Designing Beautiful Buildings for 40 Years

CBA Architects turned 40 on May 1, 2021. At the time, we wrote this retrospective to reflect on where we came from and where we're going. We have transformed even more since then, welcoming new leaders, transitioning into an ESOP, and working on exciting new projects. While some of the information has changed, it remains a gratifying time capsule of where we were when we entered our fourth decade of business.

 


1981: “Raiders of the Lost Ark” hit theaters, IBM’s first PC hit stores, the DeLorean DMC-12 hit the roads (but not the timestream yet), and Charlan Brock Architects hit the ground running.

40 years ago, Butch Charlan and Gary Brock were sailing on the water, discussing their ideas for the future. As young architects, they wanted to make a real impact on the world while working on projects with meaning and purpose. That’s when they decided to go into business together and Charlan Brock Architects was born.

Since then, our forward-thinking architecture has transformed skylines here in Orlando, across the country, and around the world. As the company has grown, so has our leadership group, which includes ten Partners:

  • Gary Brock, AIA
  • Charles “Butch” Charlan, AIA
  • Doug Anderson
  • Mary Moltzan, AIA, LEED AP BD+C
  • Craig Garbarini, AIA, LEED AP
  • Allen Dapson
  • Taylor Brock
  • Tanner Brock
  • Matt Charlan
  • Cristian Oquendo, AIA

Our creative design solutions are internationally recognized as marketable, buildable, and financially successful. Our award-winning work is all-encompassing, from modern student living to trendy mixed-use developments, serene suburban apartments to exciting high-rises, vibrant town centers to future-ready master-planned communities. No matter the scale, our architecture helps shape neighborhoods and empowers residents and businesses to flourish.

We review plenty of statistics, and the one we’re perhaps most proud of is this: Over the last forty years, between our teams who developed the architecture and built the buildings, to the people who live in the homes and work in the businesses we’ve designed, we have positively impacted over 1 million lives. Now our goal is to double that by 2025.

We’re thinkers, we’re collaborators, we’re designers, and we’re innovators. Some of our favorite memories and projects from our history are below. Join us in celebrating 40 years in business, and let us show you how we’re Impacting Lives Together.

Camden North Quarter

Orlando, FL // An urban luxury mixed-use building with unparalleled features in a prime downtown Orlando location. This 9-story project won the 2017 Golden Brick Award for Best New Development from the Downtown Orlando Partnership.

The Parker at Maitland Station

Maitland, FL // This project was developed to take advantage of the neighboring commuter rail station and provide housing adjacent to the future downtown, while the site constraints resulted in a creative and unique building design.

Aqua Gulf Resort

Panama City Beach, FL // This luxuriously amenitized 22-story high rise is a beacon on Florida’s Gulf Coast, and a prime example of creative problem solving. The long and narrow ocean front site necessitated developing a parking garage on the opposite side of a busy highway, with a safe and secure 200 ft long connecting bridge. To ensure structural stability, strong focus was placed on the use of native materials that are salt tolerant, such as the natural split-face quarried limestone that clads and grounds the base of the building. Unique artful trellis elements mounted on the rooftop provide dynamic light play on the face of the building, capturing the natural movement of the sunlight and reflections off the ocean.

Tapestry Park

Jacksonville, FL // A unique and lively 18-acre urban village featuring townhomes, apartments, retail, restaurants, offices, and a boutique hotel. This beautiful, forward-thinking project won the 2014 Grand Aurora Award for Best Mixed-Use Under 100 acres from the Southeast Building Conference.

12th & 4th Apartments

Gainesville, FL // This is an 8-story student housing project in development near the University of Florida. One unique aspect of this project is the evolution of our design work, which began pre-Covid-19 and has since adjusted to meet new standards in health and wellness.

Bask Apartment Homes

Fort Lauderdale, FL // A contemporary 8-story urban midrise building with generous amenities and mixed-use components.

The Ivy Residences at Orlando Health Village

Orlando, FL // This urban infill apartment community was developed to provide apartments for the many professionals that want to live near downtown Orlando. Many residents work at the Advent Health medical complex, located virtually next door. This 5-story project won the 2016 Golden Brick Award for Best in Residential from the Downtown Orlando Partnership.

Lakewalk at Hamlin

Winter Garden, FL // Lakewalk at Hamlin is part of a master-planned new town center in Horizons West, a community on the western beltway of Orlando. We used creative problem-solving to accommodate water management needs by designing unobtrusive drainage routes that flow under entrance footbridges. These bridges reinforce a more personal and attractive look to the buildings’ ground floor.

The Georgetown

Rosemary Beach, FL // Luxury condos designed in a tropical interpretation of Dutch West Indies architecture fit perfectly into the master-planned community of Rosemary Beach, Florida.

One Less Car, One More Park

Charlan Brock Architects was a participating company in Orlando’s One Less Car, One More Park event, which temporarily transformed on-street metered parking spaces into re-imagined parks and green areas to show the positive impact of leaving vehicles at home and walking, biking, carpooling, or using public transit to commute.

Sanctuary at CenterPointe

Altamonte Springs, FL // This beautiful Contemporary 5-story multifamily building complements Cranes Roost Park, the adjacent lakeside mixed-use neo-urban live/work/play/stay district. As always, we strive to not only design buildings with lasting appeal, but also create a robust, rewarding suite of modern amenities for the residents who call our projects home. The Sky Lounge overlooks the popular Cranes Roost Lake’s many pedestrian pathways and offers lovely views of Florida’s vibrant sunsets, while multiple courtyard gathering areas provide spaces for get-togethers and interaction.

13th & 5th Apartments

Gainesville, FL // This 8-story student housing project in development will provide excellent amenities and easy access to the University of Florida, along with two levels of retail.

930 Central Flats

St. Petersburg, FL // This attractive luxury mixed-use concrete development in St. Pete’s vibrant Edge District went through a multi-step architectural review process to meet rigorous downtown standards.

Campus Circle at Urbana

Urbana, IL // This vibrant and contemporary student living experience features a modern design utilizing an artful blend of brick, cement siding and exterior panels. The project features over 13,500 square feet of student amenities, as well as 2,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and an adjacent 5-story, access-controlled parking garage.

Color Run

Charlan Brock Architects team members participating in The Color Run 5K.

Birmingham Parkside

Birmingham, AL // This 6-story mixed use project incorporates industrial design, and while the residential component is built out of wood construction, the quality of construction and attention to detail offers an architectural solution that fits well into the urban setting.

Bainbridge Ybor City

Tampa, FL // This project near the heart of Tampa’s historic Ybor City neighborhood was a unique opportunity to approach a historic architectural design language with a contemporary spin. At 85.7 units per acre, a single four-story apartment building would have exceeded the allowable square footage per Florida’s building code. Instead, we split the structure into two buildings separated by a two-hour fire wall to meet compliance, successfully achieving 5-story density in a 4-story building.

LandonHouse

Orlando, FL // A luxury urban apartment community inspired by the fundamentals of thoughtful design, sound planning, innovative collaboration, and a commitment towards excellence, located at the heart of Medical City in Lake Nona.

Alexan Winter Park

Winter Park, FL // This stylish multifamily apartment community embraces Winter Park’s charm while providing easy transportation to Orlando’s energetic downtown core.