MISSION STATEMENT
Building Center No.3 (BC3) is a group of interdisciplinary design professionals occupying the space where research, performance and aesthetics converge.
Architecture, Interior Design and Landscape Design are the three principal creative disciplines that help shape the built environment.
BC3 probes and fuses design ideas whose origins may begin in either discipline but seeks to find elements of expression in all three.
ARCHITECTURE
Building Center No. 3 applies the most current knowledge and research tools available in the design and construction disciplines to deliver the client sustainable solutions from a cradle-to-grave perspective. Architecture and design are produced with a sensitivity that address issues of regionalism and appropriate technology while meeting the performance demands of the client and mitigating negative impacts to the environment.
LANDSCAPE
Our approach to landscape design is centered on environmental stewardship while seeking creative solutions that emphasize the use of indigenous plant species, water conservation and low maintenance. Where landscape meets the built environment we strive to enhance the user’s experience and complement the design of adjacent structures.
INTERIORS
In the interior design for both commercial and residential clients we reaffirm our dedication to sustainable solutions. In addition, we provide our clients with a package of services that includes designing within the client’s aesthetic, procurement services for furnishing, fixtures and equipment coupled with experienced staff during the construction administration phase to ensure the design meets the expectations in terms of performance and appearance. By having architects and interior designers in-house we are able deliver projects that have a high degree of technical quality along with great design.
THE ORIGIN OF OUR NAME
The name of the company has its origins from graduate school research work that the Principal and Founder, Jason Tapia, AIA was conducting in India in 2009 through a National Science Foundation grant. In the 1990s after the liberalization of India’s economy, there was a recognition that the country’s human settlement problem would need to be addressed in unconventional ways. One strategy to create housing for the hundreds of millions of people migrating from rural to urban areas was to decentralize the process of design and construction. This led the government to provide loans to over 500 “Building Centres” whose task was to apply innovative solutions to the problem of construction technology and the training of unskilled labor at a local level. These Centres were founded by individual entrepreneurs from across the building enterprise: builders, engineers, architects, developers, etc. However, within eight to ten years, of the hundreds of Building Centres founded, only two remained: the Anangpur Building Centre and the Auroville Building Centre. Both practices are led by architects who continue to innovate, creating new materials, building technologies and unique typologies that have served their local cities but have also reached beyond India. Building Center No.3 aspires to be third in the line of successful “Building Centres” focusing on research-based solutions that merge design and sustainability to create a sense of place for our clients and the people who engage our work.
OUR TEAM
JASON TAPIA / AIA, LEED AP, NCARB, CDT
Registered architect in Florida, Colorado & New York. He earned a B. Arch at Cornell University and an M.S. in Architecture Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He has been practicing architecture for twenty-one years and is the Principal at Building Center No. 3.
MELISSA GONZALEZ
Melissa is a trained architect. She earned a Bachelor of Architecture from Syracuse University.
Melissa is currently a Project Manager and Staff Architect at BC3.
AKIKO IWATA
Akiko Iwata is a trained Landscape Architect. She earned her Master of Landscape Architecture from Cornell University and worked for over a decade with EDSA, one of the largest landscape architecture, planning and urban design firms in the world. Her work spans several countries, many cities and scores of clients. She brings urban design and master planning experience to Building Center No. 3. Since her departure from large firm roles she has focused on custom residential projects that are intimate and intensely detailed. She is currently a Senior Landscape Designer at BC3.
JOSE VAZQUEZ
José is a trained architect. He earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University. He has been practicing architecture for 20 years and has extensive experience as a project manager, project architect, and construction manager on many projects that range in program. His role at BC3 is Senior Project Manager.
PAOLO FERRERA
Paolo is a Licensed Landscape Architect with a Degree in Landscape Architecture from Florida International University. His interests center on helping the South Florida region rediscover locally native plant species by incorporating them into our designs on a project by project basis.
His areas of expertise also encompass irrigation and drainage design. He is currently a Senior Landscape Architect at BC3.
GRACY VANDERTAP
Gracy is an Interior Designer and a graduate of the Florida International University Master of Interior Architecture program,
She is currently an Interior Designer at Building Center No.3.