Architecture & Engineering Business Strategies

When an architecture firm is just starting out, almost anything goes in the quest to get up and running. But once you’re more established, two things need to become foundational to how you do business:  transparency and discipline. In this Section Cut conference interview, Tom Jacobs, co-managing partner at Krueck Sexton Partners, discusses how these two values were key to the firm’s success story—and how Monograph has helped make it all possible. He explains why embracing data-driven project planning and performance allows you to scale your business while also scaling your time for creativity.

Interview Takeaways

• Stay transparent
• Define your spheres of activity
• Create a nimble value proposition
• Share documents widely
• Monograph links data with project performance  
• Upgrade your resource planning with Monograph 
• Organize planning and execution
• Monograph is a technology accelerator 
• Fuel innovation with greater purpose
• Choose collaboration over competition

Show Links

• Check out Krueck Sexton Partners
• Connect with Tom Jacobs on LinkedIn 
• Connect with Chris Morgan on LinkedIn 
• Check out Monograph
• Check out Section Cut
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph 

When you think of practice operations, you may think of the tools, information systems, and resources that have to be managed on a daily basis. But Marjanne Pearson, founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Talentstar, wants you to reframe how you look at practice operations. It should be about mobilizing all those resources to create value and seek opportunities for transformational change. As a speaker at our Section Cut conference series, Marjanne talked about the future of practice operations and how firms can position themselves for long-term, sustainable growth.

Interview Takeaways

• Look for ways to create value
• Determine how to improve in the future
• Reframe practice objectives
• Leverage your developmental assets
• Embrace transformational change
• Focus on what’s next
• Establish an energy grid
• Get leadership support for innovation

Show Links

• Check out Talentstar
• Connect with Marjanne Pearson on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Monograph
• Check out Section Cut
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph 

Have you considered a unique firm structure? RIOS’ practice structure might just take the cake, as it is unique at every level. Not only do they have two CEOs, but they have a multidisciplinary office with architects, interior designers, and graphic designers all working together. What really stands out about the practice is its values. Things like audacity, joy, and agility top a  list of core values that are all about breaking the rules and doing something new. During this Section Cut interview, co-CEOs Jessamyn Davis and Andy Lantz discuss how those values are put into action and what they see as their practice’s playbook.

Interview Takeaways

• Balance skills with co-CEOs
• Create a management committee
• Harness the passions of your team
• Celebrate trying new things
• Get clients to take calculated risks
• Bring joy into the office
• Break the rules with a multi-disciplinary office
• Embrace change
• Go global with your staff
• Stick to short-term strategies to stay agile
• Rely on data
• Stand out by prioritizing joy

Show Links

• Check out RIOS
• Connect with Jessamyn Davis on LinkedIn 
• Connect with Andy Lantz on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Monograph
• Check out Section Cut
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph 

Now more than ever there’s an opportunity to design with purpose, and with a goal of equity so that spaces are built for everyone. But in order to do that, we need to do two things: keep the new generation of young designers engaged and supported, and involve our clients and communities in the design process. In this Best Practice interview, Black Architects + Interior Designers Association Canada (BAIDA) co-founder Farida Abu-Bakare and Director of Advocacy Ian Rolston explain how  two-way mentorship, developing a voice, and learning from the communities you build in can transform the architecture industry.

Interview Takeaways

• Be your authentic self
• Collaborate at every level
• Understand local building methods and environments
• Share information in a mentorship
• Keep the younger generation in design
• Develop your voice
• Look for a place where you’ll fit
• Leaders should transform, not transact 
• Set out to achieve community impact
• Bring clients into your process
• Spend time in communities
• Pursue equity in design

Show Links

• Check out BAIDA
• Connect with Farida Abu-Bakare on LinkedIn
• Connect with Ian Rolston on LinkedIn 
• Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Connect with Chris Morgan on LinkedIn 
• Check out Monograph
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph 

In a world of seven billion people and counting, innovative design has become more important than ever. From residential to transportation to healthcare, how can we create an innovative built environment that caters to humanity’s changing needs? These are the questions that occupy leading design firms. For Olson Kundig’s CEO Hemanshu Parwani, or "HP" for short, the goal is to source top talent and deploy staff in ways that solve specific problems for clients—and benefit the world at large. Here, HP explains why it's valuable to follow a design-led approach, ask the right questions, and embrace innovation at every turn.

Interview Takeaways

• Why now is the time to become an architect
• Design is not a commodity
• Be a design-led firm
• Identify problems to find opportunities
• The summit is not the goal
• Don’t fixate on titles
• Embrace innovation
• Look for talent, not resources
• Let the project create the budget
• The role of operations
• Running a firm is like running a project
• Set criteria for new projects

Show Links

• Check out Olson Kundig
• Connect with Hemanshu Parwani on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Monograph
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph

Social media has allowed us to share our ideas on just about every subject. But free-flowing discourse on architecture styles and design careers hasn’t always been available. Katharina Benjamin of Kontextur and Jeff Kaplon of Subtilitas have each carved out online spaces for criticism, conversation, and inspiration while spotlighting topics and architecture offices that don’t get enough attention. On Best Practice, they talked to us about why sharing architectural knowledge is the key to a thriving professional life.

