In the course of my work I have been introduced to the Apache Struts framework, which implements an architecture for designing applications, it apparently is particularly suited to tiered applications which is usually the model applied to web applications. The architecture in question is Model-View-Controller. There is a detailed write up on it here.

This is good

It is particularly good when the architects of the software and the developers of the software aren't the same people or even working at the same company. It provides a common frame of reference for the build of the application. All you hackers who are also Howard Roark fans out there may complain that it constrains your creativity and it is just reimplementing what someone else did. And I agree on one minor point and that is the root of the argument. Something done isn't glorious simply because someone else did it. And relying wholly on others for not only innovation and progress, but to do your work for you, is absolutely repulsive.

However, Roark, as an architect, had to constrain his work in a certain way. He was limited by the laws of physics, engineering and by building materials, it is his ability to integrate all these constraints and laws into a single unified whole that made him the hero. And while the parallel may not be complete (or may be non-existent) you can utilize the work that was done in developing the MVC as some of your building material, and on top of that you may construct your work.