Roy Braswell, 4th in a series

I have always referred to Roy Braswell as “boy genius”.  Because the years have just gone by too quickly, and I have no time to sort out dates, I cannot put the year on paper when I began working with Roy on his magnificent architectural designs, but we did begin a slew of projects together between 1998-1999.  Roy has always had that youthful demeanor, but so much innate sensibility and talent, for someone so much younger than the rest of us practicing at the time!  We are all pretty “seasoned” by now, and the age difference is not so obvious to most (I tell myself!).

The most glorious projects a designer could imagine have been conceived at the hand of Roy.  Working in collaboration with Roy allows me to keep my designs as a response to the architecture rather than as an entity into themselves.  From our early work in builder specs to the most complex, historically correct, and stunningly magnificent homes we have done of late, working with Roy has been a process of gracefully swimming in unison.

Everyone I know loves Roy-they either consider him a kid brother or wish their boyfriend/mate were like him!  Roy possesses that keen ability to maintain composure even when the chips are down and the client does not understand the design, bulks at the budget, or resists the schedule.  He has been an amazing example for me to model my own client interactions after.

One of my most memorable moments of working with Roy involved the office building we designed and built together.  It is one thing to work on other people’s projects as a team, but you really get to know one another when your own assets are at stake.

We were lucky (an understatement) to design a pair of benchmark residential projects for the same clients, a few years apart.  If I had to leave my design career today, I would do so knowing I had been given the opportunity of a lifetime that only a few of the most blessed are given, to have worked hand and hand with Roy on those architectural wonders.

Roy has helped me raise the bar since the day I first started working with him. The uber conservative late 80’s and early 90’s in Texas made me feel I was always “designing on a dime”; when I met Roy, I realized……if you design it really well, they will come.