ABOUT US
Rand Elliott Architects is a dynamic team of licensed practitioners and architectural specialists with a deep respect for the unique opportunities and challenges each client and project presents.
We maintain a close connection to each project’s unique history and surroundings, drawing inspiration from the landscape, how the light filters, and the prevailing wind.
REA strives to address not only the functional needs of our clients, but also how our work affects people, body and psyche. Atmospheres that awaken the senses, lighting that captivates, and materials and textures that create contrast and harmony; are all woven together to create a space that sparks an indelible experience.
Ultimately, we see our work as a poetic expression of our clients’ ideas. It is their story, expressed as architecture.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Interior Architecture
Lighting Design
Master Planning
Historic Preservation
Sustainable Solutions
EXPERTISE
As a multi-disciplinary design firm, we serve a variety of markets.
Corporate Campus & Office
Residential & Multi Family
Educational Facilities
Civic & Community
cultural & performing arts
historic preservation & renovation
Science & Technology
Restaurants & Retail
Infrastructure & Support Facilities
388
awards for architectural
excellence
10
national AIA honor awards
for architecTure
450+
Books and publication
features
ARCHITECTURE
Architecture is a profession as well as the art of designing and building, distinguished from the skills associated with construction.
It is the process and product of sketching (a dying art that’s become a meaningful benefit for REA clients). Rand’s sketches are invaluable for the process of conceiving, planning, designing, and overseeing construction – as well as communicating original ideas. The process serves structures beyond buildings, as seen in REA’s landmark 66-ft POPS bottle in Arcadia, the Will Rogers World Airport arrows or the Beacon of Light.
Defining “A Good Building”
Rand Elliott draws on the classical tenets of the Roman architect, Vitruvius, whose definition of a good building embodies durability, utility, and beauty (1st century B.C.). In the 19th century, Louis Sullivan declared that “form follows function.” (“Function” began to replace the classical “utility” and was understood to include not only practical but also aesthetic, psychological, and cultural dimensions.) The idea of sustainable architecture was introduced in the late 20th century.
Modern architecture began after World War I as an avant-garde movement that developed a striking new style to reflect a new post-war social and economic order to accommodate the middle and working classes. Modern techniques, materials, and simplified geometric forms paved the way for high-rise superstructures.
Over time, the field of architecture evolved to include everything from ship design to building interiors – i.e., Interior Architecture (another REA proficiency).
The Golden Section (aka Golden Ratio) is a geometric proportion that is particularly pleasing to the eye.
It’s 1 to about 1.618 and is frequently found in nature. It was first identified by Vetruvius.
For the Heartland HQ building in downtown OKC, Rand Elliott Architects applied the Golden Ratio to modulate window sizes for the transition from the mid-sized (one- and two-story) buildings of Automobile Alley to downtown’s larger scale. It creates order quietly; a grace note inserted into its surroundings where a surface parking lot had been for generations.)
