Collaboration is key for Sterling architects

STERLING – When Skip McCloud was 12, he set a TV tray in front of the family room chair, made himself a name tag, got out his pencils and paper, sat down, and started drawing houses, airplanes, and yachts.

He didn't have clients yet, but he had a passion.

Decades later, Sterling architect Al “Skip” McCloud of McCloud and Associates smiles at the memory: “I still have those drawings,” he said.

He might not design planes and yachts, but houses? Oh, yeah.

McCloud and Associates, housed in the renovated Royer Home at 401 E. Second St., is Skip and his associate, Brad Hunsberger, who joined the business last year.

Hunsberger adds an essential element to the two-man team. He “brings a lot to the table, especially his construction management experience,” McCloud said.

Having worked in construction for several years, Hunsberger is astute at noting when and where architects get something wrong with a project.

His father was for many years a vocational trades teacher in Sterling; thus, his own passion and experience for architecture, particularly the production side, developed as a result of his father’s influence.

Hunsberger’s strengths are more acclimated to the design and construction of commercial projects, but McCloud often prefers the residential side, including the relationships he creates with clients, namely homeowners looking to restore their home to its original design, or a new design.

Although certainly familiar with all the complexities of production and restoration – the nuts and bolts of the work – McCloud enjoys the aesthetic appeal of a newly renovated home or business.

Says Hunsberger, teasingly, of McCloud, “He’s the fluff.”

McCloud often utilizes the Illinois Digital Archives and Sterling Historical Society photos to see how a building or facade of a street side business looked a century ago; his renovation, then, will likely take this original “look” into account and he will design accordingly.

But, he points out, not everything is purely authentic: “We’ll avoid using wooden sidewalks. They don’t hold up very well.”

McCloud estimates that he has worked on some 400 home projects since 1990.

And yet, if a client is interested in renovation, why not just call a builder? Why an architect instead?

“Builders are not designers,” McCloud said. “And they don’t want to design. They build and move on to the next project.”

A potential client might call McCloud and Associates, for example, and request more space and a “face-lift” for the home.

Not all McCloud and Associates' projects are renovations – some are original works.

In 2010, McCloud built a home in Western Spring, set between two houses, each more than 100 years old.

What McCloud and Associates did – and what they take pride in – is create a home that fit with the neighborhood aesthetic, one that might look like it was built in the 1880s.

Not all architects do this, Hunsberger noted.

Some are more interested in putting their own stamp – their individual “style” – on a project, ignoring whether it fits with its environment.

McCloud and Hunsberger emphasize that theirs is a collaborative effort among architect, builder, and client.

Indeed, McCloud and Associates’ mission statement sums it up: “Creative design, detailed drawings, architectural and construction management services for residential and commercial projects as individual as each of our clients.”

When McCloud first planned to move his business to Sterling about 3 years ago, largely to be near his mother, his business associates in Downer’s Grove thought he was crazy.

“You’re going to open an office where?” he said they asked. “Is Sterling in Iowa?”

But as he points out, a greater architectural presence was needed in the community, and since he moved here, his business has flourished.

“People thought I was nuts, but we’ve never been busier.”

They have about a dozen active projects, including plans for a new facade for Sterling Commercial Roofing, and ongoing work with KSB Hospital, for which Brad is a consultant. They also have multiple proposals in the works.

For those interested in a career in architecture, Hunsberger and McCloud point out that it can be tough going early on.

“You might be stuck drawing trees for a year or working on bathroom designs for 5 years,” as an acquaintance of his once had to do after college, Hunsberger said.

And there are other challenges that even seasoned professionals must deal with.

“It’s more than just a pretty picture;” in fact, it takes a lot of time and a lot of individuals to complete a job effectively, he said.

“It’s a process of teamwork. The client’s ideas and the architect’s,” as well as constant collaboration with the contractor and subcontractor.

“The biggest thing we do is assemble the documents necessary to tell the builder what to do, so he’s not constantly scratching his head,” McCloud said.

What might be comforting to potential clients is that the architect – the “point man” as McCloud calls him – is there through the whole process.

In spite of the hard work, though, it's fulfilling.

McCloud particularly likes the satisfaction that comes with seeing something take shape, “from paper to building. I love seeing the change.”

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Get in touch

Call 630-400-3770, email aomc3@aomc3architects.com or go to aomc3architects.com or Houzz and LinkedIn to learn more about McCloud and Associates.

Resumé

According to its website, aomc3architects.com, McCloud and Associates provides services to the Chicago area and northwest Illinois. The site contains both residential and commercial portfolios for potential clients to view their work. Among some of its completed commercial projects in Sterling: they designed UOI Boutique on First Avenue, as well as JJM Printing Inc., directly behind it; they just completed BB Boutique, a children's clothing store, next to UOI Boutique (housed where Trissel, Graham, and Toole insurance once was; TG and T still operates on the north side of the building), and in the works is a design wall where Fung Ming's Restaurant once stood, which will complement the architectural style of the Lawrence Lofts Building and give its residents something to see besides a gaping hole.