Jeff Fountain says he and Bob Britton, both licensed architects, last week completed a three-year buyout of Copeland Architecture & Construction Inc., of Spokane, from founder Gerry Copeland.


The firm specializes in custom design-build residential projects and also provides commercial design services for office, retail, resort, and multifamily residential projects. One of its projects was the 26,000-square-foot Riverfront Office Building, located along the Spokane River east of downtown.


It employs 10 people and occupies an 1,800-square-foot space on the fifth floor of the Asuris-Schade Towers, located at 528 E. Spokane Falls Boulevard, just south of the Riverfront building.


It moved there last year from an 800-square-foot space in the Commission Building, at 216 W. Pacific, and in recent months has added an architect and an interior design coordinator as part of an ongoing effort to expand its services, Fountain says.


The new architect, Colin Anderson, formerly had been an intern with Copeland Architecture and received his masters degree in architecture from Washington State University in December, Fountain says. The interior design coordinator, Diana Nicoletti, holds a bachelors degree in interior design from WSU and will enable the firm to put a greater focus on those services, he says.


Gerry Copeland continues to work at the firm on a part-time basis, and the firm has one other full-time architect, Austin Dickey, whom it hired about a year ago. Dickey had been at ALSC Architects PS here for eight years, where he was involved in commercial-design work, and now oversees Copeland Architectures commercial-design services, Fountain says.


Weve done commercial architecture throughout the years, but primarily residential, and now we have a focus on commercial work as well. Its very much a part of our marketing, he says.


Britton is president of the firm and Fountain is vice president, but theyre equal shareholders in the business. The firm formerly was named Copeland Design & Construction, but changed its name to Copeland Architecture & Construction three years ago when Britton and Fountain became partners.


Were quite busy right now, Fountain says. The market is not a great market in general, but weve continued to provide a niche. We have a big focus in sustainable design, which recently has become a strong growth area in the design and construction fields.


Contact Kim Crompton at (509) 344-1263 or via e-mail at kimc@spokanejournal.com.