Meet the 2023 Build Pittsburgh Chair!
Name: Bob Shelton
Firm: Shelton Design / Build
Family: Annie [wife], Sophie [daughter], Cole [son], Zoe [dog]
Years in practice: 20
Education: B.Sci. Architecture + Masters of Architecture, Kent State University
AIA Committees you’ve served on: Advocacy
Favorite thing about Build Pittsburgh: The ability to network with colleagues, find new products, and create your own learning path to come away a better professional all in one day.
Your first job: Banquet server at the defunct Churchill Country Club
Project you’re proudest of: The one that a client loves and I’m not involved with. That means I’ve put together a winning team.
What’s the most annoying thing architects do? Not understanding how important of a role listening plays in our duties to a client.
Favorite building: Thorncrown Chapel, Fay Jones
Architect you’d like to have coffee with: Peter Gluck. His perspective on architect-led design/build inspires me and my business.
What do you like to do when you’re not working? Playing golf, platform tennis, and coaching my daughter’s softball team.
If you hadn’t become an architect, what would you have been? I think about this often, and I honestly have no idea.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where? Florence, Italy. I’m grateful to have lived there during college and it changed my life.
What’s on your iPod/Pandora/Spotify? Bon Iver, Black Pumas, Shallou, 70’s rock, and whatever few songs my kids listen to non-stop.
The secret to my success: Surrounding myself with people better than me in their disciplines, and let them shine in whatever it is that they love doing.
Advice to young architects: There are many ways to practice. Aggressively search for as many experiences as you can find as early as you can, and you’ll find a path in this career that you will love.
