Ruby Architects, Inc. was founded in 2006 as a service and product oriented architecture firm specializing in historic preservation and traditionally designed new construction. It is our steadfast belief that successful projects are the result of a genuine collaboration between owner, architect and contractor.

Being a conscientious professional firm we take our responsibilities very seriously. The end product of the owner/architect collaboration is a design on paper that not only reflects the owner’s goals, and fits within budget, but also is properly communicated and represented to the contractor in the form of well-drawn and thoroughly detailed documents.

Ruby Architects, Inc. is currently involved in commercial, residential and historic preservation projects. Commercial projects comprise approximately 40% of the firm’s workload and range in size from tenant finish-out jobs, with an approximate construction budget of $200,000.00 to a $4 million, two-story, 24,000 s.f. professional office building. High-end residential projects comprise another 40% while historic preservation accounts for 20% of the firm’s workload.

An extensive background in historic preservation adds to the firm’s range of available services. Numerous restoration projects on which the firm’s principal has been involved required a level of technical expertise in evaluating historic materials for cleaning, repair and/or replacement including historic brick and mortar, natural stone, terra cotta, old-growth wood, plaster and traditional roofing materials such as slate, clay tile, wood shingles and metal. Experience has also included investigation and condition assessments on other historic components such as lighting, wood and steel windows, cast iron, period elevators and cemeteries. When necessary, the firm’s principal has collaborated with specialized professionals in the field including paint analysis, mortar analysis, non-invasive camera scoping, archeology, dendrochronology, hazardous materials and sensitive HVAC, electrical, security, fire protection and ADA accessibility additions into historic spaces.

It is the firm’s long-term vision and goal to become one of the state’s leading architectural firms through unsurpassed service and commitment to timeless and informed traditional building design—through the continuing study and understanding of historic structures and their craft.

Ruby Architects Inc. is proud member of the following organizations:

• American Institute of Architects, Arkansas Chapter
• National Trust for Historic Preservation
• International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture & Urbanism, U.S.A. Chapter
• Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America
• Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas
• Scott Connections

Firm Philosophy

Mr. Peter Svenson, artist, farmer and author of his 1994 book “Preservation” wrote:

Loss of innocence, loss of fortune, loss of war, loss of a leader or a lover or a friend…There exists a well rounded—and well received—body of literature concerning human loss, for it a subject that quantifies maturity and is, ultimately, the best preparation for our own dissolution.

But what of preservation? What do we keep and why do we keep it? Is there not another kind of maturity in the maintenance of things, in the continuation of an original impulse in a way that accomplishes a different preparation—a redirection toward the beginning instead of the end? This is what I’ve been pondering recently.

Mr. Svenson’s words transcend the subject of literature. Indeed, we find them just as applicable to the field of architecture today. No matter what street one may be walking down today in America, it is easy to spot the buildings that we’ve inherited from past generations that we respect today—the ones that have aged with grace and still serve us admirably in a number of ways. Sadly though, it is even easier to spot the ones inherited (recently, or not) that aren’t serving us near as nobly. Preservation is not just about maintenance. It is about remembering. It is about holding true to lessons learned and ideals that have been established, tested and succeeded time and again.

In the February 7, 2007 issue of the Wall Street Journal, an article entitled “In the Eye of the Beholder” by Alex Frangos, revealed the results of a recent survey commissioned by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in which random Americans were asked to rank the best buildings in the country. Respondents overwhelmingly attached more value to structures of traditional design, such as Gothic, Greek and Roman styles than to modern buildings. No building constructed in the past decade made the top 30 structures and only two in the top 20 were built in the last 35 years. Compare this to another AIA survey, completed in 2000, in which only its members were asked to rank the best structures completed in the 20th century, and the lists differ dramatically. Thus, it is quite evident a wide divide exists between people that use buildings everyday and the architects that design them.

To quote one profound statement from the article: “The new survey…could be seen as an indictment of contemporary architecture”.

It is on the basis of this practical realization that Ruby Architects, Inc. strives to excel in studying traditional architecture (and lost craftsmanship that is common on historic buildings) and applying its principals to the projects in which we are involved today. Through careful research and application of vital and time honored architectural principals such as scale, massing, proportion, rhythm, ornamentation and others, the buildings we strive to help create might someday be endeared by another generation.