The TRIAD Story (abridged version)

The TRIAD Story (abridged version)

AUGUST 19, 2021

You all may have noticed that our website was recently updated to lead with WHY we do what we do at TRIAD. When we start with WHY, HOW, and WHAT act as tangible proof of what we believe. At least that’s what Simon Sinek says. 😊

With this in mind, I set out to understand WHY the founders and early adopters along the way at TRIAD started and continued the firm.

You all may or may not know, our original tag line was Where design begins with people. Founding partner and an all-around perceptive guy that he is, Clyde Henry responded in a way that resonates well with that tag line. I recently asked him to give me two to three sentences about why he and our other founder, Dave Price, started TRIAD…

"I wanted to dedicate myself to a practice that cared about their clients and put them first, where integrity meant doing what you say you're going to do. So, I chose a man I knew held the same values, and we gave it our all. The idea worked and continued with the next generation."

Dave, in his humorous way, gave credence to the idea that people will follow someone with a passion and purpose that they believe in…

“Clyde promised me fame and fortune. I trusted him.”

Rena also believed in Dave and Clyde’s vision and came on board to help Clyde and Dave start the company. When I asked her why and she indicated…

“I started my career as a Marketing Coordinator for an architectural firm. 5 years into my employment, I was approached by 2 of the partners that I worked closely with to branch out and join them in starting their own firm. Without hesitation, I said YES!!! They were a bit surprised that I answered so quickly and asked if I wanted time to think about it. There was no need for me to think about something that was, not only an exciting venture, but to create something with 2 people whom I truly respected, believed in, and was loyal to……I felt honored.”

Bob Gibson quickly followed behind Rena as a project manager and later was the first person to come on as a partner to Dave and Clyde. In a less humorous way than Dave, and in a way 100% in line with how Bob sees the world, he told me this was because of…

“My respect and trust of Dave and Clyde. The opportunity they were providing for project management and project types.”

The types of projects that Dave and Clyde were offering were projects where design began with people, where clients were put first, where integrity meant doing what you said you were going to do.

As an 18-year-old curly-haired nerd, this made sense to me too. I joined the team as a high school intern in the second year of the firm. Making people’s dreams come true drove me passionately. Architecture school and the “starchitect” phenomenon of the late 90s and early 20s almost ruined me in that regard. But, luckily for me, after graduating I came back to TRIAD because…

“It felt like home, a place where I belonged. A place where people shared the same values and wanted to make clients’ visions come true. It was my community. I had a desire to expand the vision and to help use my profession as a platform to build up a community for others.”

Zach Price, Dave’s son, had grown up helping his dad run architecture firms. Like me, he worked as an intern at TRIAD. When the time came and Zach and I were offered the opportunity to become partners, we both jumped at the opportunity because we believed in what TRIAD believes in. With similar humor to his dad, Zach put it this way…

“I was a homeless masochist wandering the continent searching for a means to settle my debts.

…or another version,

I worked at TRIAD as an intern and Associate at the start of my career. The opportunity to rejoin the TRIAD team in a leadership capacity, after graduate school and having worked for other firms, opened the door to a path I had put in writing two years prior. At the time I wrote down my plan I didn't anticipate landing at TRIAD, however because of my prior experience at TRIAD, and the fact that my dad was a co-founder, I had a good understanding of the firm culture and purpose. Ultimately, those were the two reasons why I joined TRIAD.”

Although leadership has changed and evolved, the purpose of TRIAD is still the same. Our purpose is to utilize our skills and talents to make our clients’ visions become reality and to connect those visions with our clients’ communities. This drives how we do everything we do. It results in methods that are unique to us and driven by our WHY. Because of this, we build authentic processes to engage stakeholders in overcoming challenges to making their vision a reality. Because of this, we go beyond the client’s vision and become engrained partners in our client’s community. The result is an ecosystem of mutual respect and a focus on achieving the client’s goals, which have now become our goals.

