our story.
A little over a decade after meeting as non-traditional architecture students in a University of Nevada, Las Vegas design studio, we made do on a promise established early in our first semester: to one day partner in the creation of a boutique design studio.
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Foundation9 is a highly motivated and energetic two-person boutique design studio established in 2022. The firm’s Principals are Torrey Tracy M.Arch, NCARB, and Blaine Verlanic, M.Arch, NCARB. The studio is currently licensed to practice architecture in Nevada, Arkansas, Montana, and Idaho.
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Although our perspectives on architecture are quite different - Torrey in Academics and Blaine in Construction, we both are adamant about quality design. However not just our design, but designs by those who dream, test, and fail over and over again until it is right. It is this kind of rigor that makes spaces and objects special.
We are Purveyors of Design.
just the two of us
Torrey Tracy, M. Arch, NCARB is licensed to practice architecture in Nevada and Arkansas. Torrey is a 2013 graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Master of Architecture program. In 2015, Torrey accepted a year-long Visiting Faculty Professorship position at the UNLV School of Architecture, and in 2019 became an Assistant Professor of Interior Architecture & Design at The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas, where he currently teaches. Professionally, he is inspired by how history can influence modern design. His creative research is on sites of sensitivity, or sites that have a traumatic connection to past historical events.
Blaine Verlanic, M. Arch, NCARB is licensed to practice architecture in Montana and Idaho. Blaine is a 2013 Master of Architecture graduate from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Following his architecture studies, Blaine worked as a project designer for Gensler in their Las Vegas, NV office before becoming the Vice-President of Community Design for National builder, Toll Brothers. Currently Blaine toiles over the details of projects in the belief that the small things ultimately make the biggest difference.