It’s been nearly fourteen years since we met David Lewis. David is a man of great depth and many talents. He’s a terrific gardener, a licensed Landscape Architect, and a truly gifted chef. He’s among a very few people who are capable of developing a vision and inspiring the people around him to bring that vision to fruition in hi-res detail. I’m very glad to be one of the people David inspires. We have learned a lot from him over the years. It is our tremendously good fortune to have had David as a friend, client, and collaborator.

Three years ago, David launched Brick House Kitchen, a restaurant and catering business in South Fayetteville. parkco worked with him and John Walters, a terrific contractor, to design and renovate an old and poorly utilized house in a part of town that wouldn’t generally be considered picturesque. The house became a warm and intimate restaurant, just a fantastic place with absolutely the best food I’ve ever had. I’m not exaggerating when I tell people that a meal at Brick House Kitchen will change you for the better.



David emphasizes integrity and authenticity in the food he serves. He cultivates seasonal menus from local resources including his on-site gardens around the Brick House. It is an incredible experience and the place is an island of culinary and agricultural beauty in an unlikely environment. It’s an example of what can be. It’s proof that a dilapidated rent house surrounded by parking lots can become something deeply meaningful and beautiful. We are extremely proud to have been a part of this project.



We’re super excited about our latest opportunity to work with David. Brick House Kafe’ is opening soon inside Nightbird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville. It so happens that Nightbird is owned by another dear friend, Lisa Sharp. Nightbird Books has the distinction of being Fayetteville’s most outstanding independent local bookstore. Nightbird attracts nationally acclaimed authors for readings. It’s also a place in Fayetteville to go with the expectation that you’ll see people you know. This is the confluence of two incredible local businesses. It’s going to be great. I can’t wait until it’s open. A new book, perfect cappuccino, a tasty thing to eat, and a comfy chair to enjoy it all in one place, what’s not to love?


Future home of BHK at Nightbird Books

We’re thrilled that David asked parkco to design the Brick House Kafe’ at Nightbird Books. Planning is complete. We’re developing the architectural details now. We’ve defined the locations for graphics business identity and we’ve nearly finalized the lighting design. The old floor tile is gone and the slab is ready to be finished. Construction will begin very soon with our old friend, John Walters running the show once again. I’ll make blog posts at major points along this process. In the meantime, watch our parkco facebook page for incremental updates.

A quote from Joe Birmingham, our builder on the Cabarn Project, from December 12, 2009. His text message to the client follows:

“We are finishing the paint. I can't describe the view.
Looking out the windows, the sun is radiating
through the south windows close to 100 degrees
(just a guess). We ran the heat pump but it went off on
short order. This place is very nice.”

Makes me want to get out there. New photos of the project coming soon!

This is a slideshow of a terrific project for some terrific people. The Baker’s took these photos at interesting points along the construction. Watch a non-descript ranch transform into a modern craftsman in fifteen easy steps!

We have some of our best work under construction right now. It’s amazing to see all of the time and energy of design work getting built at once.

Temple shalom is underway and looking great. We have been very hands-on with this project, and I’m proud of the way things are shaping up. The stone masonry is beautiful. I’m going to dedicate a post to the mason’s work soon. In the meantime, I’ll say that it’s an honor to have such beautiful craftsmanship on our design. Otherwise, the sheetrock work is almost done. This one is getting close! Construction photos here.

We’ve had a terrific project underway for a while, but construction has just begun. We’ve dubbed it ‘The Cabarn,’ a contraction of cabin and barn. It’s a passive-solar design that utilizes sip-panel construction. Very cool and lots of fun.

We have a mountainside home under construction too. It overlooks the city and we’re thrilled with how it’s coming together. I’ll have more construction photos of Skyline soon.

Lisa, Don, and "The Little One" are dutifully plying their talent, resources, brains and brawn toward the revitalization of an old house in Fayetteville. This house has been a multi-family apartment for as long as anyone can remember and the neighbors are thrilled to have it return to single-family. Follow their heroic saga at their project blog, NunkProTunk.

Since October of '06, we've had the privilege to work with the Temple Shalom of NWA on the design of their new Temple. This project has tremendous significance for Fayetteville. It is the first dedicated home of this Jewish Congregation that has been around Northwest Arkansas for 30 years. It expands the diversity of our community. It has also catalyzed a unique reaction among many faiths.

This project has brought together some unexpected alliances. Fadil Bayyari is a respected general contractor from Springdale, Arkansas. He's also a Muslim man of Palestinian heritage. After a disappointing attempt by the Temple Shalom to buy a house to convert to their worship space, Mr. Bayyari offered his assistance to the Temple if they ever needed help with construction. The congregation accepted the offer and began a search for land. Parkco came into the picture about a year later when we were hired to provide architectural services.

This has been a fascinating project for us. We've learned a tremendous amount about Judaism and Judaic architectural history. More importantly, we've learned about faith, good faith, and good humor.

Check the project under construction.

We've finally lucked into having a client willing to document the experience of the design and construction process. Not only that, these folks are blogging the whole show. Follow the Williams as they navigate their way through the discovery, negotiation, purchase, design, demolition, construction and completion of a 1925 classic bungalow. We've had a great time working with them. They have terrific intuition about the project and their creative approach to getting things done has been great fun to watch. I'll continue to post about this project, so check their progress here as well as their site.