Tuesday, July 16, 2024
By: Kyle Niblett
Growing up in Polk County, Colby Todd spent his childhood tinkering, building and drawing with whatever was put in front of him. In high school, he directed that energy toward drafting classes and local design competitions in his high school.
“For me, architecture was the one thing that made sense for me since I was little,” Todd said. “Many influences shaped me toward the field of architecture, a field which is one of the few places I have felt like I belonged.”
This sense of belonging eventually led him to the University of Florida School of Architecture, where he just graduated with his bachelor’s degree this past spring. Before returning this fall to pursue his master’s degree, the Auburndale resident decided to forgo any summer celebration or vacation. Instead, he has been balancing his summer interning at two firms owned by legendary UF SoA graduates: Straughn Trout Architects and Strang Design.
Since the end of his high school days, Todd has been an extension of the studio team at Straughn Trout, establishing a great relationship with Tim Hoeft (BDES ’04, MARCH ’06), the firm’s managing principal. Currently, Todd serves as an architectural intern at the Lakeland office, where his efforts have included a full cross-section of tasks at the firm. His work has included project-specific design drawings and field verifications as well as corporate initiatives to advance toward technology and marketing goals.
“Colby has continually brought a great ‘willing-to-learn’ attitude and respect for the discipline, and this has clearly served him well both in Lakeland and in his academic course work in Gainesville,” said Hoeft, who was named to UF’s prestigious “40 Gators Under 40” list in 2021.
Todd has now been at Straughn Trout long enough that there are multiple projects that he took part in since the early stages of the design process that are nearing completion in their construction or have been completed. The most important one for the future double Gator is the Polk Museum of Art at Florida Southern College, a building designed previously by STA in the 1980s. As of this writing they are near completing a substantial addition to the existing structure that will primarily add new gallery space and classrooms. Through his work in his home county, Todd enjoys the thrill of a new challenge.
“I have to be very dynamic and stay on my toes,” he said. “The most challenging part of my internship has been the speed of deadlines and learning to collaborate with so many people. In practice I typically have to reach deadlines across multiple projects, which themselves have multiple checkpoints. Having to coordinate these projects with large, multi-discipline teams is what makes communication so important in a team setting.”
Todd’s second internship is a 30-minute drive east as a special projects intern at Strang Design under the leadership of Max Strang (BDES ’94). There he has been taking part in renovation and restoration projects helping to archive and create a database of the late legendary Florida architect Gene Leedy (BDES ’50) works and personal effects. He also has been leading a series of tours and events at the Gene Leedy Office and Home.
“Colby has been instrumental with our firm’s ongoing efforts to restore the home and office of Gene Leedy,” said Strang, who was recently included in Wallpaper* Magazine’s USA 400 list honoring the people defining America’s creative landscape in 2024. “Beyond that, Colby’s skillset has afforded us the opportunity to conduct sophisticated mapping exercises which document the collection of Leedy’s buildings in Central Florida.”
Getting to work for two legendary alumni has been a blessing for Todd. It goes without saying how important the network is from the UF College of Design, Construction and Planning.
“I have already been able to feel the intense support the DCP network provides,” he explained. “From job opportunities, such as the ones I have now, to having stronger connections with associates in other disciplines, I interact with alumni daily to achieve the completion of projects. Even outside of the context of practice, there is a comfort that comes with the knowledge that there is a large community of people who know personally the stage you are at in life and are often willing to help guide you through it.”
While others help guide Todd through his career and he literally helps guide others through the Leedy home and office, Todd has taken tremendous pride in having the unique opportunity to both preserve and add to the architectural heritage of his home county, a heritage that he believes is severely underrated. With his exhaustive yet fruitful real-world experience this summer, he is looking forward to utilizing his leadership skills in his coursework and extracurricular activities as a DCP student when he returns to Gainesville this fall.
“My internship experiences have become more needed as I continue in my education, where the level of detail and expectations continues to be raised,” said Todd, who is scheduled to get his master’s degree from UF in the spring of 2026. “It has also helped me come back with a more refined vision of what I would like to get out of my education the most and where my focus should lay.”
