Designing for good with Habitat for Humanity New River Valley

by Charles Hendricks | Sep 16, 2026 | architecture, Blacksburg, Building Science, citizen architect, Green Building, Indoor Air Quality, Multifamily Design

One of our favorite repeat clients is Habitat for Humanity New River Valley. Our core goal as a business is to use design to create a better future for all. Partnering with this organization fits our mission perfectly. This project, the Airport Road Townhomes, are designed for energy-efficiency, durability, and healthy indoor air. Those are our standards for every project. The Habitat model grows home ownership which benefits communities by creating a stable housing stock, providing workforce housing, and building neighborhoods. Airport Acres in particular provides an ideal location for families in walking distance to schools, childcare centers, shopping, and public transit.

The two-story craftsman style townhomes will feature three bedrooms with a focus on accessibility and visitability. Four of the unit are adaptable for home owners with disabilities or mobility challenges with aging in place features. The community includes a central green space to help build community.

Habitat for Humanity of the NRV is doing amazing work that is building a stronger community. The dream of home ownership is out of reach for many and their work, their clients sweat equity, and the communities support is changing futures. We are proud to partner with them to achieve our goal of building a better future for all through design.

You can support the work of Habitat for Humanity of the NRV by making a donation of in-kind gifts, money, or you can even donate a car.

Serving our Roanoke Community

by Charles Hendricks | Sep 15, 2026 | architecture, Blacksburg, Charles Hendricks, citizen architect, Commercial Architect, Empathy, Green Building, Roanoke, Roanoke Architect

Working in a variety of communities you find that there are teams that you collaborate well with and that support your business goals and allow you to support their business goals. Growing up in Roanoke, attending Northside, and then Virginia Western Community College, I have deep ties to the area. Once we started getting calls from potential clients in the New River Valley and Roanoke Valley area we knew it was time to open an office back in my hometown so we could serve the community. Our approach to business is a bit different from what I have seen over the years. If we are working in a community we want to invest in that community in ways that make it better. We don’t just want to do this on our project site for our clients, we want to make a bigger impact wherever we go. Our main goal as an architectural firm is to use design to create a better community for everyone.

This year for instance we were able to partner with AIA Blue Ridge on their Kidstruction 2026 event held at the Taubman Museum. This tied together our love of local arts, Lego, and getting kids to flex their imagination while building things. What an incredible event and the smiles on their faces tell the story.

Our Roanoke office is almost a year old now. We have found some amazing opportunities so far to design cool projects, support organizations, and invest in our community in a way that can create a better future for everyone. We want to continue to grow that impact. Reach out to us if you are an engineer, interior designer, builder, or general contractor that loves working with a team that is excited about design and construction and want to build each other up. Talk to us if you are a non-profit that is doing good in the community and you need help with space planning, energy efficiency, or just have a cool fun event that you think we would love. Support our efforts if you also think that through design we can be and do better in this world – write an online 5 star review on google, Facebook, or any other platform that your friends visit. We need help growing. We need to know who we can collaborate with. If we all join together we can design a better community for everyone.

Great Construction Documents Save Our Clients’ Money And Increase Contractors’ Profits

by Lindsey Kohler-Austin | Jul 29, 2026 | architecture, Blacksburg, Building Science, Charlottesville, Custom Home, Harrisonburg, Harrisonburg Architect, Roanoke, Roanoke Architect

True value is created when a beautiful design is translated into highly detailed, clear, concise, and correct drawings. The process of dimensioning and noting a drawing the right way saves on time to build, makes the goals clear, and reduces questions during construction. We know our client want a beautiful design, and when we add beautiful drawings showing that design, everyone wins. For both the homeowner and the contractor, our work during the construction documents phase is where some of the real magic happens. With our team, we work through the design’s buildability aspects, ensure we have the right materials, trace the thermal envelope, and save our clients money through our integrated design approach.

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When we take time to invest in well-detailed drawings, we are protecting the builder from having to “figure out” things during construction. We work to make sure the drawings illustrate the final design with the right details and notes included.

We hear from our contractors all the time that they love our drawings and the work we do to solidify the selections, structural design, and work through the unique framing conditions. By coordinating everything on paper before the contractor gives our client a budget time and money is saved.

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Whether you are a homeowner dreaming of a comfortable, healthy space or a builder looking to streamline your workflow and elevate your build quality, our drawings are the key. We believe that smart design and clear, correct, concise, and complete drawings deliver the highest value to our clients and contractors.

Welcome To The Team, Helen Jadlowski!

by Lindsey Kohler-Austin | Jul 22, 2026 | architecture, Blacksburg, Roanoke, Roanoke Architect, team

Welcome to the Team, Helen Jadlowski!

We are thrilled to introduce the newest member of our team, Helen Jadlowski! Helen joins us as Senior Architect in our Roanoke office, bringing with her a Bachelor’s in Architecture from Virginia Tech and a deep commitment to thoughtful, collaborative design.

A Collaborative Canvas

For Helen, good architecture begins with listening. As both an architect and an artist, she approaches every project as a collaborative canvas, carefully balancing form and function to deliver impactful projects that are tailored to her clients’ unique needs.

Helen is especially excited to serve the Roanoke Valley, a region defined by its vibrant community and breathtaking natural beauty. Her goal is to design with a deep respect for the stunning natural environment, give back to the community, and forge relationships that last a lifetime.