What's Old is New

JULY 9, 2021

In the spring of 2020, the world changed. Working people everywhere either stopped working or started working remotely. Talk of flattening the curve made many believe this would be temporary and things would be back to normal in May. We all know that was nowhere close to true and what was thought to be temporary has been going on for over a year. Necessity is the mother of all inventions, and businesses everywhere had to adapt. They soon realized that many of the things that they took for granted or assumed had to be a certain way could, and maybe should, change. Many businesses planned to keep many of their employees partially or completely remote. Many people can now work anywhere.

This paradigm shift could be the thing to undo the longstanding effects of car culture and the decentralization of urban cores in the United States. Recent years have seen a shifted desire to living, working, and playing in walkable downtown cores, particularly those with historic downtown cores, including restoration, adaptive re-use, and a mix of functions, is essential. Following, you will find some unique approaches to re-purposing historic structures in a way that celebrates their heritage and breathes new life into the communities they reside in. Interestingly, in several cases, the new use is a uniquely updated version of the original historic use that was lost due to the proliferation of car-centric development and loss of investment in our urban cores.

YANKEE ON HIGH, COLUMBUS, OH

How more mixed use can you get? Fun, funky uses for a building with a fun, funky history.

Located across the street from the Columbus Convention Center and in the heart of the North Market Historic District, this 3-building complex started off as the Parish Furniture and Rug Store. However, it got its fame in the 1960s as the Yankee Trader novelty store. Yankee Trader was a Columbus staple for all things unique and silly. From whoopee cushions to Halloween costumes, to parade float pomps, if you couldn't find it anywhere else, you could find it at Yankee Trader.

Located in a vibrant neighborhood, with a mix of residents, visitors, and need for things to do, the programming of the project resulted in a unique and intense mix of uses that call back to the history of the building. The uses include a funky pizza shop with a basement speakeasy where you have to walk through a cooler to enter, a candle shop where you can make your own candles, an escape room business, a burger shop focused on burgers from a-typical animals, offices, and 11 apartments. The history of the building as Yankee Trader was memorialized in the name of the development, Yankee on High, and the historic sign was saved and used in the interior design.

EAVEY EXCHANGE, XENIA, OH

Connection through re-Imagined regional transportation.

This site in the heart of Xenia was a historic grocery store house located at the hub of rail traffic in the region. The rail lines have been converted to bike trails and the building is now located at the hub for the nation's largest paved biked trail network. The owners of the building are in the preliminary phases of finding a use that celebrates the history and heritage of the building while supporting the local community the way the conversion of the railways to bike trails has.

IDEA FOUNDRY, COLUMBUS, OH

From factory to the world's largest makerspace.

The building now housing the Idea Foundry was once a shoe factory and later the maintenance shop for the famed AD Farrow motorcycle store. In partnership with the City of Columbus, the Franklinton Development Association developed the building into the home of the Idea Foundry, later turning it over to private investors who finished out the second floor of the building. Idea Foundry is more than a group of buildings uses, it's a culture and group of people-centered around innovation, low-tech and high-tech making, learning, and entrepreneurship. The neighborhood of Franklinton has a rich history of being the first settlement in what became Columbus, then an industrial center in the region attracting manufacturing businesses and relocated workers from Appalachian Ohio, and then an emerging community of artists and creatives. Idea Foundry's mix of uses includes welding and blacksmithing to 3D printing and laser cutting, to classrooms and conference space, to co-working and office space celebrates the rich history of the building while positioning it in the evolving ecosystem of the neighborhood.

17 N. SANDUSKY, DELAWARE, OH

From grocery to food hall.

The upper levels of the structure located at 17 N. Sandusky St. in downtown Delaware was the gathering space, Templar Hall, where famed abolitionist Frederick Douglas spoke. The street level was the community grocery store. The project is under renovation, and final uses are being developed, but the initial vision is to have offices/conference space on the upper floors where the lectures took place and a food hall on the lower level when the community grocery store was located. New life, reminiscent of the history of the building, is being planned.

RE-DISCOVERING, RE-ENVISIONING, AND BUILDING A UNIQUE PLACE TO SECURE THE FUTURE OF YOUR COMMUNITY.

