Cornerstone Architects is always on the lookout for great talent to add to our fun, diverse, collaborative, quirky team! We recently brought on Brandon Crelia as our newest project coordinator in our residential department!
Brandon was born in Dallas and grew up in the northern suburb of Plano. After graduating high school, he attended Texas A&M University where he earned his Bachelor of Environmental Design in 2016. He then completed his Master of Architecture from UTSA in 2018. After finishing school, Brandon moved to Austin with his girlfriend, Kayla, where they love spending time with friends and finding new places to enjoy around town.
"Professionally, I was able to pass all of my ARE exams in just over 15 months without any retakes and before completing my experience hours, which I am very proud to claim. I am extremely excited to be a part of the Cornerstone team to contribute to the beautiful and amazing designs that the firm is able to produce."
We are excited to welcome Brandon to to our Cornerstone family! We are getting to know him a little bit more each day, and here are some fun facts we'd like to share:
When Brandon isn’t in the office he can be found....
Either by the pool or exploring new places to grab a drink with friends.
When/why did you decide to pursue architecture?
I had found myself interested in the very elaborate and and beautiful homes in areas around Plano. When it came time to declare a major for college applications, I did not have a great idea of what I wanted to do; I didn't make it too far down the alphabetical list before reaching architecture and said "sure, why not?". I figured it could work out since I am detail oriented and decent at math. Once I actually got into it, I really fell in love with architecture and knew I made the right choice, even if it had been relatively on a whim.
What was the last TV show you binge-watched?
"The Great" on Hulu. It has a very dry and abrupt sense of humor that I appreciate.
Biggest pet peeve?
Terrible/distracted drivers drivers.
Is cereal soup? Why or why not?
In my opinion, no. Soup needs to be a warm meal that you do not eat for breakfast.
Best advice you've ever been given?
I remember golfing with my dad one time when I was maybe 12 years old and being the competitive person that I am, I got upset at myself for continually making bad shots. He told me that "if it were easy, everyone would be a professional at it." It might be simple and to a degree cliche, but for some reason it has stuck with me and reminds me to try to remain humble and accepting that I cannot be great or even good at everything and that is okay.
If you could have a super power, what would it be?
Flying or teleporting, for sure.
What’s something people would never guess about you?
While waiting to hear back about acceptance from architecture schools, I debated on applying to culinary school. I really enjoy cooking and it seemed like I was the last person to know whether or not I was accepted for architecture school; so things could have turned out quite differently for me.