Garret Cord Werner Architects & Interior Designers

What we do as architects & designers is not an automated process. Our profession is unlike any other, it is both an art and a science. There is no magic formula that works on any given project. Our work is very much a visual language, one that involves on one hand; a very calculated and detailed knowledge of construction, building codes, and ordinances; and on the other hand, is a very intuitive, theoretical, intrinsic, and artistic matrix of skills that come together simultaneously.

Our goal is to create spaces that evoke an emotional response on a very innate level. A building should create intimacy, frame a view, and make us feel small in scale or cozy and protected. It is successful when it can frame nature and bring the exterior landscape closer, when glass becomes invisible – to blur or erase the lines between the exterior and interior. It should expand the internal space and at the same time capture the natural world around us. Architecture should be alive – it should allow the sun to move within it, harness its energy, and also control it to meet our needs. A home should provide peace, serenity, and protection.

Architecture is also about the exterior environment and its emotional experience needs to begin well before we enter. The moment we approach a building there needs to be a powerful message conveyed. A sense of scale, proportion and balance all need to be in sync with its environment and surroundings. So many buildings are designed without the landscape in mind. It’s like the building was designed in thin air and simply placed without any regard to the very ground beneath it or surrounding structures. Our work embraces the land and its surroundings and these form a critical part of the entire design. We believe the land should be sculpted and completely integrated to form the basis for the overall design. Like roots to a tree, careful incorporation of hard landscape such as exterior walls, planters, walkways, and water features should meld together with the architecture and interiors to create an expansive and serene environment.

The key design elements mentioned above can only be achieved through a unique holistic design process that symbiotically fuses the three key design arts of landscape architecture, Interior design, and architecture as one innate process. What sets our work apart is this multi-threaded design approach – one that we feel is mandatory for success and is what gives our work a sophistication and sensibility that words cannot describe.