One hundred years ago was the last time a pandemic of the scale of COVID-19 hit the United States. There were many similarities between that pandemic and the pandemic today. Face masks were used. The closing of schools and churches was highly debated. Also, like the current pandemic, the 1918 influenza pandemic created many innovations that were pushed forward out of necessity to handle changed conditions. One such innovation was the increased use of the automobile. Before the 1918 pandemic, automobiles were mostly owned by early adopters and the wealthy. However, they proved to be effective for utilitarian use in World War II. Couple with the testing of the technology in the battlegrounds of the war with fear of public transportation and the need to transport patients in a way, the automobile took steps to become commonplace during the 1918 pandemic.

Ironically, the automobile would prove to be the catalyst of deurbanization, the proliferation of the suburb, and the destruction of historic Black neighborhoods, due to the creation of the highway system. Developers and governments became a place for cars, rather than pedestrians. Fast forward to the 201 Os and much work has been done to preserve historic architecture and neighborhoods. However, developers, planners, and designers over the last decade have espoused the notion of placemaking. All too often the notion has been used to impose something new into an existing place without paying attention to the place that already exists and without engaging the stakeholders of that community. New thinking advocates for an approach that looks to the past for inspiration, engages the community of today to leverage their hopes and dreams, and re-envisions new and updated uses for buildings rich with history and character; place discovery, and place re-envisioning, not placemaking. A century after the 1918 pandemic, we use new technology to undo the unintended harm done by technology developed at the time to advance the nation and the world.

Written by Zach Price and Brent Foley

*This blog is a reprint of an article from the Heritage Ohio’s magazine, Revitalize Ohio!

The TRIAD Awesome 80's Mixtape!

JUNE 23, 2021

For Father’s Day this year, my wife and kids got me this most excellent cassette player and two mint condition Nirvana tapes. I then dug a few other tapes out of boxes in the garage, including the mixtape with “BRENT” written on it from my best friend in high school and a couple of old demo Eps from my cousin’s bands. This, coupled with my typical method of describing things through song lyrics to the team, inspired me to create this TRIAD Awesome 80’s Mix Tape!

Each song is meant to capture the essence of a part of TRIAD. Whether it be our mission, vision, values, or process… these songs get at the essence of what these things mean better than any description we could write, or ever could!

You can listen to the whole mix here or simply click the individual links below.

Enjoy!

MISSION

We Are The World – USA for Africa

Right out of the gate, we are coming at you with a song that includes more 80’s artists than you can fit in a Camelot Music! “It’s true we make a better day, just you and me.”

TRIAD’s Mission - To be the platform for employees, communities, and clients to discover, re-imagine, and build the place they want to live in and leave for future generations.

VISION

You’re The Inspiration - Chicago

This one is all in the title. “You’re the inspiration.”

TRIAD’s Vision Part 1 - We partner with employees, communities, and clients that have a vision and desire to bring people together.

Any Way You Want It - Journey

Custom solutions for custom visions!  “Any way you want it. That’s the way you need it. Any way you want it.”

TRIAD’s Vision Part 2 - We bring clarity to your vision and the tools to help make that vision a reality through the development of customized solutions.

You Make My Dreams Come True – Hall and Oates

“Yeah, yeah, what I've got, full stock. Of thoughts and dreams that scatter. If you pull them all together. And a-how, I can't explain.”

TRIAD’s Vision Part 3 - Our solutions for building owners and operators improve and empower the communities they serve.

CORE VALUES

Danger Zone – Kenny Loggins

Real conversation requires vulnerability… entering into a dangerous space.  “Ride into the Danger Zone”

TRIAD Value – Authentic

• Care for one another.

• Be real.

• Aspire to be vulnerable and allow space for others to be vulnerable.

Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor

Nothing screams passion and determination in the ‘80s more than Rocky!  “Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past. You must fight just to keep them alive.”

TRIAD Value – Passionate

• Be energized and diligent.

• Be helpful and disciplined.

• Seek to get your work done on time and get it done right.

Never Gonna Give You Up – Rick Astley

While we were tempted to put in a different link and Rick Roll you here, we decided that goes against our values! 😉 “A full commitment's what I'm thinking of.”

TRIAD Value – Loyal

• Be honest and courteous.

• Aim for optimal outcomes for all.

