Brittell Architecture

About Brittell Architecture

Founded in 1972 and describing themselves as a second-generation family business, Brittell Architecture believes that every design and construction project is a collaborative effort. To them - the more knowledgeable the customers are, the more likely they will participate in the design process and enjoy it.

With a customer base consisting mainly of developers, businesses, and school corporations, Brittell Architecture serves clients in the Pacific Northwest region, especially in southwest Washington and the north Oregon coast.

"We generally do a little bit of everything focusing on light commercials and churches. But, recently, we've seen a shift towards educational projects and have been approached by clients wanting multifamily housing too."

With a team of five staff members and two licensed architects in-house, Brittell Architecture manages anywhere from 30 to 40 projects every year. Jim Fanjoy, Project Architect, oversees about 70% of the projects at the firm.

The challenge

Jim's priority is ensuring they provide quality service for their clients - responsive turnaround, accurate drawings, and in the end, making sure they are building a functional, efficient, pleasing, and durable structure for their customers.

"I feel successful when we reach the end of a project and a client is glad they hired us."

Even though Brittell Architecture is not a structural engineering firm, the team still does many of its structural engineering calculations in-house.

"We do most of our structural engineering in-house because it's something we like and are fairly good at. Our projects are generally not complicated enough to require the level of expertise beyond what we can provide."

A simple alternative to hand calculations and buggy software

In the past, Jim and his team had been solving their design calculations by combining spreadsheet-based calculators they generated in-house and other software like Strucalc.

"Both were buggy and cumbersome to use," explained Jim.

"We don't have a big budget for an elaborate structural software suite, and that wouldn't be a good use of our resources if we did because we wouldn't use all of its functionality."

After searching online, Jim said Calcs.com was one of two solutions that made the shortlist.

"One of the things that initially got me excited about Calcs.com is that the interface is really clean. It is intuitive and attractive, and it's clear to me the software is easy to get a handle on."

"When Google first came out as a search engine, one of the things that they did that killed the other search engines is when you go to the Google homepage, there's a search bar and nothing else. It's something about the degree of simplicity that is comforting to users. And I totally fell for that when I first learned about Calcs.com."

"I also had great customer service before and after the sale. That meant a lot."

Improving confidence with code reference and checks

After using Calcs.com, Jim said there are two things that brought significant improvement to the team.

"I like that Calcs.com shows the code reference section for each calculation and function. That means every time I use it, there's a potential for me to do some additional research and further deepen my understanding of the codes and how they affect design."

"The way it works in the state of Oregon and several other states in the US is architects are allowed to do structural engineering to the capacity that they deem themselves competent."

"One of the things that I dig about Calcs.com is it has all those code references in there. So when I get to a part of the calculation that I'm not particularly familiar with, I can use that data to go directly to the code sourcebook, pull it apart, and find out why the calculation works that way. It benefits me then because I become better at my job as an architect, and it also increases the reliability of my calculations."

Real-world impact

Jim's use of Calcs.com extends to fast decisions on live projects - including construction administration situations where the contractor is waiting for an answer.

"For example, as part of this project, we're modifying an additional locker room next to the building. When we took a wall out, we found the structure was nothing like what we thought it was on the existing drawing. So we had to go back and retroactively redesign a portion of an old building so that the new building could hook onto it correctly. The contractor called me, and he was freaking out. So I pull up Calcs.com and say, 'you know, you could use an 11-inch joist, and it will work structurally.'"

How Calcs.com changed Brittell Architecture

"It also reduces errors, with a project organization system that helps you keep your work organized, and a way to transfer loads from one member to the next, so you don't have to update your calculations when you change the design."

"I think our calculation packages for submittal are also more organized and attractive than before. That makes me feel more confident in our submittal."