Austin Architects and Builders in Conversation

Most home features focus on the finished product, centering on the architect’s or interior designer’s process for bringing a client’s vision to life. Thumbing through pages of glossy fixtures, carefully curated patinas and perfectly placed art, the reader may be tempted to believe that the homebuilding or remodel process is as simple as handing over a mood board and washing your hands of the matter until move-in day. Of course, anyone who has ever built or remodeled a home will tell you otherwise.

That’s why we gathered four Austin builders tasked with putting the paint to canvas, so to speak. Gary Zygmont, owner and CEO of Urban Home Builders, uses a different metaphor: “The architect writes the recipe and the interior designer sets the table, but the builder is the chef.”

With that in mind, we set out to learn how builders translate the architect’s or designer’s ingredients into the fabulous, finished meal. But rather than interview them ourselves, we let them interview one another—after all, if the number-one complaint on both sides of the industry is a lack of collaboration and communication, why not get them face-to-face? Filmed on location at Paperboy’s new brick-and-mortar, each interview paired one builder and one architect.

Chelsea Scharbach & Gary Zygmont

Wes Wigginton & Jamie Chioco

Charles Di Piazza & Brett Greig

Ada Corral & Carlie Bailey