8 Values > 1 Vision

8 VALUES >

1 | ARTISTRY
2 | COLLABORATION
3 | EXPLORATION
4 | INTEGRITY
5 | LEADERSHIP
6 | PASSION
7 | SUSTAINABILITY
8 | VIABILITY

1 | VISION

The WORKSHOP8 vision is to “Inspire, enrich, and transform lives through gr8 design.”

 *(clears throat)* WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG POST FOR A BRIEF ANNOUNCEMENT :

It’s been a long road, as VISION wraps ups our blog series “8 Values : 1 Vision,” and just in time. Why, you ask? Because 2020 marks WORKSHOP8’s . . .

So let the celebration, commence! Throughout this entire year, we’ll be telling you the story of WORKSHOP8 (originally named VaST in 2000 and rebranded to WORKSHOP8 in 2010). We’ll cover it all: the highs, the lows, the projects we wished came to life, the “economic downturn” , and the quirky history of our studio and why it’s named “The Candy Shop Creative Offices”; we’ll answer your burning question, “who is this Toby the octopus!?”; and finally, we’ll wrap up with where it all began – two parents-to-be sitting around the kitchen table, contemplating life, anxiously awaiting the birth of their daughter, and thus deciding it was the perfect time to birth out a design studio, too!

Oh, and you know we’ll be ending this year with a GRAND CELEBRATION on January 8th, 2021 (Crazy 8 Day)!

Phew, okay moving along. Today we explore VISION and how it is integrated into our culture and our work.

Ivan Patino

Residents enjoying their new home at Spring Creek.

“My favorite WORKSHOP8 memory happened a few years ago during the Spring Creek Apartments opening ceremony in Longmont. At the event, one of the new residents prepared a speech; she talked about the housing issues she had to overcome and how grateful she was for the opportunity to call her new apartment “home.” Hearing her speech was very meaningful to me because her story illustrated WORKSHOP8’s exact vision. As I write this, I am excited about our upcoming Fall River Apartment grand opening happening this month. I am looking forward to meeting the new residents, and I hope that Fall River, too, can enrich, transform, and inspire.”

Maris DuBois

WORKSHOP8 having a great time supporting Senior Housing Options at their annual Holiday fundraiser.

“We work to transform the lives of those who utilize the buildings we design, yet equally important to us is enriching the design experience of our clients who do so much for our communities. As Studio Manager, it is my intent to streamline the communication process with our clients to ensure as seamless a design process possible so that they can maintain focus on all their tasks. Collecting our clients’ feedback and using it as a tool to help us to enrich our processes allows us to in turn best serve them and thus the community at large.”

Brandy LeMae

Excited visitors ask about their new neighborhood mural, Let it Fly!

“I rely on my favorite values of Artistry, Exploration, Passion, and Sustainability to guide me achieving our VISION to “transform lives through gr8 design.” In my role as Creative Director, I seek to go above and beyond basic design solutions in order to inspire the folks who interact with our projects.”

Omar de la Mora

Bringing new renovations for the residents at Olin Hotel Apartments.

“We inspire, enrich, and transform people’s lives through our designs by keeping the residents’ goals in mind through the different phases of design. We minimize costs while enriching the quality of life for residents. Some folks don’t believe that they can have both beautiful AND affordable design, but that is exactly what our job is to provide for them.”

Cesar Gellido

Family enjoying time in their community courtyard at The Aerie Apartments.

“This summer I attended the Mariposa: Neighborhood Development Open House, which W8 was a part of. It was there that I heard first hand from a resident how our affordable housing has inspired, enriched and transformed their lives. It was a memorable point in my career on how much of an impact that thoughtful architecture plays in my local community, which in turn inspired me to invest more effort into this much-needed housing market.”

Alex Parulis

Exploring exterior siding options for Gateway South. 

“All successful projects start off as a vision, and usually there are A LOT of ideas being thrown around before pen hits the paper. I prefer to bring as many ideas to the table as I can, maybe looking at the original vision in a new and interesting way, and then narrowing it down from there. Without considering all the possibilities, you’ll never know where the vision will take you.”

Chelsea Semelka

Happy staff at the grand opening of their brand new Jamestown Volunteer Fire Station.

“At WORKSHOP8, we approach every project with 1 vision: to inspire, enrich, and transform lives through great design. Regardless of the obstacles any given project might face, we hold onto that vision and do our best to provide a functional, comfortable, and beautiful space for our clients to inhabit. My favorite part of architecture and interior design is seeing our concepts bring joy and contentment to the people who occupy them.”

Joseph Vigil

Turning over Paisano Green Communities at the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.

“Our Vision drives us to see beyond the immediate requirements of any given situation or design solution. ‘How will this building impact people’s lives; how will it impact its surroundings and the environment?’ 

It is our responsibility to ask, and try our best, to answer these questions on every single project. This is why we have our 8 Values; these values give us a framework to reference and work through, to make sure we are always keeping the big picture (our Vision) in mind, no matter how small a project may be.”

Matthew Murray

W8 team working with the students of Arts Street to help design interior signage for The Gateways.

“We design every project with the intent to enrich our clients’ lives. We achieve this by understanding our clients’ inspirations and goals and designing with these ideas in mind. It’s our responsibility to ask questions and understand their vision so we make good design and budget decisions. This is why the WORKSHOP8 core values are crucial, they guide us to create meaningful places.”

Sydney Angel

Kids seeing their new neighborhood mural for the first time, Blue Birds with Triangles and Stripes.

“Whether someone lives in one of our buildings, sees a mural or art piece that we have designed, or even grabs a free design magazine off of our stoop, we have one vision for these people: we want to inspire them. We want to enrich and transform their lives. That is why we do what we do; it’s a visual and experiential way to change people’s lives for the better.”

Megan Stanley

WORKSHOP8 collecting community feedback to influence neighborhood design.

“Vision is what binds all other values. We keep our vision, as well as our clients’ visions, at the forefront of all our designs. The greatest award for us as designers is to see a collective project vision come to life and make a difference in our communities.”

Marcel van Garderen

[Marcel is currently in Adelaide, Australia serving as motorcycle marshal for the Women Santos Tour Down Under, feeding baby kangaroos, and sharing water bottles with koala].