Chris Hawley is a jack of all trades as an Architect, Designer, Builder, and Business Owner of Craftwell Architects + Construction in Fargo. Chris attended Minot State and then NDSU. When sharing what motivated him to start Craftwell, Chris shares “My mom is a furniture maker and my dad was a draftsman and both owned their own businesses. I feel like I was programmed a bit for this. In addition, I could also see a niche in the market for the kind of work that we do.” As he reflects on what led him to then starting the business, he shares “It was always in the back of my mind, but probably didn’t necessitate itself until I realized that I was already doing a lot of this work at my previous firm. And, I was raised in a family that has never worked for anyone.”
When explaining all that Craftwell does, Chris shares “We are architects, designers, and builders first, but put the owner hat on as we walk through a project. Our mission is to produce inspiring work that owners and our staff like to be a part of. There is a quality of life component to what we do.” Craftwell serves all types of projects and clients. They do small cabins, large homes, restaurants, boutique hotels, dental offices, mixed-use development…..you name it. If you like to do nice things, they like to be a part of it.
“We do this because we are committed to creative problem solving and we don’t like to do the same thing twice. It is what gets us up in the morning. We build on what we know, but reinvent ourselves for each project. We care about our client’s success and we care about our community.”
As he reflects on his time with developing Craftwell, Chris shares some of their high and low points, “The highs have always been the successful/celebrated projects and the committed clients….Treehouses, Skybarn, Fargo Laundry, Governor’s Residence, Brew, 701, Arch Dental, etc. The lows have really been trying to grow a business that requires so much personal attention and realizing that your success is often attached to and limited by some pretty intangible things.”
As he thinks of their next stage of growth and how Craftwell can be supported, he shares “Send me motivated, smart, creative people that know how to use a hammer, a pencil, a computer and their brain all at the same time. Not to mention, we can always use the next great client/project.”
You can find Craftwell on Facebook and Instagram, as well as the American Institute of Architects ND Chapter website, and their website here.
