The Construction Specification Institute’s National Conference was recently held in Denver, Colorado where Ray Gaines had the opportunity to attend this year’s event. It was a week filled with learning, connecting with fellow industry professionals, and visiting with old friends.
Ray being presented with Fellowship in 2009
Ray, a founding member of Central Virginia CSI Chapter, has been an active participant in the association since 1988. He has served in a variety of positions in the local, regional and institute level in an effort to improve communications across the industry – the main focus of CSI. Awarded Fellowship in the association, Ray is known for his passion for helping others through mentorship and leadership. He is a regular attendee of the CSI conference and has said that CSI relationships allow him to do his job better. Charles has been active in CSI since 2003 at the local, regional, and institute level as well. In fact, he was awarded the Andrew Drozda award back in 2009 for “setting a standard for what an Emerging Professional can and should do.” It is no surprise that others in the firm are following his example. Adrienne, Deborah, and Paul are all also current members of Central Virginia CSI.
As we continue our series featuring the “Minds Behind our Designs”, we are excited to share a team member whose invaluable skill set allows him to touch almost every project. James Halstead has served as our Structural Design Director since 2013 and brings a depth and understanding of fundamental structural solutions and technologies. It’s common to overhear our team members collaborating on an idea and inevitably ask, “James, can we do this?” As often as it is said, James plays a critical role in ensuring the integrity of our work and making our ideas fit structurally into the overall design.
James is a native of Albemarle County and enjoys living and working in the community he was raised in. From a young age, he recalls his close relationship with his grandfather as a source of inspiration that guided his future. As a carpenter, his grandfather could construct almost anything, and James remembers learning as much as he could from him. These early years of learning how things were built led James to study at Piedmont College and eventually begin a career in structural design. He developed much of his skill set while working at a local engineering firm that partnered with the Gaines Group on numerous projects. Their partnership led to a strong relationship over the years, and it was a natural fit for James to join the team at the Gaines Group once his employer retired.
Since joining the firm, James has elevated our team’s ability to support all phases of the design process. His skill set allows our team to find solutions that meet overall design goals. In his words, “Charles and I make a good team. He creates the big picture and I help make it come together with all of the details.” He loves the wide range and diversity of projects but specifically enjoys working on custom residential designs. To date, his most memorable project was the Penn Laird custom home in which the design was centered around a full-size, half-court basketball court in the basement.
Outside of work, James devotes much of his time to his family and community. He prioritizes spending time with his wife of 23 years and daughter who is currently a junior at Longwood university. He also serves as the Captain of the Reserve program at the Albemarle Sheriff’s Office and has been an active board member on the Fluvanna County Board of Building Code and Fluvanna County Planning Commission. When he has a free moment, you can also find James unwinding on the golf course.
It’s time to discover another great mind behind the design and today we are excited to feature team architect, Deborah Smith. Deborah is no stranger to setting BIG goals for herself and is a tremendous support to others in her role as an architect and as a servant leader in the community.
Originally raised on a sheep farm in Rockingham County, she naturally gravitated towards hobbies involving drawing, combing through house plans, watching HGTV, and solving puzzles. She has a remarkable green thumb from helping in the garden during her childhood and originally thought this would lend well to a career in landscape architecture. It wasn’t until she visited Virginia Tech and wandered through the hallways of the architectural school that her dream of pursuing architecture was realized. Seeing the architecture studios through its pyramid skylights and feeling the creativity exuding from the desks covered in drawings and 3D models set her on a path that would become her very successful career. Looking back at this inspirational visit, she didn’t know at the time just how much work would be involved to achieve her goals, but this memory stands out as a big influence in her journey.
After a rigorous 5 years of studying at the Virginia Tech School of Architecture and Design, Deborah graduated and joined the Gaines Group in 2012. She dove into working at the firm headfirst and was the single employee working with Charles in the Harrisonburg office for the first few years. After one year of working at the firm, Deborah knew this was the path for her and set the goal to eventually tackle the architecture licensing examination process to become a registered architect. Because she likes an added challenge and she was curious about the innerworkings of running a small business, Deborah started an MBA program at Eastern Mennonite University while working full time at the firm. Years of hard work paid off when she received her MBA in 2016 and passed her final architectural licensing exam in 2018 to finally be able to call herself Deborah Smith, Registered Architect.
Deborah’s years of experience and education provide a great depth and level of detail to each project she works on. There are parts of each project she enjoys, but she especially appreciates working on adaptive reuse projects in which older buildings are brought back to life for new purposes. These types of projects require a lot of problem-solving during the design and construction process to either make an existing building fit the new use or to expand an existing building to serve a growing organization. Addition and renovation projects are also some of her most memorable projects, especially if it is a historical building! Our office building (the Depot), Eastern Mennonite Elementary School, Deering Hall, and the Blue Ridge Area Foodbank are just a few of her favorite projects to date.
Outside of her life as an architect, Deborah has a dedication to serving the greater community. While studying at Virginia Tech, she served on the Virginia Tech Rescue Squad which is the oldest collegiate student-run, student-led, all-volunteer rescue agency in the country. Currently, she continues to make a big impact in the community by serving as the president of Harrisonburg Women’s Service League; which is committed to supporting women and children in the community through volunteering time and fundraising for local nonprofits. She also recently graduated from the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce Leadership Program in which she worked with colleagues to open a pop-up shop providing business and interview clothing to anyone in need, free of charge.
