Welcome to the first of hopefully many interesting and eye-opening blog entries. I have wanted to share my passion with others for so long, in hopes of sparking an interest in the creative world we live in. With every growing desire to be original, I always find it interesting, and in a sense educational, to see how others go about solving similar design problems. I would like to use this platform to do the same — explain how I go about designing spaces that you not only see, but feel.

It all started when I was three years old, and my father gave me a hammer. No joke — I have the pictures to prove it! I grew up learning woodworking alongside my father and grandfather. We’d work on the house together, and I spent countless hours in the shop. I’d create little jigs, picture frames, furniture, and whatever else I was given the opportunity to work on. In high school, some friends and I made model rockets from wood. They didn’t fly, but they did explode! (My quality has come a long way.)

In high school, I got busy. No, not like that. Some friends and I started a landscaping business and made sure the neighborhood lawns looked top-notch. I also renovated my mother’s bathroom… just dug right in, and figured it out. And that was before YouTube made everyone a DIY expert. In 9th grade, I took technical drawing, and realized I had bigger dreams than pushing a lawnmower down the street. I wanted to be an architect. (At that time I thought architects actually got their hands dirty and built things. Oh, to be 14 again. More on that later.)

Eventually it was time to roll off to college, and I chose Alfred State. My freshman roommate and I hit it off, and we met our third buddy a few days later. The three of us pushed through the next four years together, with only one near-death experience on the sledding hill. Late nights in the studio, designing and drawing, are still some of my best memories. I thrived in the collaborative environment, and I was so ready to get my hands dirty that I started working in an architectural office before I even graduated.

After college, I continued working in the same architectural office for the better part of a decade. It was really eye-opening to work on $20 million dollar facilities and to focus on each tiny design detail that contributes to the final result. As a recent graduate, I felt very connected with the projects — education facilities and college residences. My final project with the firm was a redesign of the 1000+ bed complex that I had lived in during my time at Alfred. Talk about life coming full-circle.

Over the years, I made great progress towards earning my architectural license. I also quickly learned that architects were not the ones physically working with the materials and getting their hands dirty. That was something I really missed — working with my hands and making designs a physical reality. When I left the firm, I knew I needed to bring it all together: the design, the collaboration, and the dirty hands. And here we are now... Surface + Space.

My passion has always been spatial design, be it architecture, interiors, or furniture. Design, at its basis, is problem solving — our response as humans to fulfill a need. It has been rewarding to work with clients to create designs that solve their problems, and then transform those designs into a reality that they can touch and feel. 

One downfall of taking on the whole process by myself is that I’ve been busy. Surface + Space has had great momentum. Unfortunately, progress towards my architectural license took a back seat for a while, but that’s still a goal and one I’ll be making further progress towards soon. Recently, projects had involved more architectural documentation, which has motivated me to finish the licensure process. 

I’ve come a long way from the exploding, handmade model rockets, but I’m always aspiring for more. There are always new problems to solve and new designs to create. 

Imagine. Design. Create.
Robert - Owner