Chris develops projects side by side with you, as your go-to development person.

The goal is to help you, your vision, and your facility shine. 

We do this with a combination of Visualization, Financial Planning & Analysis, and Strategy.

For some clients, that's in an advisory capacity. For some, it's helping with rapid visualization of business concepts. For many, it's helping from the earliest ideation, through business planning, visualization, fundraising, documentation, permitting, construction, and opening. 

• Free resources include the YouTube videos and Resources page.
• The Project Launch advising program is for organizing projects and making progress in 1-3 months.
• Rapid Concept Visualization is available for clients and businesses who have specific concepts they want to test and visualize quickly.
• Facility Design and Development packages are available for those people looking to have Chris get deeper into projects with them. 
• Project management and advising is available as projects continue, and businesses continue to grow with new concepts, test fits, and opening new locations. With many clients, these become multi-year relationships. 

In all of these cases, the goal is the same (to open world-class facilities), but the way we work together depends on what's the right fit

Chris' unique specialty is as an Architect who's done world-class, multi-use projects around the world that mix work and play.

These are a new type of 3rd Space, and function as a home away from home for the people who get to enjoy them. 

This started with his personal love for climbing, developing next-generation climbing facilities for over a decade across the USA, but that was just the beginning. 

Today, projects incorporate multiple uses for different types of users; from Olympic athletes to groms; we mix things like climbing and skating, with spaces for coworking, fitness, events, kids' programming, food & beverage, retail, etc...

This is the requirement for a modern facility; to reach a wider audience while still speaking to the core user, to create a resilient business. 

The goal is to always create ecosystems of programs, to create inspiring spaces and successful businesses. 

Chris has been creating award-winning live/ work/ play projects for nearly 20 years. 

Chris has been a climber for nearly 30 years, and is a prime example of how climbing can change your life. From a under-sized 15 y.o. kid, to traveling the world, to designing climbing walls and finishing 10th in bouldering nationals in the early 2000s', this is is the reason Chris is so passionate about helping people open new facilities and build communities through climbing. 

Chris is a Licensed Architect (AIA, NCARB), a registered general contractor, and ran development for a climbing gym franchise for nearly a decade.

Over those 20 years, Chris was a designer, project manager, construction manager, owners representative, VP development.

He's walked countless spaces, done hundreds of test fits and concept designs, and worked through piles of leases and potential opportunities with businesses looking for real estate to buy or lease. 

In addition, Chris was a professor at the college and graduate school level for 11 years; researching and teaching on issues related to professional practice, construction and materials, and design studios. That experience has informed his current way of working, leading to better ways to organize projects, teams, and work with owners compared to most "traditional" models of project delivery.

Chris did his undergraduate degree at CU Boulder (Bachelor of Environmental Design BENVD '02), and got his Masters at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (MArch '09).

Over the years, Chris has designed and developed climbing gyms and other mixed-use projects across the country and around the world. These lessons and insights have proved to be invaluable working with clients on projects, saving time and money, so that we can focus on the best result possible.

All of this is to say that Chris thinks and works at the highest theoretical level, while also digging ditches with clients to make projects happen. 

Here are some specific metrics and client results:

Between 2022-2024:

• Opened 9 new facilities.
• Current project work valued at over $90m.
• Helped 4 businesses open their first location.
• Worked with businesses with up to $5bn in revenue.
• Helped 7 businesses raise their funding for startup and projects.
• Helped 1 business successfully franchise their model.
• Has worked across the US and on 5 continents.

Between 2000-2022:

• Designed, developed, and managed the successful completion of 8 next generation climbing facilities.
• Traveled across the country executing projects and visiting potential sites.
• Created 100+ climbing and mixed-use concepts and test fits (not built).
• Designed over 75 climbing walls for universities, gyms, and recreation centers.
• Watched a successful franchise go out of business, with a front row seat...

You can hear more from my clients directly, on my Testimonials page.

This isn't for everyone; if you're looking to do a milk-toast project, you'll be better served elsewhere.

This IS for people who aren't satisfied with a "good" project, and are willing to invest in creating a truly great project, with genuinely world-class ambition. 

To create a world-class project, it's not about simply hiring an architect and hoping for the best. There's too much at stake for you to be someone else's new-project experiment. 

It's about REALLY digging into the why of the project, so that we can design a space and develop a strategy to execute the project that meets your goals, budget, timeline, and ambition. 

This means that the space you rent or buy, and the business model you develop, and the amount you can afford to spend on the build-out, and the predicted return on all that investment needs to work together. 

Figuring out that puzzle is what Chris does with clients.

If your ambition is a world-class project, and you'd like help to put the pieces together, designing an inspiring space, and strategizing how to execute everything successfully, then reach out and let's talk. 

The first step is to reach out through my Contact page, and if it seems like the right fit, we can hop on a call together.

My goal is to guide you in the right direction with feedback and recommendations on where to go and what to check out or who to talk to.

If I can help, 99% of my clients start with my Project Launch advising program, because it's a great way to get to know each other, extend the conversation, and get you some real answers, organization, and digital tools and templates you can customize. 

From there, as the project develops, we can jump into a larger Design and Development Package, and the Advising fee will be deducted from that. 

If you have a very clear vision as-to what you want to do, and depending on your timeline, you may be in that 1% where we can jump right into a Design and Development Package.

Over the years, beginning with advising has proved to be a great path to success, because there's no extra cost if you continue with the Design and Development Package. 

In any case, reach out and let's begin the conversation.

Yes! My first job at the end of college and after college for several years, was designing climbing walls for a climbing wall company, and it's something that I've continued doing over the last ~25 years, for specific projects. 

I'm a big believer that our climbing walls aren't good enough in most facilities, and over the years, I've become more and more re-engaged with climbing wall design, to get the most out of projects for my clients.