The Architecture Firm: Allusion, Illusion and Delusion

A few years ago I was given an “offer I couldn’t refuse”, to sell my Chicago-based, 17-person architectural firm. During the following 24-months, I visited nearly 200 architectural firms (small and large), all around the country. I was able to spend anywhere from one to 5 days within these offices, learning how they operate and observing their culture. This was an amazingly enlightening experience. I was able to identify three, strikingly common characteristics regardless of the size of firm or type of work they did. This article is the first in a series that will focus on these commonalities.

By appearances alone, there are really two types of architect’s offices. One type - is akin to an artists’ studio. Things are a mess; models and drawings everywhere; photos, magazine pages and drawings are randomly pinned to the walls. Books, files and papers are scattered around. I refer to these firms as Allusionary. In other words, their physical manifestation is a reference to their actual operation: haphazard, informal, non-linear and uncontrived.

The other type of office is pristine and aesthetically inspiring. Everything has been carefully thought out: the arrangement and design of the workstations, the array of perfectly displayed models, photographs and awards, the conference room tables and chairs. The reception area is a mini museum. Nothing is out of order. I refer to these firms as Illusionary. It appears that the people in the firm are in total control. Not only are their buildings “perfect” - but the business operations are perfect too.

This second example is a grand illusion. Nearly without exception, I’ve acted like  Dorothy’s dog Toto, exposing the Great Oz from behind the curtain. Acceptance is the first step to recovery.  After overcoming the humiliation of not being all that he appears, Oz and those who rely on his “greatness” are better served. Everyone wins. I want you to “come-clean” too.

Getting firms to recognize and admit the fact that their office isn’t nearly as elegant as their buildings is often difficult. After years of practice, and apparent profitability, the firms’ principals and managers believe that the firm is functioning well. I’m here to tell you that this is almost always a delusion (woof-woof. Down Toto, down).

The past two years have been a great help in proving my point. It’s easy to make money in a good economy. Making money when the current is moving away from the shore is what separates the truly smart business from those who have simply been riding the wave.

The best way I know of explaining this reality to an architect is to make the analogy of designing a building. Imagine specifying components and systems to be used in a building but never coordinating them with one another. Imagine, simply taking your client’s program and, without thought, sending that to the General Contractor and saying “build it.” Imagine what the building would look like if you never composed the arrangement of spaces, never thought about how people flow through them or about the spatial implications. Imagine ignoring the effects the sun and wind have on the structure and the inhabitants!

An architect will stay up all night making sure the composition of the elevation is perfect - each window carefully sized and detailed and proportionate to the building as a whole - but would never think about applying this same rigor to the systems that must come together and work together so the firm can function harmonically. We’ll spend countless hours ensuring our client’s projects are perfect - but hardly pay attention to our own “house.”

For architects, structural, mechanical, electrical plumbing and architectural considerations need to be examined in relationship to one another. Otherwise, they will never come together to make a coherent, sustainable and efficient building. When it comes to firm management, accounting, marketing, human resources, project and resource management, CAD systems and communication systems are rarely ever purchased or designed with consideration to each other. If our office operations were a building, it would  look like something Rube Goldberg put together.