Meet the Designers: Claire Bank, RA

Meet the Designers: Claire Bank, RA
Claire Bank is a registered architect working for ThenDesign Architecture (TDA). Having a background in education, Claire works to design next generational educational spaces. Having designed schools in northeast Ohio, she shares her experiences and how her love of educational architecture has been shaped.

My name is Claire Bank, and I am a registered architect with ThenDesign Architecture.

At TDA, it’s a very collaborative environment. I think what really adds value to the projects is the number of voices and input. With an open studio, you just hear what’s going on in different projects, and it’s very easy to pull anybody’s opinion on something that could really help to shape and influence a design in a way that you wouldn’t have necessarily thought of otherwise.

As far as sort of what we bring to a school district, who’s trying to shape the educational spaces for their future, we go through a lot of engagement with their staff and with their administration and with their students, that all let us know types of projects they’re working on types of vision that they have for their education in the future. So we’re seeing less of a desire for really traditional educational spaces with like corridor and double loaded classrooms on either side and more and more different scaled spaces for different types of groups to meet and to do education in kind of a transforming way.

So schools already are really ingrained in their community and I think have always served as a hub for their community in some form. With each school that we do, we’re seeing more community aspects woven into it. And even with the pandemic closing schools down, I think people started to realize just how much of a hub those schools are. In the future, I could see more community influence and more community use of the schools that would help to shape some of the spaces.

Watching my parents as I grew up and their involvement in education, you really could pull different lessons about how schools function and the importance of schools from each one. My dad being more of the administrative side of things. My mom on the other hand was a second grade teacher. And she is, I’d say the softer heart of the two [laughter]. And there you see more just kind of the social functions that schools can serve and the level of care that she would bring to those students. From watching both of them, I could get a really great kind of well-rounded idea of how much schools do for their communities and with that, as far as architecture’s relationship, they need, they need the right facilities.

I know that educators are always creative with whatever facilities they have, but the more we can help them to have the facilities that support what they want to do the better.

Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!

Claire Bank

Claire Bank

Claire is a registered architect with TDA, having completed several educational projects. She is involved in ACE mentoring, a program which exposes high school students to architecture and she always trying to find ways to work education into her design career.

Virtual Staff Meetings: Reconnecting While we are Apart

Virtual Staff Meetings: Reconnecting While we are Apart
Covid-19 has posed many serious challenges to normal business operations, especially for those in the creative, collaborative fields.

A challenging aspect of 2020 has been social distancing from our co-workers, our offices, and our normal routines. Staying home means a disrupted schedule and stopping into the office isn’t a reality for many of us. If we are parents, then we automatically became full-time teachers, cafeteria workers and crisis managers, juggling learning schedules, lunch breaks, and work-related deadlines. Seriously, how many times have we had our own “quarantined co-workers” (spouses, children, and the occasional dog or cat) “helpfully” join our client meetings to provide their opinions? The lines between work and home are blurred and we have to remember to find ways for self-care and manage these new sources of stress.

It’s been tough; however, we look forward to getting back together as creative professionals. Collaboration is the hallmark of the architectural field and it would be nice to see people again. TDA has been open throughout the pandemic as an essential business, and projects continue to move forward on schedule through the use of technology including video conference meetings with clients, contractors, and co-workers. Recently, we are seeing more of our staff coming back into the office to gather work, prepare for meetings, and to just check in.

The virtual staff meetings in which we’ve been engaging have been tremendously helpful to stay connected with our team of over 50 professionals in Northeast, Ohio, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. These forums provide updates from the partners, allow us to meet new hires, and learn about what projects are on the horizon. Also, sometimes it provides us with shared good humor and the occasional webcam hijinks (–careful, the mics are hot!)

We are characterized by "Good people doing great things!" and recognize it is more important than ever to stay connected.
ThenDesign Architecture

With some staff coming in on a rotating basis, we also have around 15-20 members of our team working in the office regularly. To support a safe and productive culture, we’ve now adopted a “hybrid work model” allowing our architects, interior designers, and support staff to work remotely when possible and come into the office as needed. This allows us to remain dedicated to supporting our clients and current projects, and to remain supportive of each other. Additionally, we perform “temperature checks” using an infrared forehead thermometer when staff and visitors enter the building, and once inside, everyone wears a mask when interacting within 6 feet of contact. (Remember to smile with your eyes, otherwise, we look angry all the time!) We continue to practice thorough handwashing throughout the day, wipe down workspaces at the end of the day, and the offices are sanitized regularly. We are determined to keep these measures in place as long as they are needed, ensuring everyone is healthy and safe as we move forward as a creative team.

TDA continues to be a firm of “Good People Doing Great Things!” and we’re using our “What If” mindset to do so in the safest possible way in this health-challenged environment.

Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!

Ryan Caswell

Ryan Caswell

Ryan is a communications specialist who is passionate about using digital media to further the goals of organizations and communities in Northeast Ohio. With a background in construction and a degree in architecture, he spent over a decade in corporate video production and brings this mindset to videography, editing, photography and content marketing. He is passionate about supporting the arts, and can be found hiking in the parks system.