MEMBER FOCUS: Shane Powers
At a station on the co-working floor you'll often find member, Shane Powers, working daily to make the environments we inhabit more mindful. We recently chatted with the architect and founder of Arch-Well to discuss his background, practice, and what Common House brings to the table.
On his background
I always knew I wanted to do something creative with my life. Though I’m a Virginia native, I obtained a Bachelor of Environmental Design and a Minor in Cognitive Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2015, where I pursued the intersection of architecture and neuroscience in order to better understand how our built environments inform wellness or stress in their users. It was a weird and novel field at the time but incredibly interesting! In the following years I found myself chasing a Masters of Architecture through Virginia Tech, which eventually led me to spending some time at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, Switzerland. I gained my masters in 2020, and afterwards pretty quickly became a licensed architect in Virginia. I’ve just finally gotten around to my long-standing dream of starting Arch-Well, a small architecture practice here in Richmond that focuses on designing minimal-impact structures that optimize wellness and energy-efficiency.
On pursuing architecture
As lame as it probably sounds, my childhood infatuation with Star Wars led me to wanting to build other-worldy environments. I actually wanted to design spaceships as a kid, though with some research I found that aerospace engineering was somewhat limiting in its creative appeal. I think the novelty of the alien worlds was really inspiring to me, and had me in wonder about transforming the reality of our own built environment into something smarter and more plugged into nature, people and culture. School helped translate the childish ambitions into reality, and I was excited to be a part of something new. I found that there's a huge discrepancy between school and the professional world. I mean, architecture school is built on foundations of theory and philosophy, fun stuff, whereas the real world was a bit of a slap in the face; things like budget, building-code and client-interaction didn’t exist in academia, so I pretty quickly had to adapt to the numerous variables and constraints of the professional setting.
I’ve been pretty fortunate to have worked over the years with some pretty incredible architects doing fun and impressive projects, but I never felt quite the excitement in the work I was doing as I did while in school– I think because I was fulfilling someone else's dreams instead of my own. This inevitably led me to start Arch-Well. Now I’m able to choose the work I take on, as well as define my own process through the project, which has been a game changer in my happiness. While the firm is only a few months old, and my drawing boards aren’t exactly full yet, I have some very exciting stuff I’m working on in Richmond that combines historic and contemporary vernaculars.
On finding Common House
I first found Common House while working in Charlottesville, VA. The office I was working at shared a space with a hardwood supplier that did a lot of the flooring and furniture for Common House’s Charlottesville location, so I got some early tours of the space, which was quite something. I started working remotely when my wife and I moved to Richmond a few years back after school, and I realized early on the need for a more social environment where I was encouraged to get out of my pandemic pajamas and put on real clothes, which I swear makes a human more productive. When I heard Common House was opening a Richmond location, it was an obvious must-try. Since joining, my productivity has nearly doubled, and I’ve found much solace in the numerous amenities beyond the beautiful workshare spaces! I love how dynamic and diverse the community is; the concept of Common House’s workshare setting encourages a creative interaction with people I’d never have otherwise met. Also, what better way to end the work day than a rooftop beer and a game of pool?