BRITTNY IVERSON
Brittny Iverson’s Slight Edge Evolves Chisel Architecture’s Tech Savviness
Brittny Iverson was in middle school when her family built a new home. Hanging around the construction site piqued her interest in home design, and she carried that enthusiasm with her as she finished high school, searched for colleges, and eventually selected NDSU. After completing a year in the construction management program there, Brittny felt like something was missing. She knew that being in charge of a job site was not for her. She wanted to be closer to the design process.
As she closed in what was not appealing about what she’d experienced at NDSU, she landed an opportunity to visit Dunwoody College in Minneapolis, MN. She quickly took note of the technical work and the student focus. And oh, the floor plans! She was sold on the school’s approach and environment. And better yet, despite being the only young female student in the program, she didn’t have qualms about fitting in and gaining access to the technical skills she sought to develop. She enrolled and got to work.
Through coursework, it became clear to Brittny that her interest and skills in the field of architecture and design fell less on the artsy and visionary side like the graduates coming out of the University of Minnesota, but rather, more on the technical side. As a result, she dove into BIM (building information modeling) to give herself an edge. And it paid off. Soon she added an internship doing estimating work at Mortenson Company, a top builder, developer, and engineering services provider, to her resume.
As her learning progressed at Dunwoody, Dale Mulfinger, FAIA, an architect and principal with one of the Midwest’s top residential architectural firms, guest lectured on the subject of roofs. The language he used was inspiring and technical. The organic way he talked about shapes and forms, holding a piece of paper and randomly folding it to represent various roofs really hooked Brittny. She was intrigued and did an online search to find out more about Dale’s firm SALA Architects.
Just before graduating in 2013 with a degree in architectural drafting and estimating, Brittny came prepped to an interview with SALA. She learned that if hired she would be the first Dunwoody grad they’d ever hired (their new hires typically came from SALA leadership’s alma mater, the University of Minnesota School of Architecture). In credit to SALA’s openness, firm principal Eric Odor and Brittny just clicked. She was hired as a technical draftsperson upon graduation and worked in that role for three years, where she worked with Sara Whicher just prior to Sara leaving SALA.
In 2016, Brittny left SALA and went to work for another Minneapolis architectural firm. There, she reconnected with Sara, and met Marcy Townsend, a project architect. The three worked together at that Minneapolis firm for two years before going separate ways in 2019. In 2020, Brittny reconnected with Sara and was offered a full-time position as lead drafting and design associate with Chisel Architecture, co-founded by Sara and Marcy.
Over the past two years, Brittny has stepped into a role at Chisel Architecture where she’ll be leading ArchiCAD development for any interested professional, regardless of firm affiliation. To make learning fun and engaging the Chisel team created a concept and experience called CADtown, unique in its structure and offering to those in the profession. Brittny will bring her skills and expertise gained since working in ArchiCAD professionally since 2013 (when version 17 was the latest!) in a commercial and residential setting. The January 2023 program will cover version 26 highlights, a walk-through of the division of work in teamwork, and how tactical activities like how to put massing (i.e. complex profile siding) on homes in CADtown. (if you’re interested in attending the first CADTown: sara@chiselarch.com)