The good generalists are experts at raising the bar.
our leadership
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Ether Bear is the boss.
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With 4+ years of running a tight ship,
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Work Should Be Fun Dood. Seriously.
He brings valuable superintendent experience bossing us around on our design build projects.
With 20+ years developing the reputation as a multidisciplinary thinker and strategist who pushes boundaries in the built environment, our founder Brian Cummings, is an architect and placemaker with a history of leading prestigious international projects with some of the most reputable firms in the world.
His leadership and project expertise spans broadly from mixed-use and multifamily residential, to urban planning, transportation, hospitality, healthcare, senior living, wellness, commercial office, and real estate strategy.
He has been known to tap into his roots a couple times a year to help clients discover their custom dream home. ​
some history
2003 - 2017
2017
today
Brian's professional life began in luxury residential, multifamily, and mixed-use development where he led complex high density projects in the urban environment. With experience at industry leading mixed-use firms, he established the track record of guiding a seamless process from concept to construction for high value projects on extremely complicated sites.
His creative and multidisciplinary approach led to his success as global design director for award winning firms such as Gensler, where he established the reputation as an innovator, planner, and leader who strives to expand the expertise.
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Brian believes in making bold yet rational moves that yield special moments and impactful results - while striving for design excellence regardless of project scale or budget.
In 2017, Brian cofounded The Strategy + Design Shop located in Washington DC, where he is passionately engaged in pushing organizations and their spaces & places to new frontiers.
Known as an "ideas shop" with an unconventional approach to future focused thinking and design, The Shop harnesses Brian's ability to expand the "design" practice and its way of thinking across a multitude of industries.
He engages with C-Suites and teams to foster bold ideas that deliver positive impact at large scales. Notable clients with successfully built work include Amtrak, The Consumer Technology Association, Cushman & Wakefield, & Marriott.
Brian is also director of Think House Group, a collective of creatives who aim to add value to all things people and place - from design and storytelling to strategy and real estate consulting.
We are big thinkers, storytellers, placemakers, and architects who build experiences and seek to improve the way we live work and play in mixed use design environments.
Brian leads by honoring relationships and partnerships that cultivate timeless and site specific design experiences reflective of each client and their goals. Our partners typically like to stand out amongst the crowd.