About
Jared Banks, AIA (State of Washington, License 11137) lives and works out of the Maple Leaf neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. He founded Shoegnome Architects in 2010 to create better homes for his neighbors and help other architects/designers improve the way they work. While he primarily works in Northeast Seattle, he is open to discussing any project of any scale in any location. Collaborating with the right clients, such as ones that understand dining rooms are used more for game nights than Thanksgiving dinners, is more important than project type or location (though projects he can walk to are his favorite).
I decided to become an architect when I was in first grade. The plan was to design houses and have my own business. I forgot about that dream as I got older, but remembered the day before my senior year of high school. I graduated from Rice University with a BArch in 2005, got my architecture license in 2009, and started Shoegnome in 2010 as a consultancy to teach other architects how to better integrate technology into their businesses. Moving from St. Paul, MN to Seattle in 2014, I shifted the focus to residential design, rebranding the business as Shoegnome Architects.
I love houses and enjoy thinking about the way people live. While my job isn’t always fun (dealing with permitting is rarely a joy), I feel incredibly lucky to have the privilege of designing beautiful and functional homes for my clients. Spending days and weeks in the 3D models I create and then getting to experience the built spaces is one of the coolest things. It’s an amazing feeling to stand in a finish room for the first time and not be surprised, instead just thinking “yup, just like the model.”
I am a member of the American Institute of Architects. I served on the AIA Custom Residential Architects Network (CRAN) Communications Committee from 2013 to 2017 and on the AIA CRAN Advisory Group from 2015 to 2017. Since 2018, I have been a co-organizer of the AIA Seattle’s Sole Practitioners Round Table (SPRouT), a group of architects who meet monthly to discuss issues related to being a sole-practitioner and to provide encouragement and support. I currently run the Seattle Area Archicad User Group and previously organized the Minnesota Archicad User Group.
For a number of years Shoegnome’s primary focus was offering a variety of Archicad training and support options for people worldwide. While I now have limited availability to offer training or write about Archicad and BIM, I still record Archicad Tutorial videos and continue to develop the Shoegnome Open Template for Archicad and the Shoegnome Work Environment for Archicad.
The Fairytale
Why is an architecture firm called Shoegnome? It’s from my favorite Brothers Grimm story, the one about the cobbler and the elves. We are the elves. A long time ago, my wife and I misremembered the Brothers Grimm story as the cobbler and the gnomes. I noticed that wherever I was working, people would come to me to save their projects. Coworkers would go home; I’d stay to fix projects and make everything wonderful. Something felt very familiar. The concept of being a shoegnome was born. For a longer explanation, read this blog post.