Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Aaron Cleveland. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Aaron, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Our office is relatively new and we are working with early stage entrepreneurs to help build their new businesses and homeowners looking to renovate their homes. One meaningful project in particular was the renovation of my wife’s dental practice. We were challenged with updating a space with a limited budget, but we had high ambitions for what it could become. There are many constraints when working on a medical office, which is why they often lack the warmth and design ambition of other project types. We were committed to delivering that welcoming experience for her patients, and had to be resourceful enough to meet project requirements without spending too much. Shortly after the office opened a long-time patient in the waiting room commented to the receptionist that the new space felt like a spa and nothing like a dental office. After hearing that, we felt the project was a success.

Aaron, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Prior to starting isoA/D with my business partner Erika, I worked at SOM in New York City on large-scale commercial projects. Before that I worked at smaller design-focused offices in San Francisco and Denver. These experiences along with my education, have helped developed my position and voice in architecture.

Our office believes in design that resonates at a visceral and experiential level. Through this, we focus on solutions that solve multiple problems at once and enforce design clarity. I believe what sets our office apart is our ability to distill a project down to its essence and allow for all of the design elements to support this.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Our goal is to approach each project with fresh eyes and curiosity. We look to uncover the forces that make a site or project unique and want to showcase them. We work in urban settings frequently and in many cases these forces might be ways we can bring natural light into a space, maximize the opportunities of the zoning code, or provide an escape from the city.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think the ability to envision a project or space with a client and watch it through construction is extremely rewarding. During construction there are always unforeseen conditions and being flexible enough as an architect to collaborate with the contractors, while maintaining the vision of the design, is a process our office takes pride in. We look for input from all trades on how to design and detail a building so that is meets the project goals, is efficiently constructed, and saves our clients money.

Contact Info:

• Website: iso-ad.com
• Instagram: iso_ad
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iso-ad/

Image Credits
Justin Martin, Aaron Cleveland