Today we’d like to introduce you to Bruce Fallon.
Hi Bruce, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My interest in architecture started in junior high school when I took a drafting class from Mr. Campbell. In addition to this class, I loved taking graph paper on our family camping trips and would draw up houses for my parents. My parents supported this interest and gave me a drafting table in 9th grade. My mom and I would also go to the Parade of Homes each year. I would walk through the homes with her and provide commentary about things I liked and didn’t like. As a freshman in college, I attended the University of Oregon and had a couple of classes in the architecture building, and was intimidated by the creativity and skill of the work I saw on display. I started to question my ability to become an architect and started thinking about alternative career paths. I took a 24 month break from school that gave me a chance to consider this list and by the time I returned home and went back to school, I was back on track to follow my original interest in architecture.
I studied at Salt Lake Community College graduating with an associate degree in Architectural Studies. This provided me a practical foundation in the skills I would need in the profession. It allowed me to eventually land my first job with James Carroll and Associates, I transferred up to the University of Utah to complete my undergraduate studies, and to really begin my work in architecture. Upon graduation, we moved our family back to San Diego where I attended NewSchool of Architecture for grad school. While there, I was blessed to work for a small architectural firm – Coombs Architecture & Planning. There were times it was just Rusty and I working on projects, and at other times we grew to around 5 or 6. As a result of a severe car accident that he got into, I was pushed into opportunities that were very far in front of my experience, but really elevated what I was able to do in the profession. Projects completed at Coombs Architecture included several financial institutions, religious facilities and a city library. The growth experienced during that time introduced me to a world of architecture, design and project management that I didn’t know before. After graduating and getting licensed in California, we tried to find a home to move our family into, but with the cost of housing, it was a struggle to find anything we could afford. So we gave ourselves a year to look and explore opportunities in the area. Soon after we started this process, a job opportunity opened up in Provo, Utah that we felt we should apply for and in a two week time frame, we went from staying in San Diego, to taking a job in Utah and moving north.
That was more than 20 years ago and since that time, the opportunities at WPA Architecture have only grown starting in the spring of 2005. Established in 1994, WPA had a long established reputation in the industry, with work in a variety of markets. After 3 years at the firm, the invitation to become a firm principal was accepted with a chance to work with firm principals Kent Walker (co-founder), Alan Paulson (co-founder), and Ron Jones. Building on the experiences of the firm founders, the firm has focused on meeting the needs of our clients, without infusing our ego or personality into the work. This value has continued as the firm transitioned in 2024 to a new generation of owners. Long-time employee, Dave Edwards is now working with me as owners and partners of the firm. The growth moving forward is focused on intentionality based upon the longstanding core values of the firm. A specific focus on work within the resort, healthcare, commercial, institutional, multi-family and municipal markets has been established as an intentional move to continue the establishment of our expertise in these markets.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road of life is never smooth. There are always challenges that guide and impact the trajectory of our work and experiences.
From the setback as a freshman in college that caused me to take a couple of years of reflection before selecting architecture as my path to the end of my undergraduate program where we were not sure if the opportunity to continue studies at the University of Utah, there have been several challenges that took us down a path that we may not have chosen. Our choice to move to San Diego for graduate school led to the opportunity to be near my parents as my father was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The growth I experienced working for Coombs as a results of the challenges that came from his car accident was a source of opportunity that came as I moved to Utah and was able to jump into the work of WPA quickly.
The challenge of the recession from 2008 – 2011 was one that allowed me to watch the efforts of a great leader, make the necessary choices to keep the firm alive and growing. It was a difficult time for the profession and for the firm. The foundation established by the founding partners and the current firm leaders allowed the firm to survive the recession and to come out of it with opportunities that would take the firm to where it is today. The transition to new leadership happened as the firm celebrated its 30th anniversary.
As the new generation of leaders has begun it’s oversight of the firm, we have taken the opportunity to ask ourselves the following question: If we were to start a new firm together, what would we want it to look like? The challenge that we have faced as we have considered what the next 30 years of WPA might look like, is to make the changes and adjustments along the way while also running the firm and continuing our efforts to focus on the needs of our clients.
As you know, we’re big fans of WPA Architecture. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
WPA Architecture was founded in July 1994 by Kent Walker and Alan Poulson. WPA was built upon the foundation of several firms based in Provo including Walker, Lee, Halendar and Kent Walker Architecture. In 2000, Ron Jones joined the firm and became a firm principal soon thereafter. In 2005, Bruce Fallon was hired as a staff architect and became a principal in 2008. Kent retired in 2009, Ron in 2021 and Alan at the end of 2023. As Alan retired, Dave Edwards, who joined WPA as a drafter in 2004, became a principal at the beginning of 2024.
WPA Architecture’s mission is to help facility owners from a variety of markets provide new, improved or expanded facilities that allow them to better serve their customers. As we’ve discussed, we have focused our efforts on working within the resort, healthcare, commercial, multi-family, institutional and civic markets.
WPA is a CLIENT FIRST organization, where our project approach asks how each design decision benefits the work of our clients. In our story, the client is the hero. We strive for work-life balance, where FAMILY IS OUR PRIORITY and we work hard each day to provide for them. We believe in creating GREAT DESIGN that is functional, responsive to the site, durable, and creative in its design solution. While the need for sustainable design has not been foremost in our approach, we are growing in our understanding and application of these principles. We believe to best meet the needs of our clients, a COLLABORATIVE TEAM including our clients, engineers, contractors and subcontractors is critical to work together for the best result possible. Finally, we strive for HIGH QUALITY DESIGN DELIVERABLES, providing designs and documents that are well thought out, detailed, and clearly conveying the design intent and how that design is to be implemented. Our expectation for a high standard of documentation carries through every stage of a project, and is intended to deliver solutions that support the passion of our clients. These five core values drives us at WPA Architecture, and is critical for our staff to have these same values.
Above and beyond the work we have been blessed to do for more than 30 years, it is the relationships that have been established and repeated for that time. To be able to work the leadership and staff at some of the great Utah based organization over and over again and where these working relationships go beyond the working relationship but become friends is the highest achievement we have enjoyed. Deer Valley, BYU, Central Valley Medical Center, Revere Health, Utah Valley Pediatrics, Utah Valley University, Spanish Fork City, Provo City, Sundance Resort, Utah Community Credit Union and many others we feel grateful to include on our list of friends.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
For those who really know me, they know that I’m not much of a reader. I try, but it’s not something I really enjoy. In 2020, I set a goal to read one book per month. I read 10 that year, which is pretty good. I have found that listening to podcasts has been a greater source of enjoyment and knowledge. I don’t know that I could pick one favorite podcast, but the ones I listen to regularly include “Life of an Architect” with Bob Borson and Andrew Hawkins, the “EntreArchitect” podcast with Jeff Echols, “Life of a CEO” by Steven Bartlett, and “The Reaction” which is a podcast covering the Liverpool Football Club in England. There’s some others, but those are the ones I enjoy the most. I’ve just recently found one called “High Performance” with Damian Hughes and Jake Humphrey. Super interesting to hear the stories of high performing people.
Contact Info:
- Website: wpa-architecture.com
- Instagram: wpa_arch
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WPA.Architecture?
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/wpa-architecture/
