Rebecca Spears, AIA, LEED AP,
Principal

As a Principal at RB+B, Rebecca is an organized orchestrator. She brings great teams together and draws out each team member’s best talents, then discovers the defining issues of the project while moving towards the solution. Rebecca brings a wealth of experience to the projects she designs and manages. She enjoys exploring options and finding direction with Owners at the start of the project, then including the nuances that make the design special. [...]

As a Principal at RB+B, Rebecca is an organized orchestrator. She brings great teams together and draws out each team member’s best talents, then discovers the defining issues of the project while moving towards the solution. Rebecca brings a wealth of experience to the projects she designs and manages. She enjoys exploring options and finding direction with Owners at the start of the project, then including the nuances that make the design special.

Rebecca’s favorite design tool is, simply, conversation – it’s a very low-tech tool, but is her favorite way to get to know people and what they need or want in a building.

Outside the office, Rebecca enjoys mountain biking, snowboarding, volunteering and travel; sometimes she even combines these. Rebecca also serves on a foundation board for charitable giving, volunteers helping to build trails, and leads the office’s Friday Break Design Chats, Knowledge Shares and Project Shares to encourage ongoing creative dialogue among her peers at RB+B.

David Kress, AIA, LEED AP, A4LE,
Principal

As a Principal at RB+B, David looks holistically at projects and is able to both set the big picture direction while considering even the smallest of details. His favorite part of the design process is casting the vision for projects and creating the first design concept. David’s work style is unique: you’ll often find him listening intently to the programming and design discussion and absorbing information before orienting himself to the site parameters and then going back to his desk to begin sculpting a three-dimensional vision in SketchUp. [...]

As a Principal at RB+B, David looks holistically at projects and is able to both set the big picture direction while considering even the smallest of details. His favorite part of the design process is casting the vision for projects and creating the first design concept. David’s work style is unique: you’ll often find him listening intently to the programming and design discussion and absorbing information before orienting himself to the site parameters and then going back to his desk to begin sculpting a three-dimensional vision in SketchUp.

David’s favorite design tool is SketchUp, as he equates it to digital clay. Family pictures at his desk help to keep his work in perspective.

Outside the office, David volunteers on the Architectural Review Board for his neighborhood as well as the Leadership Committee for his church. He also enjoys cycling, sailing, and building furniture.

Matt Arabasz, AIA, ALEP, LEED AP BD+C,
Principal

Matt is a Principal at RB+B who always has an eye on improvement: exercising his passion for improving internal office processes to evaluating the details of wall assemblies, as well as better articulating our planning and design processes to our clients. Matt enjoys the iterative nature of design; getting an idea out either verbally or graphically, and then shaping it and re-shaping it until it is closer to the ideal being sought. [...]

Matt is a Principal at RB+B who always has an eye on improvement: exercising his passion for improving internal office processes to evaluating the details of wall assemblies, as well as better articulating our planning and design processes to our clients. Matt enjoys the iterative nature of design; getting an idea out either verbally or graphically, and then shaping it and re-shaping it until it is closer to the ideal being sought.

Matt’s favorite part about being an educational architect is witnessing children happily engaged in the learning environments we have designed for them–the realization that the purpose of all of the meetings, paperwork, and late nights was about more than designing a building, but really, all about creating spaces that put a smile on children’s faces.

If you want a glimpse into Matt’s “happy place”, take a peek at the large, picturesque mountain photograph he keeps posted at his desk, providing a mental break when the email piles up. Unsurprisingly, outside the office you’ll find Matt enjoying all things outdoors-related, including hiking, camping, mountain biking, rock climbing, and snowshoeing. On the weekends he enjoys learning a new language or supporting his kids’ soccer habits.

Gopal Shrestha, AIA, LEED AP,
Director of Design

Gopal is RB+B’s Director of Design. He has a hand in most projects throughout the office, is a visual storyteller, and is able to see the big picture when creating architectural spaces. Gopal’s diverse life has lent him a unique perspective, the result of having lived in two very different countries – Nepal and the United States. [...]

Gopal is RB+B’s Director of Design. He has a hand in most projects throughout the office, is a visual storyteller, and is able to see the big picture when creating architectural spaces. Gopal’s diverse life has lent him a unique perspective, the result of having lived in two very different countries – Nepal and the United States.

During design, Gopal enjoys coming up with very first concepts for a project; it is the time of sleepless nights due the simultaneous feelings of both exhilaration and anxiety. On Gopal’s desk you’ll find evidence that he appreciates the value of lasting design: including a manual desk-mounted pencil sharpener and 35-year-old solar powered calculator from his high school days that he still uses even now.

