Our Approach

Our process is a product of our culture: we’re committed to collaboration, and to finding unique and appropriate solutions to architectural problems. Our passion is the intelligent problem-solving that creates unique built work. This process of exploration and evaluation is not quite linear; it is reiterative and dependent on collaboration and communication. During this process, we create opportunities and implement evaluations for continuous improvement. This spirit of communication fosters the kind of innovative thinking that turns challenging projects into dynamic, engaging spaces for our clients.

We are deeply influenced by place and choose honest materials which honor the location and achieve a lasting patina as they age. In the end, our works are authentic, responsive to the environment, sustainable, resourceful, and grounded in the unique history of each context, a tangible result of our critical thinking and thoughtful approach to the practice of architecture.

The materials we work with are familiar; however, our curiosity about them and their methods of assembly are not.

The materials we work with are familiar: steel, brick, wood, limestone, concrete, glass. However, our curiosity about these materials and their methods of assembly are not. Material systems play a critical role throughout our design process and inform our thinking as we make places. In each of our projects, we choose to deploy honest and authentic materials harvested from the place where the building will exist. We are deeply influenced by place, so while this is a sustainable strategy, selecting…

The materials we work with are familiar: steel, brick, wood, limestone, concrete, glass. However, our curiosity about these materials and their methods of assembly are not. Material systems play a critical role throughout our design process and inform our thinking as we make places. In each of our projects, we choose to deploy honest and authentic materials harvested from the place where the building will exist. We are deeply influenced by place, so while this is a sustainable strategy, selecting these honest materials also serves to honor and resonate with its location, and show clear evidence of how and why it was made. In 100+ years, if our building is still standing (we hope it will be!), we want the community to be proud of it, and identify with it, as an example of vernacular architecture.

Master Planning

Master planning is a dynamic exercise in critical thinking and strategic placemaking. It happens when people within an organization come together to purposefully align their decision-making process regarding their physical assets with their mission and vision for the future.

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Visioning

In early stages of project planning and design, it can be difficult to perceive the final space and form of a project with countless unknowns in the process ahead. However, this ability to visualize a built result is vital for clients seeking consensus or funding. Our team develops visioning to represent the “look” of a project, as well as the feeling, atmosphere, and culture a new project will embody.

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Curious Explorations

Our interest in materials, placemaking, and positively impacting the human experience through design led to the idea of curious explorations: our ventures into design/build, furniture design, and material research. These explorations have taken many forms but they all start with the question, “What does this [space, material, object] want to be? Without preconceived notions or expectations, we allow the response to happen organically – on a sketchpad, in a maker lab, or as part of a charrette.

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Specialties

Historic Preservation

Spillman Farmer’s team has decades of experience working with historic structures both on and off the National Register of Historic Places.

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Sustainable Design

Sustainable design isn’t a specialty service of ours; it’s engrained in our philosophy of architecture and our design process.

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Modular Construction

Over the years, Spillman Farmer has become a thought leader on modular, prefabricated, and off-site construction.

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Adaptive Reuse

Simply put, adaptive reuse is the process of repurposing an existing site or building for new uses.

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Featured projects

Millersville University: Net Zero Welcome Center

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Lafayette College: Williams Visual Arts Center

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King’s College: Scandlon Health & Wellness Center

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City of Easton: City Hall & Intermodal Transportation Center

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Bryn Athyn College: Doering Center for Science & Research

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