Healthy times: architects struggle to keep up with demand.(Special Report: Design & Construction)(includes related article on job market for architecture graduates)

'It's a busy climate out there. It's a reflection of the general health of the economy'

Don Sadler remembers when new projects were few and far between for Baltimore's architects.

A decade ago, building - and the planning of new projects - came to a halt as almost every part of the economy suffered the effects of the recession and an accompanying real estate slump.

Times have changed. These heady days of record economic growth has companies of all types scrambling for new space - a scramble that has nearly every architect in town working overtime.

"It's a busy climate out there," said Sadler, a managing principal at Anshen & Allen's Baltimore office. "It's a reflection of the general health of the economy."

While there are no skyscrapers being built downtown, there are several projects in the works that have kept firms busy over the past several years.

Even though, for the most part, the designs for three massive downtown hotels are cuffed up in canisters waiting for funding to come …