His activities at UF include being a member of the UF chapter of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) and as a project manager for Freedom by Design, a related club founded in Fall 2022. It is these experiences along with his education at UF that he credits for helping him receive an AIA Florida Student Scholarship, which he will be receiving at the AIA Florida Convention on July 20. In addition, along with fellow UF students Luna Pedrosa, Christian Bravo, and Karen de Vries, he is a finalist for the MOA Design Competition with the winners expected to be announced later this month.
“Being a DCP student has been a very rewarding experience, but it all depends on what you put into it since it is much more than just doing well in your coursework,” he said.
When asked to give advice to future students, Todd focused on not being afraid to take risks and to be curious, because that is when you learn the most. He also suggested they follow in his footsteps in terms of joining different competitions, clubs, and activities that encourage and help students grow in their interests. After all, it’s following his own advice and the advice from two SoA legends that got him accepted into grad school at UF.
“I believe that graduate school at DCP will give me the best education that prepares me for practice, which is one of my main goals these next two years. I also can’t wait to see the things I’ve invested my time and effort into during my time at UF and DCP continue to flourish, such as the Freedom by Design Chapter, which I hope to continue supporting and move into a guiding role for while in grad school. Plus, the SoA grad program offers some of the best financial incentives for students when compared to others around the country. I will also be a graduate teaching assistant during my time, which will continue my joy of being a teaching assistant during my undergraduate schooling, where I mainly assisted with lower-level studio courses.”
While he’s not sure when he will rest again due to the nature of his two internships and grad schools, Todd feels prepared as a seasoned veteran of SoA studios. His immediate goals after graduating with his master’s in architecture will be to gain licensure and officially become an architect. From there, he hopes to become a principal and lead his own projects at the professional level.
“We look forward to continuing to be a part of his professional growth journey,” Hoeft said.
Question and Answer Session with Colby Todd
What has been your favorite course/professor at DCP and why?
I firmly believe that I wouldn’t have had such a successful track throughout my time at DCP without the continued support of Professor Judi Shade Monk. From the first day of my Architectural Design 1 course as a freshman with Professor Monk, you could tell she is truly in the corner for all her students, past and present. She has a profound way of getting the best out of her students by encouraging what makes them distinct instead of forcing them into a mold. This experience has only continued as I have had the chance to have her for other courses throughout my time in DCP.
What has been your favorite memory at DCP and why?
The first time I was able to see snow was in my final days of taking part in the Vicenza Study Abroad Program during the Fall 2023 Semester. At 2 a.m. after spending the day preparing to travel back home, I rushed out of my apartment to see the snow with my classmates. Before I left for Italy, I had hardly been outside of the Southeastern United States, much less on a different continent. Even though I had so many amazing experiences throughout the trip and have so many cherished memories from that semester, that specific memory felt like a culmination of the entire semester and how much I went through up to that point. Experiences that for a small-town kid, I didn’t even know I could dream about because they seemed so out of reach.
Editor’s Note: Tim Hoeft also provided this quote about Colby related to Vicenza: “The opportunity he recently had to participate in UF’s Vicenza Institute of Architecture (VIA) Program has clearly enhanced his vigor for design and his drive for success in the field, as it did for me 20 years ago.”
What is the one thing you know now that you wish you would have known your first day at UF?
It is not only important to build connections within the community of DCP, but also across the greater UF campus as well as the Gainesville community. There is a wealth of knowledge around every corner, but I know too many people who feel confined to their immediate circle. While I mainly interact with the OneDCP family, I have relationships outside of this community that have been just as important to my growth as a person, student and designer.
How did DCP prepare you for your internships?
I have been able to constantly bring back skills and knowledge I have obtained during my time at DCP and apply them to the everyday challenges at my internships. This includes introducing new technology and methods that help with the design process, to overall improvements of my knowledge on the design and construction process.
