EL Studio, a practice based partially out of Washington D.C, is located in a former horse stable that has been converted into a live/work space by co-founder Mark Lawrence and his wife. Along with his business partner Elizabeth Emerson (who leads their New York office), the two have grown their practice into an award-winning architecture firm that specializes in building finely-crafted, innovative structures within challenging constraints.

For this week's Small Studio Snapshot, we talk with the two about the practice's origins, their unique office space, and some projects they are currently working on.

How many people are in your practice?

EL Studio started in 2007 with Elizabeth in New York and Mark in DC. We moved into our current DC space in 2011 and Elizabeth continues to lead the New York space. We are 5 strong as of last month! We also have an excellent part-time intern from Catholic University School of Architecture & Planning. We participate in professional internship programs with a few local high schools which is a nice way to build excitement for the field within the community. The sound of tiny footsteps coming from the home upstairs contribute to the soundtrack of the day and often Mark’s kids, Nash (1 y.o.) and Spencer (3 y.o.) come down to the studio at quitting time and add some colorful scribbles and stickers to our drawings.

Why were you originally motivated to start your own practice?

Mark: Beth lost her job and I was ready to be my own boss.

Beth: We had arrived at the stage in our careers when we were total pains-in-the-ass to have as employees.  We’ve referred to this as our “architectural adolescence” - sort of like having surly teenagers, but in the office.  Insufferable!  When I found myself underemployed, I called Mark and said, ‘hey – we’ve talked about this since we were 18; It’s go time!’  Which was true – we went through undergrad architecture together and had partnered on loads of projects. I wouldn’t say it was the plan exactly, but having a small, critical practice was always the brass ring.  That ring got fuzzier and further away as we went to different grad schools and worked in other practices, but it came sharply into focus for me when I unexpectedly lost a job.  It became really clear to me that strong partnership can only exist between peers who are equally committed to and capable of building the practice together. I thought immediately of Mark, and now it’s EL Studio for life!

Can you tell us a bit about your studio space?

Mark: EL Studio is a live/work practice. I bought the property (originally a late 1800’s alley stable) in 2011. My wife and I lived upstairs and EL Studio is on the ground floor fronting the alley. Designing this shop-house was an important project for us and we often use it as a teaching mechanism for our employees; it acts as a 1’=1’ scale catalog of architectural elements (door hardware, details, windows…etc). As my family grew, we added an addition to the back courtyard and while sitting at the long table in the studio space you can see the kid’s playroom across the grass. It creates a very homey feel to the office.

What hurdles have you come across?

Mark: Office space was an initial hurdle. Interns working at the kitchen table was not something my wife, Cary, was excited about which prompted us to formalize and move to the space at Naylor Ct.

Beth: I would say equitability. Equality is impossible, particularly when you start out working in two different cities. We were each trying to balance teaching with starting our practice. And ‘fair’ is too nebulous a concept, for me, at least. We really had to work in the first few years to make sure we were equitable in how we brought in and utilized our resources. Essentially, we threw everything we had or were doing into the EL Studio pot and that was critical. It built up the trust in our partnership which is the foundation for everything that has come since. Now, I would say growth is the challenge—both in terms of space, as Mark noted, but also project type, location of work, new team members. We want growth in each of these, but in a way that we can manage and so that we don’t lose our sense of self, which is so critical to having your own practice.

Is scaling up a goal or would you like to maintain the size of your practice?

Mark: We are certainly open to growth but in a controlled way.

Beth: The reality is people come to our practice because of the way we think and approach problems. For better or worse, that ‘EL’ flavor is essential to our business—to grow so fast that it becomes diluted or diminished wouldn’t really serve us in the end.

What are the benefits of having your own practice? And staying small?

Mark: A lot can be done with 5 people! And if you have 5 great people, you can begin to make decisions affecting all aspects of the practice and the profession in a collaborative way.

Elizabeth: We’re a coalition of the willing, so to speak, and we’re after the kind of collaboration where the work feels like a natural extension of the self. These projects we’re doing belong to all of us—you can lose that when either the team or the projects get too big.

Teaching has been and will continue to be an important part of our practice. You can’t profess one thing while teaching and do another in your own practice, it keeps you honest. Teaching has also been a way for us to introduce researching projects in EL Studio such as our Washington Alley Project (#WAP).

For the past year or so, we have been conducting an in-studio research project called WAP: the Washington Alley Project. Washington DC plays host to a unique network of alley spaces that vary widely in their use, scale, program, and infrastructural conditions. These alleys could be contributing more to the life and character of the city and we want to explore their architectural and infrastructural potential. This research stemmed from a seminar we have taught for several semester at Catholic University called, “Capitol Metropolis”.  Throughout the research process, we invite friends and colleagues over for peer reviews at our studio. We are currently working on an alley survey that will gather information about how people use, feel about, and experience the alleys. We will use these responses to generate design proposals that will be previewed via low-tech virtual reality experience at an Alley Hop! this spring. We will also be presenting the research at the 2018 AIA conference this June in New York. Stay tuned!