Architecture Building Culture

General information

Firm Profile

ARCHITECTURE BUILDING CULTURE (ABC) is an award-winning design focused practice that sees its fundamental role as one of reflecting, supporting, uplifting and, in many cases, transforming the cultural context of its clients. To that end, we are committed to a collaborative and integrative process that considers the story of a building, its occupants and their activities as one and integral to the community it represents.

We believe that collaboration is an essential driver of [good] design. Different points of view and expertise enrich a project’s depth, performance, and cultural relevance. Collaboration broadens the intellectual knowledge base available to a project team and ensures a streamlined development and distribution of that knowledge throughout the entire process. To facilitate this commitment, ABC has forged alliances with industry thought leaders throughout North America and abroad in order to bring coordinated expertise to our planning and design work.

ABC offers a full range of professional services and has offices in Portland, Oregon and West Vancouver, British Columbia. We are licensed to practice in British Columbia, Oregon, Washington, California, and New Zealand. ABC’s expertise encompasses a wide array of building types including cultural, civic, commercial, educational, multi and single-family housing, and hospitality.

Current work includes various projects in Canada, the United States, and the South Pacific. These projects include a new meeting and reception hall facility for the Lubavitch Foundation of British Columbia; a facility needs assessment for the San Francisco Film Museum, which will be part of San Francisco’s Mid-Market Redevelopment Project; a new event and education center for an award winning winery in southern Oregon; a new spa for a resort in Fiji; and a number of high-end single family residences.

In addition, ABC serves as the Portland based Design Advocate for THE 1%, a program of the San Francisco based nonprofit, Public Architecture that connects nonprofits with architecture and design firms willing to give of their time pro bono. Design Advocate firms are selected in recognition of their exemplary public service, leadership in the pro bono movement, and track record of design excellence.

ABC and its principals, Brian Cavanaugh and Mark Ritchie, have won numerous design awards – including local and state design awards from the American Institute of Architects - and been published throughout the world. Most recently, ABC was awarded a 2011 AIA Portland Design Award for the Lubavitch Centre of British Columbia, a 2012 AIA Portland Design Award for the Stubbs Residence. In addition, Brian Cavanaugh received a 2012 Young Architects Award from the American Institute of Architects and was recently appointed to Portland’s AIA/APA/ASLA Urban Design Panel.

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Brian Cavanaugh, Principal & Co-Founder
Architect AIA AIBC NCARB

Brian Cavanaugh was born in Portland, Oregon in 1969. He received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Oregon where he received a one-year fellowship to study architecture and urban design at the Mackintosh School of Architecture in Glasgow, Scotland; and he received a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.

Prior to establishing his own practice, Mr. Cavanaugh served in senior positions at a number of highly recognized design firms. From 2001 to 2006 he served as Senior Associate at Michael Maltzan Architecture in Los Angeles, California. There he oversaw the programming, planning, and design and development of some of the firm’s most significant cultural projects, including MoMA QNS in Long Island City, New York; the Sonoma County Museum in Santa Rosa, California; and the programming and master planning for the major expansion of the Vancouver Art Gallery in Vancouver, Canada. From 2006-2007 he served as a Director in the Wellington, New Zealand based firm Architecture Workshop. There he oversaw the programming and master planning of the Te Manawa Museum of History, Art and Science.

The work Mr. Cavanaugh has been associated with has won numerous design awards – including local and state design awards from the American Institute of Architects - and been published throughout the world. He has been an instructor at Victoria University of Wellington, the University of Southern California, the Boston Architectural Center, Woodbury University, and the Otis College of Art & Design, and a guest critic at a number of academic institutions. He is a licensed architect in California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Architectural Institute of British Columbia (AIBC); and is certified by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB). He recently completed an appointment to the City of Seattle Design Program’s Capitol Hill Board and is a recent graduate of Seattle's Leadership Tomorrow program.

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Mark Ritchie, Principal & Co-Founder
Architect AIBC MRAIC ANZIA

Mark Ritchie was born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1967. He graduated from Victoria University of Wellington with a Bachelor of Building Science and a Bachelor of Architecture with 1st class Honors. He was awarded the New Zealand Institute of Architects Bachelor of Architecture Scholarship for leading graduate in 1992.

Prior to joining ABC, Mr. Ritchie gained extensive experience working for internationally recognized practices in a number of countries including New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Canada. In 2003, after two years as a Senior Lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington's School of Architecture and Design Mr. Ritchie established his own practice with projects in New Zealand, Fiji Islands and Vancouver, BC. Mr. Ritchie has been a licensed Architect with the New Zealand Architects Registration Board since 2003.

Both in his own practice and with other design firms Mr. Ritchie has been responsible for a number of significant civic and hospitality projects in various locations including the new interior for the Singapore National Public Library 1996; the Upper Hutt Cultural Center Community Theatre, Galleries and Café, Upper Hutt, New Zealand 2002; Vomo Island Resort, guest areas refurbishment, new restaurant, spa and villas, Fiji Islands 2008. Many of the projects Mr. Ritchie has worked on have won National (New Zealand and Australia) and international design awards and have been published internationally.

For the past 8 years Mr. Ritchie has developed extensive experience with building information modeling (BIM) and oversees its implementation at ABC. Mr. Ritchie is currently engaged in the research and application of BIM to developed integrated environmental solutions during the design process. This interest is a subset of a broader interest in the affects of architecture on the wider cultural environment.