The practice is organized as a collaborative design studio directed by the partners. Each of the firm’s projects are developed and executed by a core team selected to meet the particular creative and technical challenges of the project and who are assigned to it for its entire duration. Each team is led by a principal who is responsible for design direction and client liaison and, whenever possible includes a collaborating design principal, who will have the knowledge to substitute for the project director in an emergency. A co-ordinating associate assigned to the project team is responsible for assisting the project director with management tasks and has primary responsibility for ensuring that ‘in house’ production activities are effectively executed and that external consultants are both fully engaged with the team’s work and carrying out their own production tasks as required to meet the schedule. This organizational structure enables in-depth participation by the principals in creative design and project decision making and ensures continuity of team understanding of project objectives and detail at all stages of its conceptualization, development, and delivery. The creative discourse and lateral thinking the studio model encourages, throughout the project, maximizes project team effectiveness and supports the firm's commitment to innovation, design excellence, and responsiveness to client requirements.
It is our belief that the history of architecture is a testament to the strength of studio based models of design in delivering projects of the greatest creativity and cultural significance. In contrast to role specialization characteristic of industrial production models, studio based models focus on continuity of design and production leadership as well as continuity of involvement of studio team members. Considered from the perspective of the “best practices” of sustainability, this model has the advantage emphasizing the interdependence of intentionality and design solution and focuses on the successful integration of all design means to achieve project intentions to the highest and best extents.
Notwithstanding the preference of the popular press to attribute great architectural projects to a single author, contemporary architectural projects are inherently complex and depend upon a capable team, as well as strong design leadership, to successfully realize them. Our purpose in creating a collaborative studio model has been to create three key conditions for success, passionate commitment to the project on the part of the team responsible for it realization, depth of production capacity, and follow through.
