When Jennie and I returned to Salt Lake in 2000 after practicing in Seattle and Japan, we were excited to be back in Utah but missed some aspects of the residential architecture community in the Pacific Northwest that were exciting and promising to a young architect. While we loved the access to the mountains and family-focused culture of the Wasatch Front, I wondered how to carry on with best practices, stay connected to colleagues, and continue to develop as a residential architect.  At that time, several Seattle architects inspired me, elevating the art of residential work in a way we didn’t recognize in Utah.

Through a fortuitous dialogue at AIA 05’ in Los Angeles with an architect friend practicing in Montana, I was introduced to John Isch AIA and Luis Jauregui AIA, both small firm leaders in the Midwest and the South, respectively, who promoted sharing best practice ideas. Jennie and I were starting to learn how to run a small practice and striving to keep our heads above water in a competitive market.  Learning from more experienced colleagues who were not direct competitors locally in our market appealed to us, and we were hungry to learn from them. They shared their thoughts about how to get and maintain work, establish CAD standards, approach marketing, and get paid for our work. This type of exchange was precisely what we were looking for, and so began our involvement with the Custom Residential Architects Network, AIA CRAN.

Twenty-plus years later, as I reflect on some transformative moments at Lloyd Architects, I see the unmistakable imprint of CRAN. It has been a favorite place to connect–and reconnect–with architects from across the nation, typically small firm owners who, like us, don’t have big budgets or lots of time to devote to marketing or HR but are passionate about doing good residential work and are willing to share and learn from each other.

The annual CRAN symposium, hosted in a compelling location with great residential architecture, brought us together with architects from all over the country. Each locale has offered insights and perspective into the local residential architecture scene. In Charleston, North Carolina, Chris Rose shared his beautiful work on Kiawah Island and explained ‘Northside manners’ in the Charleston single house type.

In Minneapolis, we toured brilliantly detailed lake houses and became friends with Mark Larson and Jean Rehkamp Larson. In Cincinnati in 2018, CRAN pioneer John Isch and his colleagues conveyed the story of commerce in the Ohio River Valley and its lasting impact on the region's architecture.

AIA CRAN headed west in 2019 to Scottsdale, AZ, to explore habitation in the desert, get a taste of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Biltmore Hotel, and spend a magical moonlit evening at Taliesin West.

In 2023, it was my turn to welcome our CRAN colleagues to Salt Lake City and to share with them the Utah story, which included telling a bit of my family history of the Mormon Pioneer settlement of the Salt Lake Valley, including the Plat of Zion with its impossibly wide streets and urban garden plots that define our home state. The Wasatch Mountain Range and the Great Basin have been the context and setting for most of my architectural journey.  From childhood, I accompanied my architect father, Glen Ashton Lloyd, on his site visits to projects at Cedar City’s College of Southern Utah and east to the Uintah Basin. Every architect has their own creation story. As we gathered together for four days with brilliant architects and friends like Tom Kundig and Jörg Rügemer, sharing thoughts about our own architectural journeys, I realized that my story paralleled Tom Kundig’s, who, as the son of an architect, traveled the West and was influenced by the mining, agricultural and industrial structures in ‘snow country.’ 

As part of the symposium, we toured homes in the Salt Lake Valley and a few selected parts of the Wasatch, including Powder Mountain, Park City, and the Cottonwood Canyons. I was reminded of what a profoundly beautiful place Utah is and how fortunate I am to practice here. Jennie and I are doubly blessed to lead a talented group of architects and emerging professionals at Lloyd Architects and to be “Building From Here,” where we work within the context of the mountains of Utah, striving to practice architectural simplicity and environmental responsiveness. 

All of our Lloyd Architects team members participated on some level at the CRAN symposium in Salt Lake.  Some helped organize and staff parts of the event, while others participated in seminars and tours. For most of our team members, this was their first CRAN event and a welcoming invitation to get more directly involved with our broader residential architectural community.

This past September, one of our newest team members, Dominic Samoraj, a recent graduate from the University of Utah, was invited to present at the 2024 CRAN Symposium in Seattle on a student / recent grad ‘Next Generation Thinking’ panel.  A symposium favorite, the panel included Oliver Stevenson, a current student at SCAD; Morocco Branting, a recent grad from the University of Washington; and Sofie Roux, a current student at Stanford.  Their vision for the future and passion for design inspired us. 

Seattle CRAN Leader and friend John Deforest set the tone for the conference with the theme, ‘Design on the Edge: Nature and Technology in Northwest Residential Design,’ generating dialogue and representing the spirit of the Pacific Northwest. I felt that I had returned home. John and his team at Deforest Architects have been generous colleagues, sharing ideas and encouragement that epitomize being a part of an architectural community. 

As 2024 comes to a close, Jennie and I continue to reach out to Seattle and other regions for inspiration and solutions for Lloyd Architects. While my AIA National CRAN appointment wraps up, I will continue participating in the Emeritus Council to mentor emerging professionals and provide thought leadership to this knowledge community. I am confident that AIA CRAN is in competent hands and that the future is bright for residential architects. Marica McKeel, Ellen Perko, John Deforest, Kevin Harris, and Mahya Salehi have the energy, passion, and vision to share what residential architects need to thrive. I can’t wait to get started again.