During his studies in architecture at Virginia Tech, Adam worked in various forms of technical theatre and entertainment, and his trajectory was aligned in 1987 when Adam interned at S. Leonard Auerbach & Associates. He worked with Artec Consultants in New York City, and traveled in Western Europe as the first undergraduate recipient of the Noland Traveling Fellowship from the Virginia AIA. While there he was employed in architecture offices in Switzerland and at the Department of Architecture of the ETH University in Zurich. Adam returned to theatre consulting with the Auerbach organization in San Francisco in 1990, and was licensed as an Architect in 1995.
           Adam managed a formidable workload yet maintained a commitment to proactive, detailed service. In 2003, he rose to the level of Principal. Through the years, he participated in more than 50 projects in the roles of systems designer, project manager, and project consultant across a wide variety of project types, including the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, SF Conservatory of Music, Santa Fe Opera Theater, two California Fox Theaters, SF Museum of Modern Art, the Green Music Center, and the Nokia Theatre in Grand Prairie, TX.
           In 2003 Adam founded The Shalleck Collaborative, Inc. www.shalleck.com which has a current workload of approximately 75 active projects, two of which are in association with Theatre Projects Consultants. He combines his diligent approach to project direction and systems design with a focus on architectural perception as it relates particularly to the actor-audience relationship. Recent work includes new multi-theatre performing arts centers at Folsom Lake College and the City College of San Francisco, a new, two-theatre home for the B St. Theatre Company and The Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, a Major Popular Music Venue in Ft. Collins, CO, the Fuller Theological Seminary, 30+ other College and University Projects and dozens of studies.
           Adam is a member of the AIA and the USITT and has written for various publications. He has lectured and juried at several institutions, and is a certified skipper of sailing vessels up to 50 feet.