• Strive to understand what is right and to do the right thing.

Man in the Mirror – Michael Jackson

MJ nailed it with the chorus.“I'm starting with the man in the mirror. I'm asking him to change his ways. And no message could have been any clearer. If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and then make a change.”

TRIAD Value – Adaptable

• Be nimble and willing to grow.

• Offer unique, customized solutions.

• Endeavor to get it right. Not be right.

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For – U2

Growth requires pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. Being inquisitive and asking probing questions. We “still haven't found what I'm looking for” and we never will. Growth is constant.

TRIAD Value – Analytical

• Challenge your thinking and each other.

• Think critically.

• Find ways to leverage the knowledge and experience of all stakeholders.

You Talk Too Much – RUN DMC

The first step to communication is shutting up and listening. “I said your mouth's moving fast, and your brain's moving slow.”

TRIAD Value – Communicators

• Listen to understand.

• Be clear and direct.

• Dedicate yourself to providing accessible messaging in common language.

PROVEN PROCESS

We are Family – Sister Sledge

Technically from 1979… but close enough!“Everyone can see we're together as we walk on by and we fly just like birds of a feather. I won’t tell no lie!”

TRIAD Proven Process Step - Verify Alignment

The Message – Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five

Buildings exist to serve people. Real solutions face the challenges head-on, with the people they affect. “Got no money to move out, I guess, I got no choice.”

TRIAD Proven Process Step - Identify Challenges and Stakeholders

People are People – Depeche Mode

Each person affected by a building’s challenge has a unique, important perspective. “So we're different colors and we're different creeds and different people have different needs.”

TRIAD Proven Process Step - Build Engagement Process

Enjoy the Silence – Depeche Mode

There’s really no one more 80’s than Depeche Mode (even if this song is technically 1990), so they get two songs on the mix! “Words like violence… break the silence… come crashing in… into my little world… painful to me… pierce right through me… Can't you understand?”  Listening to understand takes reading between the lines. Seeking to hear what is said by what is unsaid. Asking probing questions to get at what is below the surface.

TRIAD Proven Process Step - Hear, Listen, and Document

Perfect World – Huey Lewis and The News

There is no perfect solution to the challenges of a building project that will satisfy every stakeholder. “Well what you gonna do, when one and one makes three and a vision of the future is impossible to see.”  We see our job as developing a balance to achieve optimal, but not perfect, outcomes for all involved.

TRIAD Proven Process Step - Analyze and Develop Solutions

Another One Bites The Dust  - Queen

Our proven process is intended to be ongoing towards continuous improvement. Every challenge that is solved presents more challenges, and we just keep going at it to make the world a better place! “Another one bites the dust… Another one bites the dust… And another one gone and another one gone… Another one bites the dust… Hey I'm gonna get you too… Another one bites the dust!”

TRIAD Proven Process Step - Communicate Solutions

PARTNERSHIP

Hold On Loosely – 38 Special

Whether it be with our clients, with our employees, or our vendors, at TRIAD we want all of our relationships not to be transactional, but partnerships. What better definition of a partnership is there than your relationship with your significant other. In a healthy relationship, power, control, and responsibility are shared. It takes work to understand the other person. It takes sacrifice to not always get your way. But it’s oh so worth it!  “Just hold on loosely, but don't let go. If you cling too tightly, you're gonna lose control.”

JUST BECAUSE

We Built This City - Starship

We couldn’t finish this list of 80’s songs about how we build places without this song!!! Come build the future “on rock’n’roll” with us!

Written by Brent Foley

Why TRIAD.

MARCH 31, 2021

Todd Moroz

There may be no more important decision that an individual makes than where they choose to invest their time and their talents. As children we begin to form our identity with simple decisions that are made in a brief moment and most times unaware that we made a decision- do I want to go outside and ride my bike or stay inside and draw?  As we mature those decisions become more significant and shape who we’ll be in the future.  

Recently, I’ve had a front-row seat as my daughter navigated the college selection process, her hopes, and dreams tied with where she would matriculate at in the fall. After that decision was made, a wave of relief and celebration followed. Almost as quickly as that decision was made, she was faced with the next life decision of what do I want to major in? The pressure and importance of the decision can consume a young mind and the feeling of making the perfect decision can lead to feeling stuck.