Interview Takeaways

• Create a space to collect projects
• Give a voice to young designers
• Keep it visually simple
• Talk about money
• Resurface older works
• Fuel the creative fire
• Get value from the unseen messages
• Find where your images fit into the discourse
• Index the information you’ve gathered
• Make money but stay true to your mission
• Separate aesthetic influence from your design practice
• Keep an eye on the new generation

Show Links

• Check out Kontextur and follow them on Instagram or Twitter
• Check out Subtilitas and follow them on Instagram
• Connect with Katharina Benjamin on LinkedIn
• Connect with Jeff Kaplon on LinkedIn
• Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Monograph
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph

Growing a firm by a dozen employees each year can sound daunting. But the truth is that when you look at growth as a puzzle rooted in organizational structure, you can begin to make steady progress. Michael Hsu Office of Architecture did just that when the growth rate of Austin, Texas caused them to grow the firm from 21 to 78 people in just seven years. By doing things like doubling down on culture, working with diverse clients, and fostering employee growth, they have created a firm that is making an impressive mark.

Interview Takeaways

• Grow with your city
• Hire for talent, not projects
• Retain your best clients
• Don’t cave to imposter syndrome
• Use metrics to select projects
• Cultivate self-awareness
• Find a financial consultant
• Recognize firm inflection points
• Should you hire a COO
• Employee growth isn’t one-size-fits-all
• Pick clients with the same goals
• Mitigate growing pains with organizational structure

Show Links

• Check out Michael Hsu Office of Architecture
• Connect with Michael Hsu on LinkedIn
• Connect with Maija Kreishman on LinkedIn
• Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Connect with Chris Morgan on LinkedIn
• Check out Monograph
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph

How do you achieve successful growth as an architecture firm? It all comes down to having the right people on your team. Today, there are small 20-person firms that are making incredible revenue and ranking on lists alongside much larger counterparts. There are firms that have been acquired by larger firms, only to see their original talent leave. There is no magic formula for hiring and retaining the best people. But according to Marjanne Pearson, an industry force and the Chief Strategy Officer of Talentstar, there are ways to empower your strategic agenda and fill the roles you need.

Interview Takeaways

• Architecture is more than design craft
• The birth of strategy and specialization
• The four levels of leadership
• Think beyond full-time employees
• Grow slowly and steadily
• Make change as easy as possible
• Learn how to become a change manager
• Evaluate hires for cultural fit
• Perfect the art of the interview
• The dangers of acquisition
• Help clients understand what they’re missing
• Design firms are not a hierarchy

Show Links

• Check out Talentstar
• Connect with Marjanne Pearson on LinkedIn
• Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Monograph
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph

What do business strategists and editor-in-chiefs have in common? They both require you to build relationships. Lots of them. As the director of strategy and partnerships at Trahan Architects, founder and editor-in-chief of Madame Architect, and a lifelong collector of mentors, Julia Gamolina is an expert relationship builder. In this episode, she shares how her roles overlap, how she approaches business strategy, and the steps she recommends to follow in her career footsteps.

Interview Takeaways

• Find the common threads among women architects
• Grow from media site to community resource
• Produce content, not just buildings
• Connect with people
• Let business strategy take you to the next level
• Develop a central message and use it everywhere
• Keep developing new ideas
• Use social media to find collaborative partners
• Growth can only happen with a strong culture
• Get experience in as many roles as possible
• Explore your career, don’t plan
• Find mentors by approaching people you admire

Show Links

• Check out Trahan Architects and follow them on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Connect with Julia Gamolina on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Monograph
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph

Most architecture firms are grappling with the question of how technology and data fit into their practice. For many firms, the solution is a self-contained design technology team, similar to an IT department. But at KPF, they’re championing the idea of a digital practice, where technology is a means to deliver their projects in the best way possible. It’s not just support, it’s a way of operating. In this episode, BIM Practice Manager Veronica Quintero and Senior BIM Specialist Alex Wilson explain how their team is integrated into the practice, how they help solve problems for every department, and how they stay on top of training so that everyone knows how to use relevant tools.

Interview Takeaways

• Foster digital expertise
• Keep the focus on the practice of architecture
• Work with other departments to improve efficiency
• Create a flow of data
• Build a project dashboard
• Collaborate as an industry
• Train with accountability
• Incentivize training by tying it to career progress
• Uplevel skills
• Harvest journals to understand what problems are recurring
• Value soft skills in leaders
• Create opportunities for advocacy

Show Links

• Check out KPF and follow them on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Connect with Veronica Quintero on LinkedIn
• Connect with Alex Wilson on LinkedIn
• Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Monograph
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph