Honors, Awards, Distinctive Service, Notable Achievements.
Rand Soellner, Architect, ArCH, CRAfts, NCARB, LHI(past), M.A. Arch, has been blessed with several organizations & entities acknowledging involvement and achievement in architectural related endeavors throughout a lifetime of architectural service:
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2024-April: SOLAR POWER SYSTEM INSTALLED on Architect’s own home, with HOME ARCHITECTS ® supervising. Article featured in local Cashiers-Highlands, NC newpapers, illustrating how this Architect can indicate a whole house solar power system in his custom house designs to help his clients have free sustainable power for decades. Architect’s power bill is now typically down to around $5/month. His home often pumps electricity back into The Grid. His wife’s plug-in hybrid vehicle runs mainly on sunshine, because it is plugged into the house 240v charger at night and runs on electricity most days. Fantastic step forward for cost free electricity and gasoline-free (or minimal) need for vehicle. Whether you believe in environmental issues or not, there’s no disputing that having a whole house solar power system is a huge advantage to a homeowner. And when The Grid goes down, you still have electricity, supplied by your solar system. That’s a win-win solution from this Architect.
2024-February: NRGYfre ™ concept established by Rand Soellner and his company, HOME ARCHITECTS ®. See here for more information: https://www.homearchitects.com/nrgyfre
This is an integrated energy power, energy efficiency and survival approach to this Architect’s philosophy of home design in the mountains that can, under the proper circumstances provide free electrical energy from the sun for multiple decades and reduce energy consumption to nearly zero, resulting in homeowners pumping power back into The Grid and have the commercial electrical company pay you. NRGYfre ™ concepts also result in the likelihood of you and your family surviving longer during disruptions to The Grid. Nothing much to worry about until it happens. Then you’ll wish you had done something.
2023- Series of home improvement projects on the Architect’s own house to improve energy efficiency, durability, aesthetics and all round enjoyment while improving the value of the home.
Replaced 5 year old inefficient heat pump with new Bosch inverter (variable speed) heat pump with LP gas crawlspace furnace. Only uses about 25 gallons of LP per winter, because the gas only comes on under about 0*F. And since the house is already super insulated, it doesn’t need much to stay warm in winter or cool in summer. Also replaced standard HWH (Hot Water Heater) with a new high tech heat pump type HWH, resulting in a much more efficient use of electrical energy.
Also, the garage had a new 240v cable and charger installed for a new hybrid SUV that is a hybrid, that gets 80 MPG.
2022- ArCH: Architects Creating Homes design award to HOME ARCHITECTS and Rand Soellner, ArCH for the design of the Mountain Church House (below). This makes the 11th architectural design award to HOME ARCHITECTS in the last 5 years, a world record, more than any other firm.
2021-2022-HOME ARCHITECTS ® with Rand Soellner, ArCH/NCARB, as the Architect, was awarded the contract to design a Lake Toxaway custom mountain home of about 10,000 GSF in size, 3 stories, with elevator, 3 car garage. This $5M project is one of the most lavish in all of Western North Carolina. It captures 50+ mile views from a high elevation atop Mt. Toxaway and also has views of the lake, thousands of feet below. Project was completed with 75 sheets of 24×36 documents detailing the complex project.
2020-October-Home Architects/Rand Soellner began writing the e-book “How to Succeed as an Architect Designing Homes.”
2019-September- Home Architects/Rand Soellner was asked to make a presentation at AMI’s global conference: HOUSEWRAP2019 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA. Mr. Soellner presented a custom made PowerPoint show in which he discussed “An Architect’s Perspective of HouseWrap.” Scientists, major housewrap manufacturers, National Laboratories, Contractors and other Architects attended the conference.
2018-July-Rand Soellner/Home Architects awarded CRAfts™ certification (Certified Residential Architect), as a result of earning 10 ArCHdes design awards. Mr. Soellner is the World’s first Certified Residential Architect.
2018-July-Home Architects & Rand Soellner earned 5 ArCHdes design excellence awards for the ArCHdes2018 season. This makes a total of 10 ArCHdes design awards during the last 3 years. This also completes the 10 ArCHdes awards required to allow Mr. Soellner to apply for his CRAfts certification.
2018-June- Home Architects (Rand Soellner’s company) was featured in THE LAUREL MAGAZINE, the premier mountain home magazine in the Highlands, Cashiers, Lake Toxaway, Glenville, Sapphire area.
2018-June- Home Architects (Rand Soellner’s company) has 5 design award entries up for consideration through ArCH (the global licensed architectural professional organization).
2017-July- Rand Soellner and his firm won four 2017 ArCHdes™ Design Excellence Selection awards for Residential Architecture, for projects in Cashiers, NC, Highlands, NC (2), Lake Toxaway, NC.
