An Architect’s Insights and Instincts

by Jonathan McGaha | November 2, 2014 12:00 am

Frank Harmon lets people understand the world around them

When architect Frank Harmon, FAIA, founder of Frank Harmon Architect PA[1], Raleigh, N.C., was in his eighth grade English class, he stared out a window and saw an interesting building across the street that captivated him. Even though his mother wanted him to be a doctor, this building and his curiosity on how it was built formed the initial inspiration for his accomplished career as a multi-award-winning architect designing environmentally responsible, modern buildings.

In the past three decades he has won more AIA North Carolina
(AIA NC) design awards than any other firm in the state. In 2013, Harmon received AIA NC’s Carter Williams Gold Medal, the highest honor the NC AIA chapter presents “in recognition of a distinguished career or extraordinary accomplishments as an architect.” He is consistently sought out as a judge for design award juries, and his design of the AIA NC Center for Architecture
& Design in Raleigh received the 2013 Metal Architecture Judges Award.

As an architect dedicated to environmental sustainability, Harmon has specified metal-from standing seam to zinc-on basically all of his projects, including arts and environmental centers, commercial and liturgical buildings, museums, research facilities and dramatic single-family homes. He embraces the fact that metal roofs reflect heat and have very long life spans, and that zinc, in particular, is one of the most sustainable building materials available.

“Metal is part of the common language of architecture in North Carolina,” he says. “There’s an aesthetic about metal roofs that I think is important. There’s been a tradition of using metal in buildings not only in utilitarian things like barns, but also in exalted buildings like churches and state capitol buildings. It can run the gamut from everyday and common, to having a specific presence. A wellmade metal roof can last over 100 years, reflect heat and is made of materials that are relatively easy to obtain and then be recycled.”

 

Architecture: a social art form

Frank Harmon likes green buildings that look like they belong to the community. Also, “I believe that one of the primary goals of architecture is to make it possible for people to understand the world around them,” he says. “If we sense that a building is rooted in the earth and warmed by the sun, that fresh air flows through its windows and its materials are friendly to the touch, then we may feel that the building belongs to its place, and so do we.”

It was in the 1960s studying as a student at The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London where this mindset originated. “Architecture is more of a social art form in England, instead of a ‘capital A’ art form, here (in the United States),” he says. “Almost all the architects I studied with or worked for had a strong social consciousness about what they did. It was important to them that whatever they built would improve the community, instead of standing out as a monument. The Architectural Association was a remarkable school, because all of its teachers were practicing architects; they didn’t hire academics.”

He returned to London in the 1970s to teach at The Architectural Association and also opened his first practice with a partner there. Even though this first practice didn’t work, Harmon found great success and satisfaction teaching. “Any teacher will tell you, you learn as much from your students as they learn from you,” he says. “That was the case with me, being around these bright, articulate folks and sharing in their lives.”

One of the first projects Harmon designed in England, that unfortunately never got built, was a golf sports club. He specified it to have a lot of steel, partly because of the increased use of metal in Europe’s public buildings. “England had a ‘zinc craze’ and all of Paris had a ‘zinc craze,'” he says. “It’s a very well-known material overseas; it’s lessknown in America. I brought that back with me. For so long in America, we have designed throwaway buildings. In England if you design a building, it’s likely to be there for centuries. Copper and zinc are more widely used and trusted over there. They pay off in the long run and that’s an attitude that’s more common here now especially with the emphasis of lean and sustainable construction.”

 

Staying sustainable

As Harmon evaluates and champions the emphasis of lean and sustainable construction and design, he simultaneously debunks modern myths surrounding it. “People think it’s more expensive, but that’s not true,” he says. “People think you have to use exotic equipment like photovoltaics to make a sustainable building and that’s not true. How does a building transfer sun and how does it deal with wind? There’s low-flush toilets and efficient lighting systems, but the major design concepts have been around for 1,000 years. There’s a myth that you have to take a high-tech approach, but a good sustainable building is mostly common sense.”

Part of Harmon’s common-sense approach to a sustainable building is paying attention to its orientation, hydrology, climate and where the “good and bad winds” come from. He shares this philosophy with his clients. “I’m not ashamed to tell my clients the site is more important than they are,” he says. “It’s been around longer and it has certain attributes.” Still, he makes his clients’ input an active element in his projects. “I think of my buildings as portraits of my clients. I try to find out as much about them as I can, then involve them as heavily as I can in the design.”

Not just concerned only about sustainability, Harmon believes his architecture has both a soul and a conscience. “The ‘soul’ is found in the spirit of the design and the craft of construction,” he says. “The ‘conscience’ is represented by the manner in which our modern buildings embody a positive union between natural and built environment, and demonstrate a rigorous commitment to green, sustainable architecture.”

 

Sidebar: Arch Connect

What is the best advice you ever received as an architect?

Listen to the client. I received that advice from Harwell Hamilton Harris, one of the great architects of the 20^th century. He became my mentor when I moved to Raleigh, N.C., in 1981. He also told me I had permission to make every building different and that every building should represent your client. This was very instrumental to me.

What music do you listen to while you work?

Beethoven, Chopin and Bach

What do you do on weekends?

Garden and cook

What is your favorite book?

“Runaway” by Alex Munro. I read a book a week. I’m an avid newspaper reader. I read The New York Times everyday and skim The Washington Post everyday.

Where is your favorite place to vacation?

No favorite place, but I have dear friends in the south of France and I visit them often. My sister lives in Edisto Beach, S.C., and I am always very happy when I visit her.

What historical figure would you most like to have dinner with and why?

Thomas Jefferson would be an interesting evening. He was the only president who was an architect.

What advice would you give to future architects?

Look and listen to what’s around you. Listen to your clients. Look at the site and see what’s special about it. One skill that will never become obsolete is listening.

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/articles/an-architects-insights-and-instincts/

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