The Big Nerd Ranch

The Big Nerd Ranch is a company founded by Aaron Hillegass, an early developer at Apple and author of what is considered the bible of Mac programming. He needed a new building for The Nerd Ranch, and decided on renovating a dilapidated iron works warehouse.

Aaron wanted to maintain the steel structure of the building, which was built haphazardly and left in poor condition. “This was one messed up building…it didn’t have a right angle in it,” said the project’s lead architect, Leslie Ellsworth with Kronberg Wall. It was very difficult to document dimensions, required extensive support in the field, and hours of going over details to manage unforeseen issues.

Leslie landed on Fabral for our wide variety of fresh ENERGY STAR® approved colors, and unparalleled collaboration. By working closely together, our engineering and customer care teams were able to provide materials for her to create a full-scale wall mockup. The renovated building features vertical to horizontal transitions using metal panels by Fabral in Pewter, Bright Silver, and custom Terra Cotta.

Turning an abandoned warehouse into a modern, functional, sustainable office building is no easy feat. But when you’re backed by Fabral’s personnel and materials, anything is possible.