Roots in the Roanoke Valley

While Blacksburg, Virginia is Helen’s hometown, after living in the Roanoke Valley for nine years, it has become her new home.

Her architectural career officially began at a small firm in New Jersey, where she wore almost every hat imaginable—working as an admin, accountant, architectural designer, and business development lead all at once! Navigating that first role was a fun cultural experience: it took her a month to adjust to New Jersey accents, while her own light country accent earned her the friendly nickname of “southern belle”.

Off the Clock

Outside the studio, Helen’s free time centers around family and the outdoors—ideally both! She takes full advantage of the endless outdoor recreation in the Roanoke Valley, whether she is hiking, biking, swimming, or tending to her garden. For Helen, immersing herself in nature is the best way to unwind and stay grounded. This deep connection to the local landscape directly inspires her architectural eye, serving as a daily reminder of the importance of protecting our natural resources.

At home, Helen and her family share their space with a 15-year-old dog named Pippin and two recently adopted rescue kittens, Miso and Mochi.

Fun Facts & Accomplishments

Sci-Fi Fan: Helen is a huge sci-fi nerd who loves Star Trek and space-travel media. However, you won’t catch her leaving Earth—she deeply resonates with William Shatner’s quote after his space trip: “The beauty isn’t out there, it’s down here, with all of us.”
On Repeat: When she isn’t watching Star Trek, The Office is her go-to show on repeat.
Hometown Trivia: In her hometown of Blacksburg, the college population more than doubles during the fall and spring semesters, giving the town an eerie, sleepy feel during the quiet summer and winter breaks.
A Warm Compliment: The quality Helen likes most about herself was best captured in a farewell card from a former colleague: “Some people are really, really easy to like.”

We are so happy to have her on board. Welcome to the team, Helen!

Emotional Cues and Intense Listening Deliver a Truly Custom Home

by Charles Hendricks | Jan 21, 2026 | architecture, Blacksburg, Charlottesville, Custom Home, Harrisonburg, Harrisonburg Architect, Interior Design, Roanoke, Roanoke Architect

I know that the most successful custom home designs don’t start with a sketch. They start with an open conversation and intense listening to goals, passions, and interests.

While the architectural concept is very important for every project we engage, that vision is not the driving factor if you leave the designer’s ego behind. The best custom homes are developed around our client’s dreams and goals instead. The only way to deliver this type of solution is to move beyond just listening to your clients to a deeper level of hearing, infused with years of experience and knowledge of design thinking. Digging a little deeper into the number of rooms and learning the “why” someone wants something delivers a dream solution. It is not just a kitchen; it is the heart of the home. It is not just a primary bathroom; it is a luxury oasis that allows escape to decompress from the stress of the world.

We search for unspoken pain points and places that make the home flow better. We think through how the space will feel and function and how emotion plays into the design. We listen to how space can facilitate the dream life and use our experience to sculpt a solution into a functional home.

A custom home is an extension of the life our client dreams of living. This has a high emotional investment, and they are asked to be vulnerable to imagine what is possible. While our clients can’t give a clear architectural solution, often them describing what works and doesn’t work in their lives, allows the design to become very evident in our minds.

This work of listening allows us to take emotional cues and dreams and translate them into tangible design elements that frame views, buffer noise, and mix textures. When we show the design sketch and our client’s eyes light up we know we truly heard their dream. The foundation of trust continues to build with each conversation.

Ultimately, our role isn’t just to design a house; it’s to design the home that creates the backdrop for our client’s life story.

Architectural Site Visit: Importance in Design Phase

by Charles Hendricks | Jan 7, 2026 | architecture, Blacksburg, Charlottesville, Commercial Architect, Custom Home, Green Building, Harrisonburg, Lake Monticello, Massanutten Resort, Roanoke

We traveled all over Virginia and West Virginia in 2025 checking out building sites, offering input on project location, collecting data needed for design, and enjoying some incredible views. We love getting out of the office to help your clients better understand their property opportunities. From renovation to new construction, getting to go see the site is a huge benefit when we are designing a custom solution for our clients.

An architect’s presence on-site is crucial for several reasons:

Understanding Topography: Seeing the natural slope and soil conditions firsthand prevents costly structural surprises later.
Capturing Environmental Context: Only by standing on the land can an architect truly map the path of the sun, the direction of prevailing winds, and the unique framing of local views.
Problem Solving in Real-Time: Site visits allow architects to collaborate with contractors, resolving discrepancies between the “perfect” drawing and the physical constraints of the earth.
Learning from Existing Conditions: Having a chance to stand in the space and think through flow, views, structural restrictions, water flow, and opportunities is critical in the design process.

Ultimately, a building doesn’t exist in a vacuum. By immersing themselves in the site, architects ensure the final design is not just a structure, but a thoughtful response to its surroundings. The list is long for all the places we worked this year including Harrisonburg, Charlottesville, Roanoke, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Rockingham, Brandywine, Bergton, Fulks Run, Newport News, Portsmouth, Heathsville, Richmond, Crozet, Afton, Lake Monticello, Fluvanna, Augusta, Quicksburg, Lynchburg, Waynesboro, to Staunton.

We are so incredibly lucky to get to work with our clients to develop their dreams at some of the most incredible building sites across the Commonwealth of Virginia and in West Virginia – even when they are a little harder to get down the slope to measure existing conditions…