chuck swartz, aia, leed ap, and beth reader, aia
reader & swartz architects, winchester, va.
age of firm: 20 years
firm specialty: Single-family residential and small-scale commercial
staff: 7 (2005); 7 (2008); 7 (2009); 7 (2010, projected)
total revenue: $712,000 (2005); $875,000 to $900,000 (2008); $808,000 (2009); $700,000 (2010, projected)
completed projects: 9 (2005); 9 (2008); 9 (2009); 8 (2010, projected) Reader & Swartz was one of the lucky ones last year: Only one project was lost, and 2009 revenues were $100,000 higher than projected. While co-principals Beth Reader, AIA, and Chuck Swartz, AIA, LEED AP, often liken their role to that of a small-town doctor who keeps busy by doing a bit of everything, Swartz adds another identity: “We’re more like farmers. All our clients decided to build at the same time, so we had a busy fall.” Yet design is near the top of the food chain, and with the phones uncharacteristically quiet last summer, the couple thought they might run out of work by December. That didn’t happen. Design work picked up, and now builders are pressuring them to get drawings done so they can start construction immediately.
“It’s not manic anymore, but we’re still working nights and weekends,” Swartz says. What’s keeping them occupied? New homes, additions, and renovations ranging in budget from $200,000 to $1 million. “Our projects, on average, are smaller now,” Reader notes. The firm is also working with the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum—the project that was halted last year when funding evaporated—to reduce its scope or create phases for completion as the budget allows.
As it has for many architects, the downturn has sharpened their way of working. “In the last year we’ve served our clients better, because we worked more on lighting and interiors rather than subbing them out, and we were more satisfied with the results,” Reader says. “We made our projects better and expanded our skill sets.”