more up front, but I think over time it's a much more comfortable house to live in.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And have you seen an increased awareness of energy efficiency and maybe perhaps even more willingness to spend money in this area?

Kevin Browne:

Definitely. And I think the products that they use have come down, you know, green word came out. Everybody was flocking to. And I don't like using the word, I like to use good design. It's really what it's about. It's good design and things that you learn about in school and you know, some of the seminars you go to, it's just detailing the house and it's good design and just doing it the right way and paying attention to how water sheds off the house. But I think there definitely is more awareness. I know when I, you know, it's each project's, you know, determined by the client. And yes, we've got, we've had a few clients that, you know, they push to push the envelope basically to try to get this energy efficiency, you know, we size glazing based on the solar orientation and things like that. But it's not every client and some people bring it up but at the same time they may have heard bits and pieces, but they don't understand the whole big picture. It's helpful for us to help educate those people and just make them understand a little bit more what it's all about. And some of the things that would help and not cost a lot of money is just window placement and insulation. It's definitely becoming more, I'm getting more and more projects where people are aware and want to push things a little further than others. But then, you know, then there's other people that don't necessarily know about it. But we. Our typical set of drawings and details is, you know, it's better than standard code. You know, we always like to do things a little better and detail it out in a way where it's not just a spec house that's thrown up or something like that.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You and your wife will be renting an RV for two weeks and heading out west with your 7 and 10 year old.

Kevin Browne:

Yes.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How do you think that might inspire you in your architectural daily work?

Kevin Browne:

I think it would. You know, I've never really explored much of sort of the Colorado, Utah, Wyoming area. So I think just seeing the architecture, I've seen a bunch of images and magazines and websites and things like that. So I think every time I see something unique and a new architecture sort of creation, I always take pictures of it. And it's just inspiration and help just sort of integrating a little bit of the west maybe into some of the stuff that I might do here. There's definitely certain things that you see in certain parts of the country, but there's nothing to say you can't integrate some of those elements. I've always been one that the nature, the scenery and sort of it just excites me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Kevin, how can people find out about the work that you do and the designs that you are currently working on and maybe the work that you're doing with Falmouth?

Kevin Browne:

Yes, I have a website that I have@KevinBrownArchitecture.com and I haven't been good about updating it in the last year, but my Facebook page is the most up to date and I have an Instagram account that I update pretty frequently with construction of current projects and sketches or anything that we might be working on or just interior things. And it's all at different level. We have a lot of different projects at different stages right now. So it's a little bit of all that I would say between those pieces, it's probably the best way to find out what we're doing. The other thing is I've been trying to even in around the greater Portland area, that's most of our work. And you know, we put signs out in some of the construction projects just so people can see, you know, some of the stuff that we're doing.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I appreciate your taking the time to come in and talk to me today about the work that you do. I'm excited to see what happens with the Falmouth Memorial Library. I love libraries, so it'll be great to see on the other side of it how you guys. Where you guys go with that. Yes, we've been speaking with Kevin Brown, who's a Maine licensed architect and member owner of his own firm and member of the Falmouth Memorial Library Board of Trustees, where he's currently the co chairman of the library Expansion committee. Thanks for the work that you're doing and thanks for coming in and talking to me today.

Kevin Browne:

Thank you for having me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You've been listening to Love Maine Radio show number 231, community architects. Our guests have included Caleb Johnson and Kevin Brown. Follow me on Twitter as DrLisa and see my running travel, food and wellness photos as bountiful1 on Instagram. We love to hear from you, so please let us know what you think of lovemain Radio. We welcome your suggestions for future future shows. Also let our sponsors know that you have heard about them here. We are privileged that they enable us to bring Love Maine Radio to you each week. This is Dr. Lisa Belisle. I hope that you have enjoyed our Community Architects show. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your day. May you have a bountiful life.

Caleb Johnson:

She said baby I'm sleeping. With Secrets I've been keeping.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Won't you play with me?

Caleb Johnson:

1, 2, 3. Will you sleep with me? 1, 2, 3. She makes no sound when talking. She's off the ground when walking. Won't you play with me? 1, 2, 3. Will you sleep with me?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

1, 2, 3.

Caleb Johnson:

1, 2, 3.