volume 15 | july 29, 2026 collected by Branden Piks, Founder + Principal of cradle. design studio Welcome to [design shorts.] volume 15! This past weekend my wife and I ate, drank, and walked our way through one our favorite east coast spots, Charleston. The hospitality scene here is incredible and one that I hope we can continue to strive towards here in Charlotte. It always surprises me how much of a luxury it is to be only three hours away, too! Our destination lineup was quite lengthy but...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
volume 14 | june 30, 2026 collected by Branden Piks, Founder + Principal of cradle. design studio Welcome to [design shorts.] volume 14! Travel season is upon us and our family has some awesome trips planned for the months of July and August (Michigan, Charleston, Skaneateles, and Rosemary Beach). Uncapped visits with friends and family were things I used to dream of when working a 9-5, so it is pretty cool seeing it come to fruition. But, with this excitement also comes the thought of "how...
2 months ago • 6 min read
volume 13 | may 27, 2026 collected by Branden Piks, Founder + Principal of cradle. design studio Welcome to [design shorts.] volume 13! Travel has always been one of the strongest creative resets for me. Over the past month, visits to Wilmington and Charleston reminded me how impactful it is to experience places outside of your daily routine. A restaurant atmosphere, material palettes, storefront rhythm, or how people interact with a space. The bite-sized, brief moments of inspiration have a...
3 months ago • 5 min read
volume 12 | april 22, 2026 collected by Branden Piks, Founder + Principal of cradle. design studio Welcome to [design shorts.] volume 12! Volume 12 marks one full year of commitment to [design shorts.], highlighted by 12 conversations with incredible industry leaders spanning brokers, developers, urbanists, educators, and designers. When I started this journey, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. It’s become far more than a recurring item on my monthly calendar. The process of writing,...
5 months ago • 6 min read
volume 11 | march 26, 2026 collected by Branden Piks, Founder + Principal of cradle. design studio Welcome to [design shorts.] volume 11! How are we already heading into Q2 of 2026...crazy! The year is off to an exciting start both personally and professionally. My wife and I recently celebrated our daughter's first birthday and the market seems to be trending up with opportunities and development back in action. Add in 80 degree weather days in March - Q1 has been a success! It always feels...
5 months ago • 6 min read
volume 10 | february 18, 2026 collected by Branden Piks, Founder + Principal of cradle. design studio Welcome to [design shorts.] volume 10! Over the last few weeks I have attended both Ballantyne Ridge High School and UNC Charlotte to teach and discuss with students the practice of architecture, firm ownership, and the creative process. The students of Ballantyne Ridge are in a Drafting 1 class where they are learning about design and how we use computer programming to aid our efforts. AIA...
7 months ago • 6 min read
volume 09 | january 21, 2026 collected by Branden Piks, Founder + Principal of cradle. design studio Welcome to [design shorts.] volume 09! I started off the new year by getting our firm's Core Values written down and shared instead of just using them internally. When I started cradle., I knew it wanted to be foundationally different but didn't really know what that meant until this past year. A lot of growth and change happened for us in '25 which has lead us to an exciting time as we embark...
7 months ago • 5 min read
volume 08 | december 18, 2025 collected by Branden Piks, Founder + Principal of cradle. design studio Welcome to [design shorts.] volume 08! Last night, we had our firm's holiday dinner party at Panko - our latest completed restaurant project that opened up in NoDa a few months ago. Eating, drinking, and celebrating the hard work from the past year in a space you designed is pretty cool...and rewarding. Killer food, too, as to be expected! As we've been engaged more and more for projects like...
7 months ago • 6 min read
volume 07 | november 25, 2025 collected by Branden Piks, Founder + Principal of cradle. design studio Welcome to [design shorts.] volume 07! November has been such a month of gratitude and an opportunity for me to acknowledge the efforts over the past two and half years since starting cradle. From the beginning, I made (and still do) the sometimes uncomfortable efforts to cold call/email, knock on doors, and send LinkedIn messages to complete strangers. The goal: to introduce myself from an...
7 months ago • 6 min read