For Precision, Passion, And Profit, Three Residential Firms are Building It Themselves‪.‬

better parts the construction zone phoenix, ariz. Andy Byrnes put himself through architecture school by building houses, and he enjoyed every minute of it. When he moved to Phoenix after graduation, his priorities were to get his contractor's license and track down fellow Tulane alumnus Richard Fairbourn. A mutual professor gave him the lead on Fairbourn, who'd been practicing architecture in the area for 15 years. The lead proved prophetic. In 1992, just a year after meeting, the two architects joined forces to form a design/build firm called The Construction Zone. "Collaboration led us to our own niche of creating only architecture that we want to build," Byrnes says.