2016-September- Home Architects ® was asked by the Washington, D.C. office of the NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) to make a presentation at their national Summit Conference in Asheville, NC. Rand Soellner, ArCH, did make the presentation: Aging in Place: Accessible Friendly Residential Architecture ™. General Contractors from all over the USA attended.
2016-April- Rand Soellner and his firm won a 2016 ArCHdes™ Design Excellence Selection award for Residential Architecture, for one of their projects in Sevierville, Tennessee.
2015-June- Rand Soellner and his company asked to be on the AutoDesk AutoCADLT Customer Council, by this multi-billion dollar architectural software corporation. Rand now serves as an advisor to the AutoCADLT software engineering team, improving the software for architects worldwide.
2015 – January- Rand Soellner & his firm interviewed (and with Holiday article featured) by Life on the Water magazine. Nice full color main article of this issue published in paper and electronically.
2014 – November – Rand Soellner interviewed by Wall Street Journal, regarding Legacy Mountain Estate Homes (by WSJ staff member Cecilie Rohwedder, real estate section, Washington, D.C.)
2014 – October – Rand Soellner co-interviewed by Business of Architecture (Enoch Sears, ArCH) regarding ArCH, on online audio broadcast, here: Business of Architecture Interview
2014 – May – Rand Soellner interviewed by Entrepreneur Architect (Mark LePage) regarding ArCH organization, featured on online podcast audio here: Entrepreneur Architect Interview
2014 – May – Rand Soellner awarded State of Tennessee License to practice Architecture in that State. This marks the 5th state in the USA where the Home Architects are licensed. Although not technically required for the design of houses, the company felt that due to the extensive nature of ongoing projects happening there, that this would be desirable. Also, this is a market for this firm’s style of projects, being a mountainous region.
2014 – February – Rand Soellner invited to be an Adjunct Virtual Visiting Professor to conduct a learning session for an Ohio middle school (Lee Burneson Middle School, Westlake, OH) regarding Passive Solar Residential Design for “Tiny Houses.” Rand is giving the mini-course via a Skype video conference mode, which will be recorded on YouTube.
2013 – May – Soellner completed design and Construction Documents for a new breed of house: “Sunbird 36” for clients from Cincinnati, Ohio, who had Soellner’s company design the project for a site they own in Brevard, NC. Construction is expected to commence sometime during the next year. The Sunbird series marks a breakthrough in residential design, with a high gable cathedral ceiling that starts at the covered Front Porch, continues through the Great Room (Kitchen, Dining, Living) and continues on over the covered rear View Porch.
One side of the gable faces to the Southwest, with plumbing vents and other roof penetrations carefully designed away from this exposure, allowing this roof plane to receive future Solar Photovoltaic roof shingles from either CertainTeed or Owens Corning. This step, when implemented, is designed to allow creation of free electricity for 50%+ of the house’s normal power needs. Look for future additional Sunbird customizations. This concept is designed to deliver high-end features with low to medium-level price tags for construction and very little maintenance. Click here for link to the main SunBird webpage: Sunbird House Design.
2013 – January – Benjamin Obdyke invited Rand Soellner to become a member of the company’s “Innovation Council 2013,” recognizing Mr. Soellner as a leading building and design professional with “intellectual curiosity and a passion for what you do.” Benjamin Obdyke wishes to partner with key individuals on the “front lines” of building construction and design. One of the interesting technological advances created by Soellner’s company is its SupR-Wall, which happens to indicate the Benjamin Obdyke drainage plane material in the wall’s composition.
2012 – December – Rand Soellner launched ArCH : Architects Creating Homes. This is a new organization that represents the interests of licensed residential architects throughout the USA. The organization seeks to improve the practice & quality of residential architecture while helping residential architects thrive. It is like the “AMA” for medical doctors, but for licensed architects practicing residential architecture.
2012 – December – Rand Soellner recognized as “Top Gold Contributor” to the AIA’s Housing Knowledge Community and CRAN (Custom Residential Architects Network).
2012 – November – Rand Soellner, Senior Staff Architect for Home Architect, PLLC, completed the design of a large home (6,000+/- HSF, 8,000+ GSF) for a forensic structural engineer’s family in Stormstown, Pennsylvania. The project features ICF basement walls, prestressed hollow core concrete slabs for the Main Level floor structure, structural steel studs for upper level exterior walls, and scissors trusses for the roof. Soellner’s company’s trademark post and beam features are prominent in the exterior porches and interior of the luxurious residence, set in the rolling countryside of Centre County, only about 10 miles from the Pennsylvania State University.
