Brett Rottinghaus

Brett was OPN’s second employee in Madison. Beginning his career in our Cedar Rapids studio, he returned home to help found the Madison office in 2013. Brett’s experience is varied, with a focus on public projects, including multiple libraries and K-12 schools. Though every community is unique and comes with its own set of needs, goals, and opportunities, Brett’s creativity and general likability allows him to navigate seemingly complicated issues with ease to guide a community to a design that reflects and works for them.

Q: When did you know you wanted to be an architect or designer?

A: November 8, 1997 – between 6 and 7:00 p.m. I was on a country road in south eastern Nebraska with my dad. We had just got done hunting for the day and were listening to the Nebraska / Missouri football game. I had always grown up around the construction industry because my dad was a contractor. He owned several different construction companies in different trades through his life. Because of this I had a love for seeing things come together. I always assumed I would follow in his footsteps. He encouraged me to do something else because of the wear it puts on your body over time. I remember clear as day him telling me this, looking out the front windshield in his 90’s blazer, headlights were the only thing lighting to dirt road in front of us. I remember thinking, “I’ll be an architect then. They are a part of the construction industry.” I didn’t actually know what an architect did at that time but I spent all of my free time trying to figure it out. As time went on I learned that i was still a part of things coming together, the difference in the pivot was that I helped generate the ideas.

Q: If you were a cake, which flavor would you be?

A: Vanilla. If something is perfect… don’t mess with it. Same with design, self-restraint is needed.