The 1700 Seventh Building

At least one architecture firm in town says it's been "surprisingly busy" since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the day that marked the dramatic downward slide of the nation's economy.

Callison's international projects have always been a "strong suit, especially when there's a domestic downturn," says Robert Tindall, president of the firm.

Some well-timed early planning seems to have helped keep the firm afloat, too. Late last spring, the firm anticipated the market would soften and decided to lay off 5 percent of staff, Tindall says. "We tried to take care of (anticipated financial problems) early," he says. "We really benefited from that."

However, the "more frightening" prospects for the firm's future involve the hospitality and hotel sectors, which have hemorrhaged since the attacks. "Everybody's cautious," he says. "We're checking in with clients weekly to see if they're going to slow down or stop." So far, so good, he says.

To cope with a changing economy, Callison is "repositioning existing properties," Tindall says. The firm will focus more on renovations rather than new projects.

The office market has also been hard hit over the last year, so Callison is shifting its focus there to interior design, he says.

On the international front, Callison has been "very, very active" in the Middle East, where it works on land planning and mixed-use development projects. Since the early 90s, Callison has been working in Dubai, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The region, he says, is trying to diversify from a petroleum-based economy to one that also includes tourism, software and manufacturing.

Mainland China is also an active market. The 2008 Olympics in Beijing will likely stimulate more development there, he says.

No projects have been canceled, leaving Callison designers to wonder if the economic bell will toll for them, too, he says. "Nothing has stopped," he says, so the question around the office is, " 'When is the bomb going to drop?' "

Another worry plagues Tindall, though, and it's not about the firm's business outlook. "I'm a little fearful that our (architecture) industry will get a little cutthroat - that some of us will not provide the service clients expect."

He says cutting corners will not only make the client unhappy, but architects as an entire group could be maligned.

On a more upbeat note, Callison's membership in a strategic alliance has proved successful, Tindall says. "We're getting introduced to projects we would not have heard of otherwise."

The firm last year formed an alliance with two other major architecture firms to compete for large-scale, mixed-use projects around the world. The group, which it calls itself Insight Alliance, is made up of Callison; convention center designer Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates of Atlanta; and hotel and resort designer Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo of Honolulu.

One of the alliance's current projects is a four-hotel, 500,000-square-foot retail and entertainment center in Anaheim, Calif.

Among Callison's other major projects this year are:

• The Ayala Center Greenbelt, a 300,000-square-foot retail and entertainment center in Manila. Currently under construction, it is scheduled for completion in spring 2002.

• The KUSI mixed-use development, with 130,000 square feet of office and a 194-unit residential tower in San Diego.

• The 1700 Seventh Building, a 525,000-square-foot office building nearing completion in Seattle.