My educational journey felt a bit different — it was more fluid; it was exploratory and eventually ended with me graduating college with a degree in Business focused in Real Estate & Finance. Did I have a plan on how I would use my degree after college? Did I know what I wanted to be? Did I know where I wanted to invest my time and my talent? Not really, but I trusted myself and believed in the people that I had surrounded myself with to guide me, and fortunately, professional opportunities continued to present themselves that challenged me and forced me to grow.

My career has led me on a journey working in a handful of seemingly disconnected industries. My career started in apparel retail management- here again, I didn’t seek out the opportunity — it came to me through the people that I had surrounded myself with. I loved the work, learning how to be a leader, managing a team of people, implementing processes, hitting tough deadlines, and here for the first time, a common theme begins to immerge — recruiting and developing a team. That opportunity and commitment to the people I worked with grew into twelve years of work with a team of intelligent, dedicated, and passionate people that I loved sharing my time and talents with

Eventually, a new opportunity presented itself, I was recruited to join a start-up company with an entrepreneurial leader that had vision, passion, and dedication to inspire everyone that he came in contact with. The industry you ask? Well, I bet you wouldn’t have guessed that it was Real Estate Development and Property Management. I would often be asked, “How do you go from working in apparel retail to becoming a leader of a Real Estate Development company?” At first, I didn’t have a clear answer, I would often respond with a smile and a shrug of the shoulders. I would momentarily reflect on the leap of faith that was required to shift into a strange new industry. As time wound on, it became clear why the opportunity presented itself- it was to invest my time and talents in developing a team. And why did I choose to make that leap? Because of the opportunity to work for a leader who had shared values and a strong desire to inspire others.

And now, here I am again with a new opportunity. In February, I joined TRIAD Architects in a leadership position. This time the questions I’m getting are slightly different, “I didn’t know you were an architect?” The answer this time comes with confidence and clarity. I’m not, and that’s a good thing, I’ll reply. You see, TRIAD is so much more than an architecture firm. We’re community stewards, we’re developers of people, we’re thought leaders, we’re problem solvers, and most importantly we care deeply about our team, our clients, and the work we provide. TRIAD’s service offerings are ever-evolving — Architecture, Construction Services, and Real Estate Development are the services that are used to create meaningful partnerships to live out our values.    

As I reflect on my professional career it becomes clear that regardless of the product, service, or industry that I’ve worked in there is one constant- People. Leaders with vision. Leaders with shared values. A team that I believe in. TRIAD Architects embodies all of this. And I couldn’t be happier to invest my time and talents with the team here at TRIAD.

Written by Todd Moroz

TRIAD's Core Values

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

At TRIAD Architects, we work to put people first by advocating for authentic, organic, community-based design. Our ceaseless drive to utilize our skills and talents to make our client's visions become a reality and connect those visions with their communities is what makes us different. This means building processes to engage stakeholders in overcoming challenges to vision a reality. This means going beyond the client’s visions and becoming ingrained partners in their communities.

We believe that design begins with people and that also applies to our team at TRIAD. We take our values seriously and we promise to exemplify these values in all that we do.

As part of our firm’s vision, each of our employees brings these six core values to each project:

Authentic. We are personable, engaging, and wholeheartedly care about our team, clients, work, and the communities we serve.

Passionate. We are energized by our work and will work diligently towards our goals. We will always be helpful, disciplined in our approach, and bring a willingness to learn to every project.

Loyal. We always put the good of the team first. We can be trusted to take every action necessary to provide the best possible outcomes for all involved.

Adaptable. We are nimble. We know that each client is unique, and we always apply customized solutions to our work.

Analytical. We use critical thinking and leverage the knowledge and experience of our team, our clients, and our communities. We like a good challenge and always look for the optimum outcome.

Communicators. No matter the complexity of a project or client, we translate solutions into clear, decisive, and accessible messaging.

TRIAD believes in our client’s visions. We seek to learn with you and how your vision ultimately serves the community. We then become invested members of your community and we do this by staying true to our core values.