The Pursuit of Knowledge

Our industry requires insatiably curious minds to contribute to the advancement of architecture. We’re fortunate to work with those kind of minds.

They’re the type who aren’t satisfied with the status quo, who never settle for the ordinary and will continue to push boundaries to develop new and innovative best practices. They are our firm’s thought leaders, and their diverse areas of focus include technology, sustainable design, 21^st century learning environments and other critical issues impacting the practice of architecture today. The development and support we show our thought leaders stem directly from our second core belief, the Pursuit of Knowledge.

One of the many exciting developments that has risen from our Sustainability Group is the use of Sefaira, a Design Performance Modeling software that allows us to compute real-time data including daylighting, passive solar and overall building efficiency. The information we gather allows our designers to find the best and optimized sustainable design solutions for maximizing the efficiency of buildings.

While our belief in the pursuit of knowledge informs everything we do as designers and architects, it’s important for us as thought leaders to not just keep this to ourselves. An important way we’ve found to demonstrate our love of learning is through our involvement with UNL’s College of Architecture. Four of BVH’s architects teach during the spring and fall semesters, and many more have been guest lecturers, student design competition judges, and guest critics. Architects Mark Bacon and Michael Harpster are dedicated to influencing the next generation of architects and designers, while staying current on the latest teaching methodologies.

As a team of creatives, we also have a strong conviction to engage our clients and the broader community, and to become a resource for the knowledge we gain through exploration and research. When designing the Nebraska Center for Advanced Professional Studies at Sandy Creek Public School, we dove into the relationship between core classroom subjects and the idea of career pathways our client was eager to explore. What we found was a critical intersection between the student, the path of study and the pedagogy that directly influences the architecture. As a result, we’re able to continually help the client connect the dots to provide a more enriching educational environment for their students and teachers.

Not only does our belief in the Pursuit of Knowledge push us to develop better ideas, processes, and tools that will benefit our clients and profession, it informs the type of architecture we create. Immersive research and exploration into the context of time, place, and material translates into a vernacular approach to contextual architecture. We go beyond stylistic architecture to create buildings authentically representative of their time.