Gopal’s passion for enjoying life extends beyond the design world. Occasionally the office is lucky enough to enjoy his famous paella at office parties. He enjoys cooking and learning about food, playing guitar, and exploring cities with art, food and design in mind. Together with other Nepalese people living in the U.S., he is active in raising money to help earthquake victims in Nepal.

Derek Young, AIA, LEED AP,
Senior Associate

Derek is a Senior Associate and Project Manager at RB+B who is known for establishing great rapport with consultants, contractors and owners, is personable, and, most importantly, not easily ruffled under pressure.  He likes to keep things light and fun, while maintaining professionalism on a project. Derek enjoys taking what can be a complicated design process and making it simple and fun for the owner. Seeing their excitement when they begin to see the building take shape during construction is one of his favorite aspects of the profession. [...]

Derek is a Senior Associate and Project Manager at RB+B who is known for establishing great rapport with consultants, contractors and owners, is personable, and, most importantly, not easily ruffled under pressure.  He likes to keep things light and fun, while maintaining professionalism on a project. Derek enjoys taking what can be a complicated design process and making it simple and fun for the owner. Seeing their excitement when they begin to see the building take shape during construction is one of his favorite aspects of the profession.

Even though he might have a messy desk covered with notes, paper and magazines, he knows exactly where everything is. Derek’s likes coffee…a lot; it’s always hot at his desk which is helpful when he gets a few minutes to explore a design in SketchUp.

Derek has served as Project Manager on several of RB+B’s LEED Platinum projects and is a past member of Leadership Fort Collins. He enjoys giving back to the profession through mentoring and sharing architecture with students, as well as volunteering at his kids’ schools, especially when it involves teaching about the profession.

During his off time you’ll find him playing ice hockey, billiards, or out and about backpacking, hiking, and camping throughout the Rocky Mountains. He also enjoys climbing at the gym with his son and playing tennis with both of his kids.

Brianne Smith, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, A4LE,
Senior Associate

Brianne is a Senior Associate and Project Manager at RB+B who is practical, personable, and a natural leader. She enjoys problem solving and piecing solutions together like a puzzle. Her favorite part of the design process is seeing the ideas and spaces in her mind take a physical form in real life, and the excitement this brings to school staff. [...]

Brianne is a Senior Associate and Project Manager at RB+B who is practical, personable, and a natural leader. She enjoys problem solving and piecing solutions together like a puzzle. Her favorite part of the design process is seeing the ideas and spaces in her mind take a physical form in real life, and the excitement this brings to school staff.

She is highly involved in the community as well as professionally. In 2018 she was selected to the AIA Colorado’s Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program, and is a classroom volunteer in the Thompson School District as well as a members of the Philo Women’s Society.

Inside the office Brianne won’t be found without a hot cup of tea and she always has a variety of music playlists to keep the creative juices flowing. She leads the firm’s post-occupancy evaluation program and is always looking for ways to improve the quality of how we work. Brianne likes to question norms and test solutions, helping to refine them and deliver the best outcome for owners.

Outside of work, she can be found hiking, on family road trips with their Labrador, cooking delicious meals with produce from her family’s garden, running, and fixing fairy wings for her two daughters.

Ben Basalay, AIA, LEED AP,
Senior Associate

Ben is a Senior Project Manager who is the go-to person when you need someone to pay close attention to the details and provide a strong sense of focus. Ben loves a good beer, so he’s passionate about creating well-designed brewery facilities that help support the craft. Ben’s two favorite aspects of architecture serve as the “bookends” to projects: the first Design Meeting or Walk-Thru and the final Ribbon-Cutting. His two most prominent projects to date are New Middle/High Schools for Poudre School District (one in Wellington and one in Timnath), both which opened in 2022 at the cost of $120 million and $134 million, respectively. [...]

Ben is a Senior Project Manager who is the go-to person when you need someone to pay close attention to the details and provide a strong sense of focus. Ben loves a good beer, so he’s passionate about creating well-designed brewery facilities that help support the craft. Ben’s two favorite aspects of architecture serve as the “bookends” to projects: the first Design Meeting or Walk-Thru and the final Ribbon-Cutting. His two most prominent projects to date are New Middle/High Schools for Poudre School District (one in Wellington and one in Timnath), both which opened in 2022 at the cost of $120 million and $134 million, respectively.

Ben’s favorite design tool is trace paper; it provides limitless possibilities and often what is sketched out on trace becomes the client’s first, exciting glimpse of their vision on paper. Not only does Ben work hard but he also enjoys giving back. He is a Larimer County Emergency Services On-Call Wildland Firefighter and has been since 2003. He supports his kids through coaching their hockey and baseball teams, and volunteers at their elementary school.

When not hammering out a detail or working through a design problem, Ben enjoys all things Outdoors and native to Colorado, as well as a good game of Pond Hockey with his wife and kids, homebrewing, and the Colorado craft beer culture.