Dave Evancho, Project Captain, and Marylee Mercy, Staff Architect and Assistant Project Manager at Studio G, each bring a wealth of knowledge to the Studio G team. They have collaborated closely over the past couple of years on the Florence Roche Elementary School project in Groton.
Getting Started in Architecture
Dave said that he first thought about architecture as a career in the seventh grade, when he was tasked with designing a balsa wood bridge. “That was the first time I did a project that didn’t feel like work,” he said. “After that, that’s what I guided myself towards,” he said, and excelled in related courses like geometry and physics. He then went on to take drafting and pre-design courses in high school, and developed a portfolio that allowed him to get into architecture school.
Marylee’s story isn’t quite as linear. “I came into architecture in a very roundabout way,” she said. Her original goal was to become a lawyer, and she took political science and economics classes.
“In hindsight, I should have known from the beginning,” she said. Her father is an engineer, and she used to take his graph paper and draw floor plans and built treehouses and forts. “All signs pointed to architecture,” she said.
Role at Studio G and Thoughts on Mentor/Mentee Relationships
“It’s a combination of design work and big picture thinking,” Marylee said of her role, including “helping other people and guiding other people.”
Marylee recently received her certification as an Accredited Learning Environment Planner (ALEP), and earned the Massachusetts Certified Public Purchasing Official (MCPPO) designation at the end of 2023. Both further her impact as an architect in Studio G’s education studio.
Dave sums up his role in “the shortest possible answer” as “problem solving.” This month marks eight years at Studio G for Dave, and the last few have heavily focused on construction administration. He also often problem solves IT issues we may have in the office.
Marylee said that she thinks the mentor/mentee setup at Studio G is “really rewarding.” She said that as a mentee, she feels like it provides the opportunity for her to “figure out where I want my career to go and how I fit into the larger group of people.”
Dave noted that while Studio G does have assigned mentors and mentees, it is not a super formal or strict format. “I feel like I can go to people regardless [of who my mentor is],” Dave said.
Marylee added, “the knowledge sharing in general is very supportive. The mentoring happens every day, all the time.”
Thoughts on Each Other
Marylee and Dave sit in the same pod in the Studio G office, which Dave said “is very beneficial.”
Dave said that he admires Marylee’s “ability to carry the prime driver of the design from large scale to tiny scale,” and the fact that she can see how such a tiny detail as something like grout can relate to the overall design.
“You are like the nexus point for connecting production staff and project management staff,” he said to Marylee. “You live in both worlds.”
Marylee noted Dave’s “sense of calm” and that he is “very methodical. No matter how complex the problem is,” he is “able to think it through in a very calm [way].”
Proud Moments in Their Careers
Marylee said she is most proud of being able to help people, “clients in particular,” as they are “always doing the best they can with what they have.” She said she takes pride in “being able to provide them with a space that is really thoughtfully planned out and meets their needs and their future needs.”
Dave said that “I feel really proud of all the projects I’ve been on that I’ve seen to completion,” such as the Crispus Attucks Children’s Center in Dorchester and the Taunton Men’s Recovery from Addiction Program.
Though the Florence Roche school is not yet complete, Dave said that milestone events such as seeing the steel frame go up and “seeing things actually come to reality” is “very satisfying and rewarding.”
He continued, “I’m doing what I like to do. I’m very happy.”
Goals for the Future + Dream Projects
“I want to keep learning more and more about this intersection between education and architecture,” Marylee said. “It’s constantly evolving; always looking for new ways to do it better.” She said she wants to learn more about “what researchers are finding and how to help kids learn better, how to support teachers, and how to support districts.”
Dave said, he has been “really lucky” to work on several different kinds of projects, but he doesn’t have one specific dream project.
“I like getting new challenges,” he said. He said that one of his thesis ideas was a “not realistic” housing set-up that would include the “community elements of a town,” such as restaurants, on slow moving tracks. These buildings would be “callable,” and you could call them right to you, “like conveyor belt sushi,” Dave said.
Marylee said, “I would love to do the school equivalent of a concept car.” She said that she would love to see the outcome of all stakeholders on the same page to see “how it would change design in general going forward to other schools.”
