David and Nick first connected at a local event organized to set up a street carnival with our Main Streets of America partner, District Bridges. Having spent many years abroad in Panama and Mexico, Nick had recently returned to the USA to support his youngest child's college journey. Their conversation quickly turned to their shared passion and extensive backgrounds in design and construction, laying the groundwork for a promising collaboration in the business and development sector.

Around that same time, David had the great fortune to meet Rafael, who was in the USA exploring his next steps after earning a Bachelor’s in Architecture from Colombia’s Universidad Santo Tomás. Their mutual passion for globally-minded, innovative design solutions quickly bonded them as friends, leading to hours of engaging discussions about architecture over drinks and dinner. They agreed that collaboration was absolutely inevitable someday.

Just six months later, David recognized the enhanced value and potential he could offer clients by implementing his own systems and methods. In early 2023, he launched Continuum Life Cycle Consulting to support owners and developers with energy audits, PCAs, CLMs, and navigating code entanglements. Within eight months, Continuum secured its first major client, the Brookings Institution.

As more major clients came on board, David kept his friends Nick and Raf in mind, always looking for ways to collaborate with them. This drive led David to seek out design opportunities that could foster these much-desired partnerships. In 2024, Continuum began positioning itself as a design firm specializing in cutting-edge modular design and construction. The chance to tackle a project on the very block where they first met finally provided the opportunity they had been waiting for—to work together as a team.

The project, called Street Seats, aimed to help local restaurant owners expand their outdoor seating capacity. From this modest beginning, the group collaborated on numerous designs, both modular and traditional. Through their work, their friendships deepened, and they grew closer. Remarkably, it was discovered that Nick and Raf shared distant family connections through Colombia. Incredible!

On the second year anniversary of Continuum the company rebranded as URBANLAB Architecture to more accurately reflect the well rounded desing nature of the firm. URBANLAB would continue to work locally with businesses in the region and nation, but also begin to expand globally Mexico, Belize, Colombia, and Guyana with their cutting edge modular system.