As LRS Architects celebrates its 50th anniversary, Senior Associate Byron Balogh and Senior Principal T. Paul Frank recently reflected on a defining moment in the firm’s history in the Daily Journal of Commerce Oregon: LRS’s early embrace of firmwide technology.
In the late 1980s, LRS made the forward-thinking decision to place a Mac on every desk, an investment that transformed how teams worked together. By connecting every staff member through a shared digital workflow, the firm improved coordination, accelerated iteration, and reduced errors, creating a more collaborative and agile design process.
Byron and Paul also shared how early adoption of tools for 3D modeling, 2D documentation, publishing, and shared data systems helped establish consistent standards across projects while breaking down siloed workflows.
That spirit of innovation continues to shape LRS today. From immersive digital visualization tools that allow clients to experience projects before they are built, to evolving technologies that improve design delivery, LRS remains committed to constant evolution through a foundational embrace of technology and forward thinking.
As Byron and Paul note:
“In architecture specifically, today’s digital tools can let client’s step into the design experience while a project is still virtual. Not every firm offers that level of immersion; if you can, it’s a meaningful advantage.”
They also reflected on a fitting milestone similarity, in 2026, Apple marks 50 years, the same year LRS celebrates its own half-century of design impact underscoring a long-standing shared belief in the power of innovation to shape what comes next.
Read the article in full here (subscriber-based).
