The Portico Group
Specialty: Landscape architecture, architecture, interpretive planning and exhibit design services
Management: Michael Hamm, president and CEO; Timothy Nicoulin, CFO; principals Charles Mayes, Dennis Meyer, Keith McClintock
Founded: 1984
Headquarters: Seattle
Current projects: Eastgate Park in Bellevue, Hands On Children’s Museum in Olympia, the Washington Park Arboretum’s new Pacific Connections Garden in Seattle, USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center in Pearl Harbor, Chicago Botanic Garden, Jilkaat Kwaan Cultural Center in Alaska, the Smithsonian Zoo in Washington, D.C.
Image courtesy of The Portico Group
The Portico Group is designing the new USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center in Pearl Harbor.
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The Portico Group is celebrating its 25th year in business. Michael Hamm, president and CEO, says the secret to Portico’s success has been flexibility and being “ready to turn on a dime.”
That flexibility came into play a year ago, due to the economy. Portico saw some downturn and made corrections then, but is holding steady now. The company has a strong backlog for the next eight months and is targeting projects created from the recent stimulus package. It is also targeting projects from bonds and levies passed across the country in November.
“We feel certain we’ll get some of that work,” Hamm said.
Hiring
Portico plans to hire up to six people this year. It recently placed an ad for an experienced architect and received 200 resumes in a week. “It just kind of states where the economy is at the moment, at least for architects,” Hamm said.
He said the bidding process has turned into “a bit of a frenzy.” It was recently one of 16 firms going after a $165,000 master plan. “We’re seeing more competition than we’ve ever seen,” he said.
To bolster itself, Portico is joining with other architecture firms to create a more competitive team. Portico has consistently partnered with firms on national projects, but is doing it more in today’s economy.“There’s less work. And everybody’s striving to obtain commissions,” Hamm said.
Telling a story
Portico works on national and international projects that have a story to tell with a theme and a main message. Projects focus on people, place, story and nature. Because of that, they tend to work on projects like interpretive centers, museums, public gardens, zoos and aquariums.
Hamm is especially excited about Portico’s work on the USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center in Pearl Harbor. Hamm has worked on the project for eight years already, with another two years to go before it is complete. He is in charge of the project for Portico.
“Landscape architects don’t often have that position to oversee an architectural project,” he said. “I’m in charge of the project both in terms of the building and the site, which is very gratifying.”
The visitor center tells the story of the day the U.S. was attacked by Japan in Pearl Harbor, and is visited by 1.5 million people a year. But the current center is sinking due to poor soils.
The new $54 million center will be built on 200 pilings and meets Department of Defense guidelines.
Hamm said the USS Arizona and the Statue of Liberty are bookends to the U.S. and our history, and are two highly visible public facilities that require extra defense. He said he is honored to work on something that will be seen by so many people, and is so strongly emblematic of our country and its history.
“It’s one of the highlights of my career,” he said.