By Boyana Peeva
The Valdosta Daily Times
VALDOSTA — History does repeat itself.
Celine Gladwin, architect, recently opened a sister firm of Barnett Fronczak Barlowe Architects (BFBA) of Tallahassee, Fla., called BFB Gladwin Architects. Her office is located in the historic Roberts Building in downtown Valdosta.
Gladwin was working for BFBA while she was living in Tallahassee, Fla., with her husband. He, however, got a tenured position at Valdosta State University, and they had to relocate.
When she told her boss that she needed to leave the company to move to Valdosta, she said that he proposed that she open a branch of the business in Valdosta.
“Back in the days Barnett relocated in Florida because his wife got a job there, and he went to his bosses and told them that he was going to be moving, and they suggested him to open a branch office in Tallahassee,” she explained. “And my boss told me, Let’s try to repeat history if we can. It was a great opportunity for me, and I couldn't say no.”
They told her to try to find a building for an office similar to what she had in Tallahassee, which was a historical one.
After looking at several different places, she decided the Roberts Building fit her best. The renovations started in 2006, and the building finally opened in 2008.
“I literally moved in on Christmas last year,” Gladwin said.
She and her husband couldn’t be happier as they both feel Valdosta is a great place to live and raise a family.
She is originally from Lebanon, and moved here due to the civil war that broke out in the mid 70s in her country.
She came to the United States when she was 15, with her mom and her sister, to join her three brothers in South Florida. The cultural shock, the war in her native country, and the loss of her father only made her a stronger person, and motivated her to strive for a better future.
After high school, she got accepted at the University of Miami to study architecture, which gave her an education and training.
“I’m still paying off my loans, but it was a great education,” she said.
At the university she was introduced to urbanism movement, and she wanted to continue exploring it.
Gladwin had a dream to study at Harvard, but never thought she was good enough for it. Encouraged by a professor at the University of Miami, she finally gave it a try and got accepted to study masters of architecture in urban design.
In the meantime, she was working for the city of Fort Pierce in Florida and was helping to organize the city’s downtown.
Throughout her college and job careers, she traveled all over the United States and got well-acquainted with the American city structure.
After Harvard, Gladwin married in Tallahassee, Fla., and got a job at Barnett Fronczak Barlowe Architects.
“Since then, they haven’t been able to get rid of me,” she added.
Q: Do you have any customers already?
A: I have several customers already. Actually, I’m doing a project with VSU, the Odum Library. The first phase is near full completion, and I did two other small renovations at VSU as well.
Q: What do you think about Valdosta?
A: Valdosta is just the right size of population, about 50,000. Here is perfect, it’s a college town, and I believe college towns are always good places, and the downtown is great. It’s a real downtown, people live and work here. It's really thriving how people are working really hard to keep the downtown, to be competitive with the other commercial centers like the mall, and the mall is a pretty good asset as well. Valdosta has a lot of good elements to make a good city, a great university, and the university is in the city, not in the field somewhere out there. Valdosta is almost self-sustaining, and it's great to have a family here. And we made the right choice.
Q: What do you think about the architects in Valdosta?
A: They are all great. I think there is enough work for all of us. The architects are unique because our job is artistic and has different areas. Mine is commercial, institutional, historical. We don’t do single families, but if we are asked, we will do that as well. We usually concentrate on bigger projects.
Q: Is being an architect a dream come true?
A: I love being an architect and urban designer. It used to be a man-dominated field. In schools it is equal number, but in the real world it is different. And it is also very hard and takes a long time to become a certified architect. First, you need to obtain a professional degree for five years, then you need an internship for three years, and then you need to take an exam for a license which is a very long process, and many people quit before they even finish it.
BFB Gladwin Architects is located at 106B W. Hill Ave. For more information, call (229) 244-1492. They are open Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.
