The TEAM, In the age of the Internet

Currently, we utilize a workflow that processes Brant’s hand sketches and drawings by 5-7 independent contractors ranging in experience from drafters (in Bangladesh, The Philippines, Ukraine, Germany, and Spain) to a California registered Architect (who currently lives in MN.) Skype is a wonderful thing.

This is Brant

Brant Fetter is a Registered Architect and the Principal of the firm. A member of the industry’s leading professional organization, the American Institute of Architects (AIA), he has more than 14 years of experience in the field and has been a guest lecturer at AIA events. Brant’s positive and collegial management style fosters highly productive teamwork with everyone from clients to contractors – and he credits much of his success to the valuable contributions of the sterling professionals with whom he has collaborated.

Brant has worked on a variety of architectural projects including IMAX theaters, hotels (150~200 rooms), assisted living facilities (50-100 beds), mixed-use projects, large shell (and tenant improvement) historic renovation, grade schools, cellular tower installations, and a large heliport at the Grand Canyon.

Brant is an expert on the principles of energy-efficient design as they relate to compliance with California’s Title 24 energy code, as well as programs such as the California Solar Initiative. Incorporating his practical experience with structural systems and energy efficiency early in a project helps to greatly streamline the design process.

Brant is a certified Green Building Professional. Even before it was popular, Brant strove (and encouraged others to strive) to design and build in a higher-performing way that also saves materials, energy and money. In addition, the ability to build with provably sustainably harvested materials wood has greatly improved. Build It Green, “Green Point Rating”, and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) are sets of rating systems for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings, homes, and neighborhoods. Brant has worked on LEED projects, and many standard practices and designs used by Studio Fetter are endorsed by both LEED and Build it Green.

Brant is the former chair of, and a current member of, the City of Richmond California Design Review Board.

Brant’s undergraduate experience at the University of Washington included rigorous training in engineering and structural principles. His graduate studies at the Rhode Island School of Design’s Architectural Master’s program rounded out his academic preparation.

Though has called California his home since 2000, Brant’s professional engagements and personal adventures have taken him to Hong Kong, Venice, London, Bali, Rome, Amsterdam, Milan, Florence and Paris. He finds that exploring various cultures inspires intriguing new possibilities in both materials and design. As a licensed architect, Brant has supported the profession and his colleagues through participation in the AIA, the local AIASF Small Business Committee, and by coaching his peers on new strategies for BIM utilization, immersive visualization systems and social media integration. He has also promoted principles of energy-efficient design as it relates to compliance with California’s Title 24 energy code going further than LEED exploring PassivHaus methods, as well as green building programs such as Green-point Rating and the California Solar Initiative.

Brant Fetter is a registered architect in California, license number C35010