2012 – October – Rand Soellner invited to develop a concept he invented: a memorial plaque to be installed on homes designed by architects, with a URL link to a new website database so that information about each house with such a plaque can be accessed decades, even hundreds of years into the future. Initially, this was started on the AIA-CRAN (Custom Residential Architects Network).
2012 – August – Rand Soellner indicated as a Silver Top Contributor & Bronze Contributor to the AIA’s (American Institute of Architects) Knowledge Communities: Custom Residential Architects Network.
2012 – August – Rand Soellner interviewed by journalist Alexandra Churchill for an article for OceanHome magazine. Sustainability, “Green”, and Energy Efficiency and how they link together was the subject of the article. Link to the article: http://oceanhomemag.com/seeing-green/
2012 – Rand created and began publishing of an online e-magazine: HOME ARCHITECTS E-MAGAZINE . This is sent to people around the country and the World, with interesting online articles each month on the subject of residential design.
2012 – Rand Soellner completed the creation of his unique and partially automated HouseGrade TM Residential Analysis Software, which he uses as a home inspector to assess the functionality of existing houses. This also serves to guide residential architects in renovations of existing houses, with useful information on the roofing, walls, structure, HVAC systems, electrical, interior components, insulation and many other aspects.
2012 – Continuing member, since 2010, of the American Institute of Architects HDTS (Home Design Trend Survey) , published quarterly, for the rest of the World to understand evolving trends in residential architecture. Received special thanks for continued service on this special panel by AIA President, Jeffrey Potter FAIA, on 1-23-2012, in which he pointed out how the information from this panel of residential architects has been used by the Wall Street Journal and many other authoritative sources of information on our developing economy.
2011-2012 Rand began preparing designs for an economy house builder to help people obtain mid-range luxury housing for low prices.
2011 – 12/2011 – Rand Soellner selected by Hampton Roads Magazine for information source for article about residential remodeling & additions and design, bidding residential projects.
2010 – Selected by the AIA (American Institute of Architects) to be a panelist for their HDTS (Home Design Trend Survey), which is published quarterly and is monitored by national and regional media as a guide to what is happening and the forecast for design trends in the housing industry.
2010 – Passed State exam and awarded license as a State Home Inspector (NC). Having this credential means that this is an architect who has detailed, in-depth State-tested knowledge of the various systems and functionality of your residence.
2010 – Offered membership in and accepted into the Design Professional Services Group as a forensic architect consultant and expert witness architect consultant. Membership proposed by The VanWinkle Law Firm, one of the largest and most professional legal firms in Western North Carolina. The VanWinkle firm represents the American Institute of Architects in the WNC area, as well as a host of A/E industry professionals.
2010 – Recruited and accepted into the WestLaw Round Table Group, one of the World’s most significant sources of expert witnesses on a variety of subjects. Mr. Soellner was recruited for expert forensic counsel on architectural matters. Mr. Soellner serves as an independent consultant, in addition to his own practice.
2010 – Soellner founded the Green Home Design University course of study on his website, to help educate the public, builders and other professionals about energy efficiency, recycling, carbon footprints and other environmental and sustainable design matters.
2010 – Rand Soellner provides his experience to the American Institute of Architect’s “Housing & Custom Residential Architecture Committee” Knowledge Community.
2009-2010 Rand Soellner Architect’s website featuring green information about Architecture, ranking on Page 1 and Page 2 of Google and other search engines.
2009 – Soellner invented the “Green Gauge,” an interactive digital tool on his website to help the public, builders and other design professionals understand the “greenness” of their material and system choices for habitable built projects.
2009 – State of Washington licensed Rand Soellner as an architect in that state, #9798.
2009 – Soellner’s firm accepted as an Energy Star Partner by the U.S. Department of Energy (EPA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
2008 – Images Publishing featured 3 homes designed by Rand Soellner in a thick new full-color coffee table book entitled: House With A View, also available at Amazon.com. Mario Botta, Richard Meier and the work of other world-famous architects were featured along with Mr. Soellner’s.
2007-2008 – Rand Soellner created a new Mountain Retreat mansion type of home in the 6,000 HSF to 9,000 GSF size category, featuring 12′ tall x 22′ wide “Grand Canyon Doors” of his invention, large fireplaces, extensive Outdoor Living Rooms, Sleeping Porch, Gourmet Kitchen, Home Office, and other lavish spaces for this new breed of energy efficient estate sized house.
2006 – Elevations Magazine Editor’s Choice Award for the firm: Rand Soellner Architect, and Soellner’s own mountain residence in Cashiers, NC.
1/2002 – AGC Award (American General Contractors), for St. Cloud Middle School. Rand Soellner was the Architect of Record, designed the project, led the architectural and engineering team, performed the code analysis, detailed, wrote the specifications, solved field construction issues.
