About

The four-minute mile. The land speed record. Most homeruns in a season, a golf tournament’s lowest scores, the fastest Tour de France. They all reach a peak beyond which some think it is impossible for a human to go. But we try. And some break through. As an architect, our firm’s founder Brian Smallwood has worked for some of the finest firms in the country. And his projects have often been highly complex and technical. Not just the bones of the building or residence, but the site planning to account for the rise and fall of the sun around them. The way the structure hugs or competes with its unique topography. The engineering of the systems designed to sustain the design. And then how it all answers the specific needs of the people who will live inside. Today, Brian and his partner Kyle McKinness are attempting their own four- minute mile breakthrough of sorts in architecture, by accepting only a small, select number of projects that offer the greatest challenge, and the greatest reward for all involved. As a high schooler in California, Brian’s sport was rock climbing – especially in Yosemite where the park’s boulder climbs and rock faces offered continually diverse and difficult new challenges as he improved at the sport. In rock climbing, as in skiing or whitewater rafting, the hiking and climbing difficulty of any rock face is technically rated on a scale of 1.00 to 6.00. Class 5.13 and 5.14-rated climbs are the most difficult ever successfully attempted free-solo. The name of our firm is 5.13. It might not be what you expect, but neither are we. And it is a fitting name for this specialized firm, our highly experienced team, and our philosophy of work in designing and building elegant solutions most have never imagined or thought possible – until we do.