Brooke McDonald – Newly Licensed Architect
Congratulations to Brooke McDonald for becoming a licensed architect in the state of Oregon!
Brooke joined Rowell Brokaw in 2022 after earning her M.Arch at the University of Oregon. Since then, she has worked on a variety of projects, from housing to Higher Ed and K-12 to master planning. Drawing on her prior career as an Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) professional has informed her understanding on many technical, lab-oriented projects, such as the LCC Building 16 Renovation, UO EHS Waste Facility Renovation, and UO Knight Campus Acid Waste Neutralization System. She is wrapping up work on Alma Apartments. Other current projects include the 4j Education Center Production Kitchen and the Glenwood Riverfront Master Plan.
For the certification process, Brooke found that it was important to have a mentor and a motivated support group. Principal Peter King, as her NCARB mentor, kept Brooke motivated to study for, schedule, and take tests. She also joined the small licensure support group at RBA that includes licensed and unlicensed colleagues to answer questions, give advice, and offer encouragement.
In her studies, Brooke used the affordable housing project Alma Apartments as a general point of reference. Serving on the project from design through construction, Brooke (re)visited the project armed with more context (and many questions) based on the study materials of each subject area for the ARE (Architect Registration Examination).
Advice for someone beginning the process of becoming certified? Brooke: “For me, scheduling tests at a regular frequency, and at the same testing center, created a helpful routine. Celebrating each passed test with ice cream was also very helpful!”