2002-2008 – multiple magazine and newspaper and magazine articles about Rand Soellner Architect’s projects and practice.
2004 – State of South Carolina licensed Rand Soellner as an architect in that state, #6793.
2002 – State of North Carolina licensed Rand Soellner as an architect in that state, #9266.
2001 – AIA and Florida Engineering Society asked Rand to give a seminar on how to design and manage Design-Build projects.
1999 – Golden Brick Award, for Design Excellence for Public Facilities: for $30 million Water Plant. Mr. Soellner designed in downtown Orlando. Award from Downtown Development Board.
1999 – Design Award: for $35 million Water Plant (Eastern Regional), Orange County, Florida.
1997-1999 – Architect of Record on about half of Jurassic Park for Universal Studios in the Orlando, Florida area, a $50 million to $74 million world class theme park based on the popular movies, based on the Michael Crichton novel by the same name.
1996-1998 – Consulting Architect on the $350 million D-E-F Wrap project at Miami International Airport, working as a consultant to Arquitectonica in their offices. Wrote all architectural specifications, Detailed numerous conditions, including curtainwalls, input design, attended meetings with major planning entities with Miami-Dade County, analyzed the Life Safety and Means of Egress for several hundred thousand square feet of floor area on multiple levels, coordinated with design and detail teams.
1993-1999 – Architect of Record on several multi-million $ water treatment plants for Orange County and the City of Orlando, Florida.
1991-1999 – Architect of Record on multiple High School projects for Orange County Public Schools, and one of the lead managers of the $3.2 billion Master Planning effort for OCPS, as part of the Heery-Sverdrup Team.
1994 – Certificate of Appreciation: Role Model: Orange County Public Schools, Jones High School. Mr. Soellner conducted seminars for high school students on careers in architecture.
1990 – NCARB (National Council of Architectural Registration Boards) certifies Rand Soellner, #39156.
1985-1991 – State of Florida DGS (DMS) “One of the Best Firms in the State” : The State of Florida ranked Soellner Associates (& Rand Soellner personally) as one of the Best Architects in Florida, as per the Department of General/Management Services evaluation process.
1988 +/- Project Published in Architecture Magazine : Nature Center Mr. Soellner designed.
1987 +/- Project Published in Florida Architect Magazine : Chinsegut Nature Center Mr. Soellner designed.
1986-1987: Rand Soellner’s firm, Soellner Associates Architecture, Inc., programmed, performed the Site Choice Analysis, prepared the Master Plan and a Concept Schematic Design for the New Florida Solar Energy Center for the University of Central Florida, Brevard, FL Campus.
1987 +/- Design Award: State of Florida HRS : “Most Improved HRS Building in the State” for Mr. Soellner’s design of the Pine Hills HRS Service Center Complex. $1.2 million.
1985 – Project Published in Florida Architect Magazine : prototype elementary classroom building.
1985 +/- Design Award for best condominium project in the USA out of 600 entries nationwide (Sunbay Club) Rand was on the design team, personally creating the clubhouse.
1984 +/- AIA Design Award for Excellence : for $20 million community Mr. Soellner designed (Island Lake Village).
1984 – AIA Design Award for Excellence : for 9 elementary schools (from prototype of Apopka Elementary classroom free-standing addition) Mr. Soellner designed. $6 million total.
1984 +/- American Institute of Architects – Rand Soellner was the AIA’s Quality Control Task Force Chairman in the Orlando area.
Project Published in several newspaper articles : regarding Mr. Soellner’s usage of energy-saving features in projects.
1982 – State of Florida licensed Rand Soellner as an architect in that state, # 9264.
1982 – Florida Power Corporation Energy Efficiency Award : for the design of Mr. Soellner’s own home. The date is important here, because this was about 3 decades before it became publicly popular to excel in energy efficiency.
1978 – Master of Arts in Architecture degree awarded to Rand Soellner from the University of Florida Graduate School of Design (3.9 GPA).
1978 – Elected into the National Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi for outstanding scholastic achievement (see above).
1977 +/- Project Published in House Beautiful Publication : Thomas House. Mr. Soellner designed on Sanibel Island, Florida. This was Mr. Soellner’s first project entirely on his own. He was 24 years old when he began designing it in 1975. This project was also featured in the Miami Herald and other newspapers.
1974 – Bachelor of Design in Architecture degree awarded to Rand Soellner from the University of Florida, Cum Laude. Soellner created a special course of study, in addition to the normal architectural courses, in Environmental Psychology, examining the effects of spacial design features. The objective is to create better architecture that helps people think, feel and operate more enjoyably and effectively.