We were lucky to catch up with Brian Laubenthal recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brian, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

One of our company’s missions is to create a positive impact in our community. We have worked with serveral non-profits to assist their goals. We collaborated with Phoenix International Raceway to remodel the Phoenix Ronald McDonald House family common space, with the goal of giving families a better community kitchen space and common area while they focus on their children’s needs. Another recently completed project is the Rosie’s House School of Music, a non-profit giving children in underserved areas the opportunity to learn and play music. We transformed a 9,000 s.f. warehouse space to a beautiful school where children can explore their passion for music. Currently, we are collaborating with Janice’s Women’s Center for homeless and abused women, to give them individual spaces that they feel safe in. The project will include a community center and 52 small homes. We use architecture as our medium for making a difference.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

ALINE is an architecture firm that is driven by a mission to craft meaningful environments that inspire people and their communities. We’ve been fortunate to work on hundreds of commercial and residential projects throughout the Valley, including more than 300 restaurants.

I believe what sets us apart is the value we place on craft, community, and collaboration. We promise all of our clients and partners an honest and transparent experience while capturing their vision through creative and practical design.

At the end of the day, it’s all about respect. Our greatest reward is working with clients and professionals who exude just as much passion for the craft, quality, and people of their own industry as we do for architecture.

CRAFT.
Architecture and Design is not just our job, it’s our passion. We all have the highest respect for our craft and we strive to hone in on it each and every day. We believe great architecture is stripped to its essence—that it celebrates raw and local materials while highlighting unique details, not hiding them. We approach our work with a discerning eye for balance in design, on everything from the actual structure down to the landscaping, finishes and systems. We find fresh ways to honor the architecture’s history by updating materials that are local and sustainable, and those that we know will have a better, longer-standing performance over time.

COMMUNITY.
We want to support local on every scale; environment, people, products, and materials. We love when our work can contribute to a positive impact within our community, whether that means transforming a building into a new neighborhood hub, donating our time and services to a worthy local cause, or supporting and collaborating with local businesses. Recently, we completed the Rosie’s House, a local nonprofit that gives underserved children the opportunity to learn and play music, by donating our time to remodel their building near Downtown Phoenix. In this project, we were dedicated to working with local artists, tradesmen, manufacturers, material suppliers and engineers.

COLLABORATION.
Over the past 12 years, we’ve built a strong network of reps, consultants, contractors and craftspeople that all believe in this same approach. We work closely with them to create holistic spaces that are integrated and cohesive in every way. To respect our craft means that we must respect the craft of others as well. We never claim to do it all and we’re supportive of the incredible people involved.

Inspired architecture is about listening carefully to your surroundings. It’s fueled by deeply understanding people’s needs and then crafting a positive solution to those challenges using our talent, skill set and the materials nature has provided us.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

When we started our company we had to strong convictions.

1. To be honest. Don’t sell people on false promises. We give our clients fair pricing and honest schedules.

2. The company isn’t about the principles. We chose the name ALINE—not our own names—because a project’s success isn’t due to just the principals of a company, but rather the entire team of people who work on every step of the journey. ALINE is a play on the words “align,” meaning “to give support to,” and “a line” signifies the singular mark in a process that’s needed to start and create something whole. ​

3. We have an amazing team that supports us and shares our vision. Dorota Grodzinska, Heidi Grimwood, Ken Molfetta, and Myles Campbell are the talent that make our projects standout. We appreciate their hard work and passion for architecture. We are currently growing our team and excited to make an even bigger positive impact in the valley.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I met Brian Krob while working as an intern at a local architecture firm. He was a project manager handling large custom homes and restaurant projects. The first project I worked on was a small school remodel and Brian attended the site visit with me. When we arrived, the teachers asked our names and when we both said ‘Brian’ they asked, “is that your company name, Brian and Brian?” It sparked the idea and is something we joked about for a long time. Brian and I don’t just share a first name (and also a middle name), we share a passion. Architecture is the background for us that serves a larger purpose. We want our projects to standout for helping people, the community, the environment, and more. We want people to understand that narrative when they experience our projects.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.madewithaline.com
• Instagram: @alinearchitecture
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/brian-laubenthal-9101b4152

Image Credits
Rachel Smak Photography, Roehner Ryan Photography and Nick Laessig Photography.