Balancing Act

Architects balance many things – client needs and vision, budget, schedule and more. Our Brian Spangler manages project responsibilities and his work as a volunteer firefighter. Brian is one of PAYETTE’s young designers. For 5-10 hours a week, he also works with the Somerville Auxiliary Fire Department. This is a long-standing commitment for him. He became a junior volunteer firefighter in 2002 as a teenager in Forks Township, PA and continued on to the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy for a summer following high school where he became a Pro-Board certified firefighter by the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress. He has family ties to this kind of work; his great-grandfather, Andrew Ruppert was Chief of the City of Easton, PA fire department from 1960-1967, and his brother, Eric, is also a volunteer firefighter. Brian remained involved with the department in PA throughout his undergraduate work at RPI, where he earned a B.Arch. After attending college, he moved to the Boston area and began work at PAYETTE.

Brian joined the Somerville Auxiliary Fire Department in 2011 after stopping by the station one afternoon and learning about the volunteer opportunities. Currently serving as a Lieutenant, Brian supervises a crew of 3-5 firefighters who provide a variety of non-emergency and emergency services including  scene lighting, pump-outs, medical aid, community event stand-bys, assisting police with serious crime and vehicle accident investigations, and assisting the Somerville Fire Investigation Unit, the Massachusetts State Police Arson Investigation Unit, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with arson investigations. Brian is also the department’s Training Officer, and in that capacity he is responsible for training new members and maintaining the unit’s readiness. The Auxiliary unit operates as a secondary, all-volunteer support unit under the direction of the Somerville Fire Department which is made up of about 150 career firefighters. The Auxiliary unit is on-call 24/7, but volunteers may use their discretion when answering a call. Each member is required to man the station at least one night a week to keep up with equipment maintenance and training.

While balancing his career as an emerging architecture professional, Brian remains committed to his work with the Auxiliary Fire Department and finds his colleagues here to be very supportive of his involvement. Here at PAYETTE, Brian has contributed to projects for the Aga Khan University, Aga Khan Health Services, The George Washington University, Columbia University, Cornell University and our in-house Research and Innovation group. Brian has several published and co-published articles including Ventilation deflation: Reducing HVAC energy consumption in laboratory buildings which was included in the April 2013 Laboratory Design newsletter, and 3D Printing for Full-Scale Design Studies which appeared on an industry blog in 2012 featuring the use of 3D printing technology to prototype terra-cotta cladding profiles. He also co-presented “Reduction by Ventilation” at the ArchitectureBoston Expo (ABX) this past November. Additionally, Brian manages the model shop in the office, servicing the equipment, training and orienting the staff. He has also previously been an instructor for the Boston Architectural College, where he taught portfolio design and design studio courses. When Brian first moved to Boston he did not consider continuing his work as a volunteer firefighter, but found he missed the camaraderie, exhilaration and rewarding work. While he is mindful to manage his time and works to balance both sides, he wouldn’t have it any other way.