Above: Caddis Collaborative team members gather around the worktable during a Caddis Fly Lunch and Learn session to brainstorm ideas for a new project.

At Caddis Collaborative, we’re always learning and constantly honing our practice as architects. In fact, we set aside time each Thursday to get together as a team to hear from professionals in the field and to learn from each other. We call these sessions our “Caddis Fly Lunch and Learn” series.

Caddis Fly Lunch and Learn events run the gamut from product presentations to sessions on rules, regulations, and codes. Some Thursdays you’ll find us updating the team on improvements to standard operating procedures or having an internal brainstorming session on a project in process. Perhaps our favorite Caddis Fly Lunch and Learn occasions are the site visits we make to projects that we’ve designed and that are currently being built.

Jesús Bendezú, senior architect at Caddis, says, “We encourage everybody to attend because our work is collaborative. Everybody on the team wants to be well informed.” Architectural associate Cathy Dong agrees. “I am learning a lot!” she says. “I like learning what is really new in the field of architecture, things school didn’t teach me.”

Caddis Fly Lunch and Learn sessions include the following:

• Product presentations. Representatives from a variety of companies visit Caddis to share new products and materials. “This is helpful in terms of what we’re able to offer to the client,” Jesús observes. Architectural associate Brandon Farrand recalls a presentation on AAC block (autoclaved aerated concrete block), a product used in Europe for decades but not well known in the United States. “We were so impressed by this product,” Brandon says, “that we have proposed it for at least three of our current projects.”
• Rules, regulations, and codes. Fire codes and other regulations are updated frequently, and it can be challenging to stay up to date. “I want to know what code changes are afoot that will affect our work,” Jesús says.
• Improvements to standard operating procedures. Caddis has grown from having a staff of three to having 10 people on board. With that expansion comes the possibility of confusion over how to handle daily operations, such as where we file documents on the server to how our deliverables should look. Brandon says, “These sessions bring us all together to discuss what works or what needs to be changed from the current set-up. We get everyone on the same page, and this helps us become a stronger and more organized company.”
• Internal brainstorms. Sometimes a team member may need fresh ideas on a project. Enter internal brainstorms. “These sessions allow us to have as much of the brain trust as possible,” says Jesús. “We’re better working together than individually – not one person has all the ideas and solutions.” Also beneficial is the give and take between more experienced architects on the team and staff members who are newer to the field. According to Jesús, the more experienced team members can mentor their newer colleagues, modeling how to solve problems. But he observes, “the younger staff members also come up with helpful ideas, different perspectives to consider. It’s a two-way sharing and educating of one another.” Cathy agrees: “Brainstorming is team-building. We help each other.”
• Site visits. Getting out into the field to see our projects being built is invaluable. “This helps us see how what we are drawing is really put into action,” says Jesús. “There is no better way than learning experientially through your practice. We are constantly learning new things because there’s open conversation on our team.”

“This industry is constantly changing on a daily basis,” Brandon says. “New technologies, products, codes, and practices need to be implemented in order to stay innovative and stand out from everyone else. The Caddis Fly Lunch and Learn sessions enable us to stay on top of what is new, what is old that has been improved (or was a flop), or what is up-and-coming in the industry.”

“Having this knowledge not only keeps us on the cutting edge as far as design but also translates to stronger contractor/client relationships,” Brandon says. “This shows our clients that we are abreast of and knowledgeable about what the hot trends are or are going to be. In the process, we may introduce others to these new products so that we keep the industry innovative and always changing for the better as a whole.”