What Rod Brings to the Table
As one of Gilbert’s principals, Rod brings a collaborative, client-centered mindset to every aspect of his work. From leading project design to mentoring staff and building lasting relationships, he blends big-picture thinking with thoughtful attention to detail.
Whether he’s guiding a team through a complex project or helping a client translate their vision into a functional, inspiring space, Rod leads with creativity and decades of architectural insight.
His favorite part of the job? Working alongside great people, both in the office and externally, to turn good ideas into great buildings.
Let’s get to know more about Rod, his take on architecture, and what it’s like bicycling through the Tuscan hills with a glass of Montepulciano in hand!
The Interview
Q: What’s your job title, and what do you do day to day?
A: As one of the principals, my day-to-day activities span multiple bases, ranging from project design and oversight, client relations, business development, mentoring staff, and fostering innovation.
Q: What’s your favorite part about your job and our company culture?
A: My favorite part about my job is being able to interact with team members and clients. Interacting with team members in the office includes discussions on how a certain building plan could be laid out and coming up with solutions to unforeseen conditions uncovered on a project’s construction site.
Additionally, when interacting with our clients, it is the opportunity to help them come up with solutions to their building needs that reflect the programming models that they have adopted. I am fortunate to be able to spend my days working with collaborative and creative people.
Q: What’s your favorite project or achievement and why?
A: Asking an architect what their favorite project is is like asking grandparent who their favorite grandchild is.
For a project that was exceptionally rewarding for me I would say that project is the Center for Well-Being at UMBC (University of Maryland Baltimore County).
The UMBC project was my first higher-education project, and it exposed me to a whole different way of thinking and building relationships with stakeholders. While UMBC was only 25,000 square feet in size, their building needed to address a complex program that included many functions that are outside of the K-12 facilities that I am familiar with. It was a great challenge and a finished project that is striking in appearance.
Q: What does an ideal weekend look like for you?
A: An ideal weekend for me includes spending time with family or friends, going for a bicycle ride, relaxing in the afternoons with a nice cigar and glass of scotch, then making dinner with my wife. All this preferably taking place at our cabin in Huntingdon County.
Q: What’s the best trip you’ve ever been on and why?
A: Bicycling through the Tuscan Hills in Italy with my wife and close friends. This was a trip to celebrate my 30th wedding anniversary with Cindy. Nothing like celebrating our anniversary while drinking Montepulciano wine in Montepulciano, and checking a few things off my bucket list, like viewing Florence from the dome of the Duomo, seeing Michelangelo’s David, and wrapping up the trip by tossing a coin over my shoulder into the Trevi fountain in Rome.
Q: What’s your favorite food?
A: What a difficult question. I enjoy almost anything French, but Italian cuisine is right there as well.
Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given, or your favorite inspiring quote?
A: My favorite quote is the following: “At every moment we always have a choice, even if it feels like we don’t. Sometimes that choice is to think a more positive thought.” (Tina Turner)
