BKL Architects Engineers

We're stepping away from our usual content to celebrate something truly special. 💙

Last week, our own Ryan Mahaffey and his family officially finalized their adoption — and we just had to share it with our community.

Eleven months ago, Ryan and his wife opened their home to foster care. On day one, a child was already sleeping in the bedroom they had spent years preparing to fill. A month later, they had the privilege of reuniting two brothers who had been separated — enrolling everyone in new schools and, in their own words, "hilariously stumbling" into being a family of five.

Last week, they stood in a courtroom and made what they've known in their hearts for eleven months completely official.

*"Kids in foster care don't need perfect parents, they just need someone who will stay."*

The Mahaffeys stayed — through every unknown, every adjustment, every beautiful and hard moment of eleven months — and last week their family became official.

If this story moves you, or if you've ever felt a nudge toward fostering or adoption, let this be your sign. Ryan would love to grab coffee and answer every question — no pressure, just conversation.

Congratulations to Ryan, his wife, and their three boys. We are so proud to call you family. 🏛️💙

Juneteenth — What It Is, Why It Matters, and What It Means for Our Industry
This Friday, June 19th, is Juneteenth — a federal holiday since 2021, but a day Black Americans have celebrated for over 160 years.
Here's the history, plainly told:
On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring enslaved people in Confederate states free. But freedom on paper didn't mean freedom in practice. It wasn't until June 19, 1865 — more than two years later — that Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas and announced the war was over and all enslaved people were free. For the people of Texas, that was the day freedom actually arrived.
That date became known as Juneteenth — a blend of "June" and "nineteenth" — and has been celebrated in Black communities ever since as Freedom Day.
Why does this matter to those of us in engineering and architecture?
Because the built environment of this country was shaped, in enormous part, by Black hands and Black minds — often without recognition, compensation, or freedom. The White House. Monticello. Countless plantations, roads, levees, and buildings across the South were constructed by enslaved craftsmen and laborers with extraordinary skill.
After emancipation, Black professionals fought for their place in formal engineering and architecture. Robert R. Taylor, born in 1868 just three years after Juneteenth, became the first Black graduate of MIT's architecture program and the first professionally accredited Black architect in America. Archie Alexander — a Black civil engineer in the early 1900s — built federal infrastructure including the Tidal Basin Bridge and a portion of the Washington D.C. sewer system, even while facing firms that refused to work with him because of his race.
These men built America. Juneteenth is a good day to remember that — and to ask how we continue to build an industry worthy of that legacy.
Take a moment Friday to learn, reflect, and celebrate. 🖤

🚌 Throwback Thursday | Tulsa, Oklahoma — 1953

This photo from the BKL archives shows our Street Committee Survey team doing something that looks simple — riding a city bus. But this WAS the engineering.

In the early 1950s, before computers, GPS, or any modern data tools, civil engineers assessed Tulsa's streets the old-fashioned way: they rode them. Known as a "windshield survey," engineers would travel routes by bus or car — observing pavement conditions, drainage problems, congestion points, and infrastructure wear — and record everything by hand in detailed field notes. That handwritten data would then drive decisions about where to invest, what to repair, and how to plan Tulsa's growing street network.

These well-dressed gentlemen weren't just riding the bus. They were building the future of Tulsa — one observation at a time.

We love sharing these moments from our 80-year history. Got a memory of old Tulsa? Drop it in the comments! 👇