The year 1991 was both lucky and unlucky for Newtown resident Philip Clark. Remembering the economic recession that year, Mr Clark - today president of Claris Construction Inc - was laid off from his job working for a contractor. As a result, he said he was "forced to start" his own company and establishing Claris that same year along with former partner Mike Grise.

Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, Claris is a thriving 24-person firm at 153 South Main Street.

With a background in construction and a degree in architectural engineering from Pennsylvania State University, Mr Clark's company started off "doing residential remodeling and it quickly moved back to the commercial side, which is what I knew."

Remember his start, he said, "I was single back then and don't know if I would take the risk now with kids and a mortgage." Gambling on starting a company "was easier when you're single."

After 25 years, Mr Clark is now looking to semi retire. The quarter century has "been a good 25 years, many ups and downs, mostly ups," he said.

How will he spend his free time? "I am going to go play golf, frankly," he said.

The company is currently "going through strategizing in what Claris will look like in next ten years, and the future ownership," he said. "I will semi-retire and will hand the reigns to some of the younger crowd here; we are planning that process now."

Thinking back over Claris's history, he said, the company is "beyond where I expected to be." Claris is "still alive," and "still here," he said. "I always think big, but am very pleased with what we have created." He referred to his team as "the best bunch of people anyone could have working for them." One job requirement? "A sense of humor," he said.

Claris's specialty? "Our niche is our process, not product; it's how we do things, it's the design-build process. The magic is in the process," Mr Clark said.

"Design-bid-build is standard and we are design-build and we cut out the bidding process." He described the standard scenario where an architect designs, then the project goes out to bid for a general contractor, then the low bidder is often awarded, he said. The process is often filled with change orders and additional charges. "The standard process is very adversarial," Mr Clark said.

Design-build is "very popular now." Rather than hiring a construction manager and bidding out the work for a commercial build, he said the design-build "is a more harmonious was of doing it." He said that "there is a lot of trust" in the process. "It's a better way to build."

The thought behind the process is to "combine architecture, engineering, and construction under one roof… providing everything as a master builder to oversee the entire project," Mr Clark said. "We meet with customer and learn the vision, and together envision a structure, and we are fortunate that we have a lot of great clients. A collaboration takes place with the owner, builder, architect; we're all in one room figuring what you need and it's always a superior product."

He said, "We start all projects with expectations at the first meeting. We all get into conference room, architects, owners, and the goal is to align expectations for the job." The process "mitigates chances of disputes and misunderstandings."

Claris also performs pour-in-place construction - a "tilt up" practice. The NYA Sports & Fitness Center in Fairfield Hills is one example where the large walls were poured in place, and after the concrete dried, crews used large cranes to lift and tilt the wall off the ground and set it in place.

Claris and Mr Clark are also "always looking to the future and where we want to be - we wanted to be in the forefront of high performance buildings, higher energy efficiency - that's what the owner wants, to pay less in utilities, and keep money in their pockets."

Claris conforms with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), which it is a nonprofit organization that sets standards for high performance energy-efficient buildings, Mr Clark said. The first recreational facility in the Northeast to be LEED certified was the NYA, he said.

"One we just finished, the Newtown Hook & Ladder Fire Company firehouse, that was a feel good product and the firefighters are a special group of guys and ladies - the collaboration was amazing," Mr Clark said.

Mentioning another favorite project, he noted the 90,000-square-foot Connecticut Food Bank distribution center in Wallingford.

"The Connecticut Food Bank is an incredible organization that supplies 700 food pantries throughout the state. It's Claris's main charity and I take it to heart that there are children in such a wealthy state as Connecticut that go to bed hungry, and that is what Connecticut Food Bank is trying to stop."

Mr Clark had always been heading toward a life in architecture and construction. "My father was an architect, it was in the blood, so I worked for him after high school," he said. His father's advice: "If you want to be a good architect, go work for a contractor," which he had done, while also studying architecture in college.

What advice would he give to his own son? "Any parent in a particular industry hopes their child won't go into that industry, but I want him to be happy and follow a passion, that's what I did."

A native of Pennsylvania, Mr Clark attended Pennsylvania State University where he earned his degree in architectural engineering.

Upon graduation, he began working with Whiting-Turner Contracting Company on the IBM office complex in Southbury. He later joined Shankel Construction of Trumbull and oversaw all phases of the construction for retail, office, and commercial projects in Fairfield, New Haven, and Litchfield Counties, as well as those in Westchester County, N.Y.

Specializing in architecture, engineering, and commercial construction, and with clients in Connecticut and New York, Claris's projects/markets include aviation, health care, education, industrial, interior, retail, and mixed-use.

Claris Construction is an award-winning dealer for Butler, the world's leading producer of steel building systems and is a member of the CON/STEEL Alliance, which designs tilt-up buildings.

With offices in Newtown and Bridgeport, Claris Construction continues to expand its expertise in a variety of delivery formats including design-build and open book, while providing site selection and evaluation cost study analysis, as well as property management services.