Meet Andrew & Jackie | Design/Builders & Professors of Architecture

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andrew & Jackie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrew &, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
If the risk serves the purposes of fulfilling your goals and beliefs of your company, then it may be a good reason to do it even if the odds are against you. For us a decision for the company was to purchase a building/space to grow with a true maker mentality. We stumbled upon a saw-tooth truss warehouse that had been neglected for two decades and in need of a deep renovation. We had envisioned turning this warehouse into a space for design-build offices for builders, makers, and artists yet an overall gamble. Majority of the walls, except for one, in the warehouse had to be replaced keeping the nearly 100 year old truss and beams in the building, which had a great structure and bones, just needed the vision. We were hoping to renovate the two story building into a professional design-build office, maker space and a residency for a future artist who believes in their craft. To us, the purchase was a personal goal to fulfill the need for a maker space but a big risk to take on a project with a property in such poor condition.

Being professors of Architecture at the Mt San Antonio College, knowing how things are assembled and put together is a crucial and comprehensive skill when creating & designing spaces and buildings. Practical and logistical thinking exercises the thought when constructing from anew or upgrading. We did not want to limit other disciplines as we strongly feel making things with your hands and planning for it are important tools to one’s maker/creator’s life and career.

This belief and the opportunity at hand to potentially create this space was worth the risk for us to dive in & further our and others careers. A space to develop a craft and trade, even experiment and dabble with a hobby that can teach discipline.

Following the planning requirements for the property, we hoped to renovate this old 2-bay mechanic shop into a commercial space for emerging professional use. The goals of the property will house our design-build studio as well as the small shops and studios’ of other future maker’s ventures.

When acquiring the property we had to clear all the mechanic equipment and all the abandoned clutter left behind. The high lofted ceilings allowed for a clear space for a courtyard in the center. For now the vision for the space is dependent on what the city will allow. Think resourcefulness and budgeting and pushing through with labor of love for what we have for the vision of the building’s future. Our professional construction skill set & abilities have helped push through this venture.

The nearly century old warehouse has had many lives before its dejected state when we acquired it. Some of discarded relics and tools found in the mechanic shop will make for wall tokens & a solid reminder of the hard work and risk it took to rebuild the structure into a makerspace that will host the future artists and other community builders or creators and help connect makers alike.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Architecture-to-Builder-to-Educator.

We strive to tell our story from our early days at a desk in the Architecture office to our motivation out of it to build our own works for a decade to teaching upcoming architecture students and soon to be construction inspectors the ropes and pitfalls from that journey. We retell the struggles and successful outcomes of various projects and jobs ranging from complexities to originalities.

We LOVE and preach the DESIGN/BUILD approach in the AEC (Architecture/Engineering/Construction) industry. We kill the ego of solo star design to promote a collaborative service approach. Streamlining design into construction as a project delivery method as opposed to the conventional design-bid-build approach. The age of conflict between of the Architect vs Contractor is dead.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Downtown LA architectural walking tour of the Broad Museum to the historic Olvera street and everything nock & cranny in the vicinity, Disney Concert Hall, Angels Flight, Grand Central Market.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Caleb Quinn, Reese Clifford and John Clifford are deserve as a shout-out. Caleb has been a great lead finished carpenter, Reese has been a detailed metal welder and John is an all-around shop assistant to those that an extra hand. Omar and Jose put all the finishes that give our projects that special touch.

All the arch142/architecture students at Mt San Antonio College!

Website: A-Ind.com

Instagram: aindustrial

Linkedin: andrewhernandezaindustrial/

Image Credits
CLIPPERS PROJECT photography by ADRIAN VALLE PHOTOGRAPHY. All others are by A-INDUSTRIAL DESIGN/BUILD.