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RSA Profile

Talent and VectorWorks technology are the big deal makers for Annapolis, Maryland architectural firm

Can a smart-sized, high-profile architectural firm in Annapolis, Maryland win a $10 million plum project over one of the largest architectural firms in the nation? If you're Reithlingshoefer Smith & Associates, the answer is an impressive yes. All you need are two veteran architects at the top of their game, one savvy, young CAD ace wired to the latest technology, and a versatile, powerful software program like VectorWorks to help pull it all together.

The veteran architects at RSA are Don Reithlingshoefer and Bill Smith, celebrated for their enormous conceptual talent and ability to tackle complex architectural challenges. The CAD ace is Matt Panzer, who possesses computer design skills that rival his architectural design abilities. The final ingredient in the RSA success equation is VectorWorks, considered by many to be the industry's most powerful suite of 2D and 3D architectural tools.

In an industry where experience and talent are considered the barometer of success, Smith and Reithlingshoefer have established themselves in the top tier of the architectural world. From projects like the elegant Bethesda Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, one of the wealthiest communities in the country, to the National Center for Children and Families in Washington, DC, RSA is indeed at the top of their game. Not bad for a small boutique firm in Annapolis with a staff of four.

But firm size today isn't just measured by the number of architects on staff, Reithlingshoefer emphasizes. "Technology, combined with staff experience and talent, is the true measure of an architectural firm's capabilities." And technology can be the deal maker, he says, "With VectorWorks we've got a technology partner that puts us on the winning side."

All this is pretty strong stuff for two architects who freely admit to not loving the computer as much as their younger counterparts. "Although we've trained extensively on the computer and use it almost every day, Bill and I are comfortable at the drawing board sketching our ideas," Reithlingshoefer says.

Smith agrees. "What we like about VectorWorks is that it‘s easy for us to learn, and easily adapts to the way we work." Smith and Reithlingshoefer fine tune their concepts in VectorWorks before handing them off to CAD specialist Matt Panzer to create final working drawings and three-dimensional presentations."

If Smith and Reithlingshoefer are the concept guys in this triumvirate, then Panzer is the one who translates the big ideas into today's digital language. Smith is quick to point out that RSA "understands and appreciates the importance of technology in the architecture business today. VectorWorks is the technology we use to give us a competitive edge. We're just not the technology guys here. We're the big idea guys and that's what our clients are looking for from us. Matt is the technology guy."

Matt Panzer is the A in RSA and the firm's lead CAD designer. He takes Bill and Don's complex, detailed architectural concepts, and using the suite of powerful tools in VectorWorks, creates working drawings and 3D presentations, a job that used to take a roomful of architects.

That's the true beauty of today's marriage of brains and technology, he explains. "VectorWorks performs all the detail work, quickly and flawlessly, leaving us more time to spend fine-tuning our design ideas."

This brings us back to the $10 million, ten-year National Center of Children and Families project in Washington DC won so handily by RSA. The truth be told, the large firm stumbled over its own oversized feet, unable to meet the client's deadline for presenting initial concepts. "Often, there are just too many layers of people and procedures at the bigger firms," Bill says. "That's where we really have the advantage. We've got the flexibility, skill and freedom to create great concepts more quickly. And with the power of VectorWorks, we can execute those concepts like we had a staff three to four times our actual size."

How can two 50-something architects, who cut their design teeth on the drawing board, use the same program as their 30-something, computer-savvy CAD wiz? It's really quite simple. The same thing drew all three to VectorWorks. It feels and works like an illustration and design program, without the heavy-handed, slow-you-down complexities of other CAD programs. "VectorWorks is really a design program with CAD capabilities," Panzer points out. "It works like a designer thinks and that's what is so great about it. CAD programs like AutoCAD™ are grueling and tedious and can actually inhibit the design process. With VectorWorks, Bill, Don and I can share and execute ideas seamlessly."

Even for an experienced computer architect, working with programs like AutoCAD can stretch nerves to the limit, Panzer points out. "The real beauty of VectorWorks is that it does almost everything AutoCAD does without the aggravating interfaces and complex skill sets to master." Smith and Reithlingshoefer agree. "Learning a program like AutoCAD certainly didn't make sense for two board-trained architects like us." What makes sense for RSA is learning and leveraging the incredible power of a program like VectorWorks. "It actually frees us to be better architects and lets us take advantage of the latest technology to compete against even the biggest firms and win the project," Smith says.

According to RSA, one of these competitive advantages is providing potential clients with impressive, intuitive, engaging graphic presentation materials at the front end of the project. "Our clients want to see more and more on the front end and that's where VectorWorks shines," Reithlingshoefer says.

"The ability of VectorWorks to quickly and accurately create three-dimensional presentations from two-dimensional drawings gives us a huge advantage," he adds. Clients can't always picture the project from 2D architectural drawings, noting that 3D presentations can make all the difference. "They're the real thing," he says. "Clients can really see what the project is going to look like."

In one instance, RSA actually won a project based on a QuickTime™ movie they produced from a VectorWorks fly-through presentation. "It was the movie that sold the job for us," he says. "Now that's great technology at work." Then again, these are the results that firms like RSA have come to expect from VectorWorks.

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