When Deborah isn’t working hard in the studio or volunteering in the community, she loves spending her time reading, gardening, painting, drawing, traveling, and attending the many wonderful community events that happen throughout the year (Red Wing Music Festival being a favorite!) She has a special love for animals and welcomes many rescue animals into her home through fostering and adoption.
Whether it’s setting big goals, serving the community, harnessing her creativity, or having a soft spot for animals in need, Deborah is a team player who makes an impact wherever she lands.
Deborah receiving her certificate upon completion of the program.
Gaines Group Architects has a graduate to celebrate! Congratulations to Deborah on her recent graduation from the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber Leadership Program! This ten-month leadership program is designed for participants to learn about our community’s past, present, and future all while building valuable relationships. Deborah was accepted into this program in the summer of 2021. She attended monthly community-based meetings that educated her on our community’s strengths and future growth opportunities.
Deborah is a self-proclaimed introvert, and we are proud of her willingness to step out of her comfort zone and participate in this program that required her to regularly engage in a large group setting. She reflected on her experience and greatly appreciates the opportunity to participate in this program saying it has been “a wonderful experience.” She believes the program did a great job of going beyond typical speed networking events (which tend to be difficult for an introvert). Deborah appreciated the opportunity to connect with others on a deeper level during each session while simultaneously learning more about our community. She specifically enjoyed being able to hear from the community, non-profit, educational, public safety, and local government leaders who gave her a new understanding of what it takes for a community to sustain itself and evolve with the times.
In addition to the monthly leadership sessions, Deborah’s cohort worked together on a community service project of their choosing. Her group opened a “pop-up” shop called First Impressions that provided an opportunity for the public to pick out professional clothes for an interview or job transition. Their group collected professional clothes and welcomed anyone to shop, free of charge. It was a valuable experience for Deborah and her colleagues to work collaboratively on an impactful community event after spending significant time together.
Overall, this program is a wonderful experience to engage with our community and build relationships. Gaines Group Architects’ team member Annie Frazier also participated in the same program and is a graduate of the 2017 cohort. If you are interested in learning more about our community and building new relationships, we encourage you to check out the program here.
Architect, family man, explorer, and coach; all of these are hats worn by Gaines Group team member Paul Tassell. Paul began his career at the Gaines Group in 2002 and we are excited to share more about him and his journey below.
Paul grew up in Albemarle County where from a young age, he was drawn to the arts. He remembers spending much of his time sketching and drawing which snowballed into an interest in architecture. Following this interest, he attended Virginia Tech to study architecture and design. Through his studies, he enjoyed being exposed to architecture from both the artistic and the building science side. During his 4th year, he had the opportunity of a lifetime to travel to Europe with the architecture department visiting 9 countries over 4 months. These travels greatly influenced his appreciation of architecture and its global influences.
After graduation, Paul moved to Charlottesville to be close to his family and began his career with the Gaines Group. His talent was quickly recognized, and he continued to grow within the firm and eventually achieved his architectural license in 2016. As he reflects on his 20+ year tenure thus far at the Gaines Group, he most appreciates working at a small firm that allows him to work on every part of a project. He especially enjoys producing conceptual renderings at the beginning of a project and figuring out the many building details.
Paul has been an integral part of countless projects but says his favorite was designing an addition to his daughter’s preschool which is housed in a historical building in Charlottesville. He also enjoyed working on the Minor-Nelson House addition which turned into an investigation to recreate a historically accurate front porch and detailing.
Outside of being an architect at the Gaines Group, Paul spends much of his time with his wife Linde and two daughters, Ainsley (9) and Mabyn (6). They are an adventurous family with a history of being involved in both Boys and Girls Scouts. Their love for the outdoors has taken them on many trips to Virginia State Parks, Yellowstone National Park, and even a visit abroad to France. A soccer player himself, you can also find Paul on the sidelines coaching different teams. “Coach Tassell” has been working with different skill levels since 2006 and has recently been able to coach both of his daughters.
When our firm takes on a project, there are numerous creative minds behind each detail of the design. We recognize the depth of talent and knowledge held in our team and want to celebrate the faces behind our designs. We are carving out space to share a bit more about our team members and how their paths led them to the Gaines Group. To kick off this effort, we are spotlighting Trevor Jones, a team member working in our Charlottesville office.
Since early childhood, Trevor aspired to pursue a career in architecture. This passion led him to complete a Master of Architecture degree from Hampton University in 2015 where he gained a strong foundation in building and architectural design. During his time at Hampton University, he participated in a traveling studio program to France where he learned to sketch the vernacular architecture. Trevor credits this experience with expanding his views and being a catalyst in his pursuit of the “glorious” field of architecture.
Trevor officially joined the Gaines Group in November 2016 and has been shocked by how fast his 5-year tenure has rapidly passed. He truly hit the ground running as he quickly took in stride the learning curves of growing and applying his knowledge of construction administration paperwork, submittals, and relearning the ins and outs of AutoCAD. Once he strengthened these skills, Trevor took the next leap into design work. He supported the team in completing large, multifamily design projects across the Commonwealth and developed a focus on accessible design. Within his growing skillset, he learned how to apply his knowledge in accessibility requirements, buildings codes, and health and safety requirements.
The pandemic provided opportunities for our team in both the Charlottesville and Harrisonburg offices to work more closely on projects as remote work became essential This opened the door for Trevor to learn and support custom home design projects. Although the last few years of the pandemic have felt like a “blur” to many of us, Trevor continues to meditate on his five-year tenure and is grateful for his work experiences, growing relationships with colleagues and clients, learning from great mentors, and his continued love for architecture that will grow for many years to come!
