Vibrant Vegas Vision
by Jonathan McGaha | March 1, 2015 12:00 am
Metal ensures what this architect designs for Vegas, stays in Vegas
Graduating from college in 1980, Edward A. Vance, FAIA, NCARB, encountered a tough recession and work was scarce. So, he got together with a few of his friends and fellow graduates, and launched a new solar company developing, designing and manufacturing solar systems for residential use. Metal was the primary material for their collectors as well as their mechanical fastening system. Discovering firsthand the importance and durability of metal wall and roof systems, Vance learned these panels were much more than just a means to heat a building. Today, he marvels at the fact that they are still performing after more than 30 years.
“Nearly every firm I’ve worked for during my career has specialized in large commercial, hospitality and health care projects,” Vance says. “These market sectors rely heavily on a building’s ability to last with minimal maintenance to maximize the owner’s return on investment. Durable metal is a quintessential arrow in the quiver of an architect to meet this critical client expectation.”
A Trusted Advisor
Born in South Dakota and raised in Minnesota, Vance attended Moorhead State University, Moorhead, Minn., for three years before receiving his Bachelor of Arts (1979) and Bachelor of Architecture
(1981) degrees from North Dakota State University, Fargo, N.D. Shortly after graduation he moved to Dallas where he joined New York City-based Cossutta Associates. He later moved to Las Vegas where he has practiced for 22 years. He is licensed in 15 states.
In November 2006, Vance opened his own firm in Vegas called EV&A Architects to better serve his client base and the profession. Founded via a core commitment to customer and business partner satisfaction, his full-service commercial architecture and interior design firm is currently staffed with 20 professionals. It serves the gaming, health care and hospitality markets. Vance says EV&A Architects’ mission is: “To be our client’s trusted advisor.” Vance’s sees his role of a trusted advisor as an earned one. He admits that while most architects simply prepare plans at the behest of their clients, he strives to escalate to a higher-level relationship with them via hard work, time and commitment.
“At the point where you become a Level 5 architect, you are at the client’s table at the highest level,” he says. “That’s when you go beyond being just a design professional and drafting a plan. You become a businessman that your clients recognize, trust and understand, and you can make their business more successful. That’s where you help put deals together or participate in putting deals together.” It is this spirit and his architectural excellence that has earned Vance more than 20 design awards throughout his distinguished career. In September 2014, he received the AIA Western Mountain Region Silver Medal award, the highest honor annually awarded to one AIA member architect chosen in a broad geographical region. It recognizes distinguished service to the profession of architecture and a significant body of work of lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture in the state of Nevada.
Quintessential Arrow
Metal-based projects have been a cornerstone of Vance’s award-winning work since moving to the desert and witnessing the failures of nonmetal-based projects. “The true meaning of durability became all the more clear to me as time slowly passed and I watched the not-so-slow decay of buildings-and anything outside-with amazement and sometimes horror,” he says. “There are precious few things here in the desert we can comfortably recommend in our material design selection if you want it to last. Metal is at the top of that list. It provides us with a futuristic feel so we can carry on a conversation with time that really lasts.”
In addition to its durability, Vance specifies metal in his projects because of its flexibility, fire resistance and recyclability. “We are staunch supporters of the environment and using metal in our designs supports that edict,” he says. “Metal lasts longer, is light and easy to transport, and creates minimal raw material waste. At the end of the end of its long life, metal can be fully recycled and this contributes to green benefits. We continue to become more sophisticated in analyzing how our high-performing wall systems function from an energy standpoint.
We are able to design wall systems based on façade orientation to maximize energy savings for our building owners and clients. We’ve achieved great performances from metal rainscreen systems and insulated metal panel systems.”
Vegas’ World Market Center may be one of Vance’s most prominent applications of metal architecture. This wholesale furniture market building with permanent showrooms uses exterior metal panels exclusively for certain sections. Because the owner of Vegas’ Red Ranch-a different project and the proposed location of a progressive manufacturer of cameras for the movie industry-wanted clear lines and a striking aesthetic look to represent his cutting-edge technology, Vance specified metal to outwardly express the building’s interior function. At a third project, the Vegas Lucky Dragon Hotel and Casino, Vance specified metal panels that are perforated and backlit. “They glow outwardly,” he says, “it’s just amazing.”
Hands On
To keep a close eye on all of these projects’ growth and success, Vance is keeping EV&A relatively small. “With a smaller firm, it’s more manageable,” he says. “I’m staying involved in every single project and playing a design role in all of them.” At a previous firm where Vance was a partner, he worked with a roster of 220 employees. “It got too big,” he adds. “I wasn’t doing any architecture, just putting out fires, managing people and trying to collect money. I felt like an administrator, not an architect.”
In addition to this hands-on work ethic, Vance stresses that partnering with competent and trusted builders to prepare documentation is key to EV&A’s success and its projects. “We find that it starts with consulting and collaborating with the actual manufacturers of these systems to ensure the great performances our clients have come to expect.” Additionally, growing knowledge of the green movement has been beneficial to his business.
“Increased clientele awareness has made our job of selling our sustainable ideas just a little bit easier,” Vance explains. “We have always done what we consider ‘smart architecture.’ Calling it green simply gave it a nice color; the color of money oddly enough.” And when you are an architect working in Vegas, this is a good color to gamble on.
Sidebar: Arch Connect
What is the best advice you ever received as an architect?
Listen more than you talk.
What’s on your iPod while you work?
Actually, I don’t own one. But renaissance architect Leon Battista Alberti said that the same characteristics that please the eye also please the ear. Musical terms such as rhythm, texture, harmony, proportion, dynamics and articulation refer both to architecture and music.
What do you do on weekends?
Golf.
What is your favorite book?
Anything by Steven Berry.
Where is your favorite place to vacation?
Any place tropical!
What historical figure would you most like to have dinner with and why?
Lincoln. You do the math.
To future architects, what advice would you give?
Make sure this is what you want to do for the rest of your life. And if it is, you’ll never ever regret it.
Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/articles/vibrant-vegas-vision/