An Adams Township woman has helped shape wood, metal and plaster with ink on paper.

“Even though we’re on the computer a lot, we still print designs out,” said Marlene Myers. “I tend to still go back to sketching, and then later trying to make sure it works on the computer.”

Myers is a partner in Ashlar Architecture and Engineering. She’s the architect, and Joe Gray is the engineer.

Myers said the pair mostly takes on smaller commercial projects. She helped design the data and training centers for the Armstrong building on Main Street in Butler. She also has had a hand in helping the Caparosa family with new additions or renovations to their Family Bowlaway.

Myers said her job begins with meeting clients, who often bring their vision and ideas to the table.

“We take somebody’s dreams, and we help make them a reality,” she said. “It’s not really that glamorous in most cases.”

After sitting down with their customers and hearing them out, the next step is to examine either the site where new building is happening or the existing building that is being remodeled. What she looks for are existing conditions, such as the general layout of the building, the locations of utility hookups and the routes of the mechanicals.

“Most times, existing conditions are going to affect the design,” Myers said. “We tell them and let them make a conscious decision.”

Myers said those conditions have varied throughout her career.

After graduating from Mars Area High School in 1987, Myers took her passion for design to the University of Cincinnati, where she earned her degree.

During college, she had the opportunity to enroll in a co-op program that allowed her to go to class one quarter and work at a company for on-the-job experience the next quarter.

Myers spent most of those co-ops at Burt Hill, a former Butler architecture firm that has since been sold and remains a branch of Stantec.

After graduating from college, Myers got married, had children and moved to Washington D.C., where she lived for 11 years, working her way up to project manager for Lessard Design. She said most of what she did then was designing large-scale apartment complexes.

“Like big apartment complexes with 400 units and a parking garage in the middle you’re attaching them to,” she said. “Or we would work in N.J. or D.C. where they were infill, where they tore something down, and we were trying to squeeze everything in.

Eventually, the opportunity arose to bring her family back to Mars, where she and her husband dismantled an old barn near Saxonburg and put it on a new foundation to serve as their home in Adams Township.

Myers’ next step wasn’t immediately Ashlar. She spent some years working as a project manager for 4-Most Group, a Butler-based architecture firm, working with Jessica Forsythe, who Myers described as a mentor.

Myers said Forsythe always provided awesome solutions right over her shoulder in collaboration.

“She would be famous for that,” Myers said. “She would say ‘Well what about this,’ and I'm like, ‘Oh my goodness. I didn’t see that.’”

After 4-Most Group, she and Gray partnered on Ashlar. Myers said her dynamic with Gray is instrumental during the drawing phase, where she actively sketches things out. Much like Forsythe, Gray provides a sounding board for her ideas and a fresh perspective at times.

“We like being in the office to be able to collaborate with each other,” she said. “It’s much easier for us to lean out the door and say, ‘Hey, what do you think about this?’ or take a sketch over.”

In the midst of all the drawn lines are checks and balances, considering building codes and restrictions. She said these rules often take time and thought to navigate, but sometimes they just won’t jibe with the client’s ideas.

“The code is always there. It’s constantly updating and changing,” Myers said.

But Myers said she, too, can give her clients options and alternatives to give their ideas hope.

“It takes give and take, and compromise,” Myers said. “It’s like investigating; sometimes it’s like a puzzle.”

Once the designs are complete, some clients may ask them to go even further in deciding the aesthetics. Myers said some clients may want the flooring, paint colors and textures picked out ahead of time, while others want to handle those aspects themselves.

One of Myers’ current projects involves the former Quaker Steak & Lube on Freedom Road, Cranberry Township. In the same building, one side is being designed as a restaurant while the other side is being worked into an indoor, virtual golf experience.

That project is under construction, which also can sometimes mean more work. Myers said sometimes clients, especially those with larger projects, will want herself or Gray to meet weekly with contractors to make sure plans are being followed. She said other projects may not require such strict oversight.

After building is complete, Myers may not have a further role, but she does like to check in with clients.

“Sometimes it’s hard to think about it, but then I’m driving through town, I point at something and say, ‘Oh, we’ve done that,’” she said.

On one particular trip, she meant to stop and thank a client for whom she helped design a utilitarian block building on the back of their business. She said she had helped them solve some issues with accessibility throughout the process.

When she got there, Myers said the owner was excited to see her.

“He was all excited to show me what they did. He said, ‘You’ve changed my life. That’s something that hit me,“ Myers said. ”It was what he needed to realize his dream.”