Paul Weiner | DesignBuild Collaborative

"Since 1994 I have been living in the house that Paul designed and built for me. Each year I have been here has brought a growing happiness being on this land and within the walls of this dwelling. At this juncture the feeling I experience is that this house and I belong together. It also brings to mind the beginnings of this place. Before I met Paul I had a vision of what I wanted. This was not a vision I could easily articulate nor was it one I had any sense about how to manifest. The first step was finding an architect whose skills could help with this process. The magic, good fortune, luck, or simply just what happened is that I got out of the way and allowed the right person to arrive. It is with great gratitude that this person was Paul. From our initial conversations he immediately "got" what wanted to happen here - for me and for the dwelling that was to be built here. Paul has an amazing eye and feel for that kind of thing. His siting of a house as it relates to the land is uncanny. For me, it was perfect. Like many homeowners, as the process started I wanted to exert as much control over what was going on as possible. It had to come out just the "right way." All the fears of a homeowner who is about to have a house designed and built came up for me: What was going to happen? What would it look like? What about this decision? What about that one? Paul not only invited me to be a part of it all, he understood and encouraged it. And, there reached a time after the initial stages of Paul's design and build that I began to fully see his mastery at work. This was not only mastery as an architect and builder, it was also experiencing Paul manifesting the vision we spoke about at the beginning of the project. Once I began to see Paul at work, I knew I could let go and just allow him to unfold the design and building process. I realized I was not only in safe hands but in the hands of an individual in tune with the desert environment, one who understood the place of the house on the land and architect and builder who whose commitment to detail was a marvel to experience. The work with Paul, his on-going understanding and friendship and living in this house and on this land have been one of the marvels of my life. I am still pinching myself."

Paul Weiner, of DesignBuild Collaborative has helped us with a number of small projects, and we have enjoyed working with him in every situation. Paul's architectural work is stunning, and all his work shows a great sensitivity to place and materials. We look forward to future projects with Paul and his colleagues.

Review of Paul Weiner and DesignBuild Collaborative By John Murray and Judy Terlizzi, owners of the Tucson Mountain Lava House Lot selection After reviewing the websites of many Tucson architects, my wife and I selected Paul Weiner and his firm DesignBuild Collaborative to approach for designing and building our new home in the desert. Paul Weiner gave us personal attention from the very start of our relationship. As we searched for the right lot to purchase, he offered professional analysis and thoughtful judgments on a succession of parcels, helping us visualize what might be built that could offer a sense of living in a desert landscape, fit comfortably within the limits imposed by county building regulations, and provide a site that could handle Tucson weather conditions. His advice was essential to our selecting the lot we eventually bought. Home design Once we selected and purchased our lot, Paul and his DesignBuild team devoted many hours of personal meeting time with us to elicit what we needed, wanted, expected and enjoyed in a home environment. As part of this effort, Paul had us share descriptions and photos of the elements we had in our then-present condominium unit in Washington, DC. We gave Paul only general guidelines for his initial design, giving him broad discretion to apply his architectural skills. The guidelines were six: 1) a modern home, creatively artistic, using earthen materials if possible; 2) everything on one floor, with the interior, exterior living space and garage handicap accessible; 3) inclusion of all sustainable features for desert living (rainwater harvesting, gray water reuse, photovoltaic systems); 4) providing the owners a sense of living directly within the surrounding desert landscape; 5) approximately 2000+/- square feet in size; and 6) within a rough budget range. Within a few months Paul and his team provided an initial home design that we found uniquely artistic and extraordinarily beautiful. It took another year to understand and adjust the design to accommodate special conditions that had arisen, budget considerations and new ideas that were generated in our frequent conversations. We considered this period reasonable given the volatile times imposed by the ‘Great Recession’ and our needs after a move to the region. Paul was able to complete the final drawings and get the necessary permits for construction in a timely manner. We decided to have Paul and the DesignBuild Collaborative act as our general contractor for the house. Paul had designed a uniquely creative home for us, and therefore we wanted him to be intimately involved in its construction. Achieving that involvement called for a design-build format that Paul’s firm provided. The resulting process of building our home was, if anything, even more advantageous and seamless than we had anticipated. Home construction Paul’s firm handled the construction in as professional a manner as it did the initial architectural design. The almost-daily coordination between Paul the architect and the on-site construction supervisor proved to be an effective and dynamic partnership. This close working relationship assured an immediate response whenever an unforeseen problem occurred and opened the door for the ongoing refinement of the many details that went into defining our home. Through continual observation and evaluation, Paul was able to design and implement numerous creative refinements to maintain and enhance the integrity of the original vision. For example, in building the scoria walls for the main living space, he noted how the primary entry space would be darker in reality than his initial vision if we failed to intervene with some considered possibilities. He then designed a unique matrix of 2”x 2” openings into a sculptural form embedded within the mass walls. This matrix allows natural, screened light into the entry and provides a glimpse into the interior of the beautiful volcanic walls as well as limited views of the desert vegetation beyond, while retaining the intimate quality of the front entrance space. Another example: as the home neared completion and focus was placed on creating the guest parking and walkway to the front entrance, Paul worked out a comfortable separation of the driveway and guest parking, with a set of defining scoria walls and pavers integrated nicely into the landscape. Paul also used his close working partnership with the construction supervisor to achieve high quality workmanship throughout the entire process. I often observed Paul’s extended conversations with the supervisor that focused on finding effective methods to implement the many unique aspects of the design. This interaction built mutual respect between the two men, which translated into added attention to quality. The end result is a creative, artistic and beautiful home that is integrated into the surrounding desert landscape and provides a comfortable living pattern for us the homeowners. A final note Our professional relationship with Paul was firmly based on our appreciation for his honesty, his openness, his integrity and his genuine interest in assuring our future happiness in the home he would design and build. He inquired about, listened to, appreciated and gave expression to our values, needs and interests. Paul consistently offered many options with full explanation and transparency, and when he promised to do something, we could rely on it being done and done well. These personal qualities obviously drive his architectural creativity and artistry, and the high quality of DesignBuild operations.