W. David Martin Architect

Creating spaces that nurture and inspire.

I feel very blessed that I have had the opportunity to be of service to as many people as I have, he says. Over the years I’ve learned that if the chemistry (with the client) is right and you take the time to put the right team together, every project, large or small, can be just a lot of fun. And Martin hopes to be having a lot of fun working for at least 16 more years!

Martin feels this collaborative process works better for the client than him drawing up his own designs and showing them to the client. If I were to just take their program and show theme scheme A, B and C, it’s a very different connection to the material than if they had been there and watched all of this unfold before their eyes, he says. They feel like they are part of the magic of seeing ideas come into physical form, and that’s really what architecture is all about.

Seeking healing environment has imbued Martin’s style and direction as an architect and provided his tag line, Creating Spaces That Nurture and Inspire. At the beginning of each project, Martin asks his clients to fill out a questionnaire, then he consults with the clients in person at either the home they hope to remodel or add to or the building site in some cases, so he can get a feel for the clients’ wishes.

I don’t really have a style that people would recognize. Since I work with my clients’ palette and their druthers, very seldom am I going to have houses that are going to look alike, says Martin, who has architectural degrees from the University of Southern California (USC) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). That’s why very few of my projects look the same. They may have a few similarities, but they’re really quite different. And I enjoy that because I have never had two clients the same or two sites the same.

The design challenge for me is what is it that can be produced from my clients’ aesthetic values, which may be quite different than mine? And from the constraints of the site and the clients’ program and my own intuitive process, what’s going to come out of that? says Martin. That’s the fun of it, of finding out what’s going to come out of this site and these set of clients and their desires. What is it that makes them feel nurtured in a house, and inspired?

The program I have people fill out gets at what my client’s relationship is with materials, certain forms, to colors, so I can develop what is the palette that they’re comfortable with, he explains. A lot of times those images come from their own childhoods. So a lot of the things they feel nurtured by are often from their past. If they’ll invest that time in the conceptual phase and work with me, I don’t have to explain my thinking because they’re there with me. So usually when I get through the schematics, the clients are far more committed to it than I am.

11 Grove Homescapes exterior by W. David Martin, AIA & Associates. #DavidMartin #Architect

Did you see this wonderful article featured last month in the Carmel Pine Cone? #DavidMartin #Architect

Check out this video interview and brief introduction to architect W. David Martin, with a focus on his co-creative design process with clients and some of the unique results of that collaboration over the last 35 years. https://bit.ly/2N4aGxg

After 30 years with his own successful architectural firm, W. David Martin is definitely thinking of retirement. He even has a date set aside for the momentous occasion. Sept. 18, 2035. I’m entering my prime at this point. I love what I do, says Martin of his firm W. David Martin, AIA & Associates, with a sly chuckle. 30 years doesn’t seem so bad. It’s only 16 years to go, and I’ll be there.#davidmartinarchitect #PGArchitect