Meet Pella's Partners: An Interview With I/O Design Office

At Pella, we forge strong bonds with the architecture and interior design offices we partner with. If they need quality windows and doors for their projects, our partners know they can trust Pella to provide high-end products and even better service.

We sat down with one such partner, I/O Design Office, to highlight one of their recent designs: the Buffalo Modern Project.

I/O Design: Resolving a Conflict of Elements

Standing in the middle of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Douglas was awestruck. Just 12 years old, he’d stumbled upon a model of “Fallingwater” designed by architectural legend, Frank Lloyd Wright. 

“I remember thinking it wasn’t like any other house I’d seen before. It had a river running right through it,” Douglas recalls. “As a 12-year-old little guy, it blew my mind.” 

For Nicole, it was the nuances of interior design that caught her interest, including color, texture, and furniture design and layout. In a classic case of serendipity, after she graduated from college, she was hired at the same firm where Douglas worked.

Douglas and Nicole were partnered up frequently, tackling projects around the country. Together, they developed a design process that was more holistic than the typical residential design process for the industry.

“Douglas and I believe that architecture and interior design are one instead of two separate things, and should be treated as such,” Nicole explains.

Over the next 10 years, Douglas and Nicole worked on their process of harmonizing these seemingly-opposed elements. They tested it, refined it and saw exceptional results. Eventually, their clients were telling them that they should start their own firm. 

Lucky for us, they listened.

Q: Do you think it sets I/O Design apart from the competition that you see architecture and interior design as one?

D: Yes. With this process, you don’t have competing visions. We’re always on the same page, which eliminates friction that can be problematic for a project. We incorporate interior considerations at the earliest stages of the design, which allows us to get the space sized just right for the client. 

Another thing that sets us apart is our approach to working with clients. We work collaboratively, guiding and facilitating the ideation process rather than insisting on our own vision. When you get everybody working together like that, there are these synergies that happen. And that’s what we’re looking for: serendipity... 

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