Q) You held the position of executive vice president at CSHQA for just over 10 years. Now you’re 10 months into your new role as president. What are you most surprised by?
Not so much surprised as pleased. The change in leadership has sparked a new energy. I am seeing a lot of buy-in, a willingness to step up to new roles by our Associates and Sr. Associates. We expanded CSHQA’s board of directors from seven members to nine, and elected four new directors. Some who haven't been involved in firm management are now getting involved in charting the direction for the firm.
I hadn’t seen this energy in the past. People are volunteering to get involved. Difficult times in our industry pushed down on people’s ability to control their future. Now I see internal collaboration and brainstorming; an attitude exists that we survived, now we are focusing on the future.
It’s exciting! We’ve tackled a lot of issues in the past 10 months. The company had pent up needs and pent up energies. During the downturn, our business foundation remained strong and we kept our brain trust of seasoned veterans. This means we’re now growing our staff with the next generation of architects and engineers.
Q) Design and construction are gaining ground again after a long period of stagnation. Where do you see potential opportunities?
Sustainability and green architecture are staying. Even though green washing by companies jumping on the band wagon has created negative press, the real work does have an impact. Our prospective clients have to prove value - or ROI - to get building loans and operating funds. We bring value to this design process. Sustainability and energy efficiency are starting to drive investment, which drives our business.
Q) How is technology affecting the role of the architect in today’s construction market?
Tremendously! There’s a big push to integrate BIM – building information modeling – into the design process. Staying relevant in the market, means staying on top of this skill set. In 2006, I gave a presentation at an industry conference about this “up and coming” technology. General contractors were already on board and had been using BIM since 2001, but the A/E community was slow to see the value. Not anymore. But clients need to understand the process and the tools to derive what they want out of the end product.
As part of BIM, technology is enabling teams to move to a more balanced risk model called IPD, or integrated project delivery, where risk and reward are spread more evenly across the participants. Meaning the owner, developer, design team and contractor are all players sharing the risk and reward. This form of delivery can be more economical, fosters better collaboration amongst all team members and results in greater constructability. This process is starting to gain attention with more complicated and complex projects.
Q) Has the economy permanently changed the landscape? Is there a new normal?
Yes, there is definitely a new normal. Everyone is very cautious. Recovery is partly a matter of time, and mostly a matter of re-education. We have to reset our risk tolerance. Many banks and developers were over-leveraged at the downturn and are now overly cautious. As the building industry re-assesses and learns how to access capital markets, we have to know what makes a good project and assist the client with this evaluation. It’s not enough to just know architecture.
The other normal, for the time being, is the loss of four or five years of new talent. Some call it a lost generation. As new and recent grads were turned away or let go, they migrated to other industries. We’re feeling this impact now as we re-tool our employee capital, and the concern is it will get worse as more firms start hiring. Add in retirement and lower interest in the construction industry and you have a talent pool gap we’re going to see for a while.
Q) Where will you focus your efforts in leading CSHQA over the next three to five years?
We’re taking note of the new paradigms and moving forward. We have to make good long term decisions to adapt to the new normal. At CSHQA we’re focusing on our value proposition and leveraging key vertical markets. This means applying resources and training where they bring the most value.
We have always stated we are the firm of "people who listen, design that speaks." We are refocusing our efforts on the needs of our clients, listening to what they are telling us, actively seeking their feedback, so we can better align our resources to meet their needs. We have significant experience amongst our team and can bring value to our clients when we understand where we can best leverage this knowledge base - add value to their process.
We will also focus on key vertical markets we have traditionally served and ensure we understand the direction each is heading. We will allocate our resources to serve those markets most promising. This takes time and research to understand new trends, identify key funding cycles, and evaluate the socio-political climate that guides these markets.
Q) Do you see a good future?
Yes, I see a good future, but we have a lot of work to do. The competition is fierce, our profession has allowed itself to become "commoditized", and the marketplace is still full of uncertainty. But with adversity comes strength; we've done a lot of work in 10 months and the momentum is building. We’ve woken the sleeping dog and are confident in our future, now planning again and making decisions for the longer term.
With new leadership has come a new perspective. I see a renewed energy in pursuing the next phase of our history. There’s tremendous opportunity in our company, in the changing economy and in the future of design. In the midst of uncertainty our value as trusted advisors is paramount. We are confident in our abilities to learn and adapt. Our clients trust us to do that. –
