Design Manager
Aries Francisco
The first sketch is for me. The last drawing is for the inspector.
Aries runs APD's residential and multifamily side. Custom homes, ADUs, the duplex-through-mid-rise multifamily projects that demand the patience of a long negotiation. He's the calm voice on a tense plan-check call. He thinks in elevations before he thinks in plans.
The way Aries sees it, a drawing set is two conversations stitched together: the one with the owner — about what the home wants to be — and the one with the AHJ — about what the code requires. His job is to leave neither party with anything to misread.
Field notes
The little things Aries keeps on the bench.
Favorite project
A custom home where the owner has actually read the IRC. Those collaborations land somewhere good — fewer corrections, faster permits, real partnership.
Design hero
Glenn Murcutt — for the long apprenticeship to climate and place. A house should know where it sits.
What I tell young drafters
Learn the code before you learn the software. The software is the cheap part. The code is the part that decides whether your set passes plan check or comes back with thirty comments.
When I'm not at the desk
The Sonoran. Light hiking, a camera, no agenda. Best light is the hour after dawn.
Have a project that fits Aries's lane?
Tell us what you're building. We'll get Aries on the call.
Work with Aries →