Licensed architect joins Nelson Design, Inc.

55 minutes ago

Nelson Design, Inc., the Carl A. Nelson & Company (CANCO) subsidiary that performs design, code study, BIM modeling and other design services for the firm's construction clients, welcomes the addition of licensed architect R. Wayne Williamson, NCARB LEED AP B/D+C.

Wayne, who joined the firm in September, graduated from Kansas University's architecture program in 1990 and brings 35 years of architectural experience in commercial and institutional projects to Nelson Design. Based in CANCO's Cedar Falls office, he will team with designer Kendra Schulz in the Burlington office to serve clients' design needs.

Although his entire career has been spent in architecture, Wayne is not without first-hand construction experience. As a teen, he was encouraged by his father, an architect, to work summer construction jobs. Working now directly for a construction company, Wayne said that experience will be helpful. But it always has been, he said, explaining the appreciation those summers spent framing, doing masonry and roofing gave him for the constructability of a project.

"It was a great lesson in a lot of ways," he said, among them that "if it doesn't work, the design means nothing."

As an architect, Wayne said his motivation is problem-solving, and "addressing or changing the environment we live in," making improvements to create a better world.

Upon graduating from KU, his career began with a job for a firm doing school design and construction in North Kansas City, working not only on school design but upkeep and maintenance as well. A St. Louis native, Wayne later went on to work for firms there that designed single- and multi-family residential housing, banks, schools and hospitals, among other project types like hotels. When one long-time employer was sold, he relocated to the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area and went to work for a design-build firm specializing in banks, then later for a developer who he worked for up until joining CANCO.

The move to Carl A. Nelson & Company "seemed like a good fit," Wayne said, citing the firm's history of school and hospital projects in particular.

"The things I'm most interested in doing," he said, "are the things that are going to impact people in their communities."

One of the appealing things about Iowa, Wayne said, is that small communities across the state continue to support local hospitals and school systems. It's not that way in many other states, he said.

Away from his design duties, Wayne is married to his college sweetheart, Kristy. They are the parents of two, Emily, 38, in Connecticut; and Josh, 33, in Minneapolis; and the grandparents of two, a girl and boy ages 6 and 4. Pastimes include family trips and cruises, and spending time with the grandchildren. Wayne's personal interests include painting (artistically), home improvements and sports. A former Division 1 outfielder at KU, he also wore the suit of the Jayhawks mascot.