MulvannyG2 Architecture

President: Mitch Smith

Specialty: Architecture, planning and interior design, cost-management

Year founded: 1971

2002 revenues: $40 million

Projected 2003 revenues: $45 million

Largest current project: Zhangjiang Semiconductor Industry Park

China is an exciting new market for MulvannyG2 Architecture. But as Mitch Smith and other MulvannyG2 principles are learning quickly, China is also a different world.

In the spring, MulvannyG2 held a ribbon-cutting for its new Shanghai office. Smith said many developers in the country have “ambitious structures” in mind. He compared Shanghai to New York and Chicago of the early 1900s.

“The country is growing rapidly. It wants to achieve goals and establish credibility on an international platform,” Smith said. “Every business wants to create an icon that is established in the Chinese community and the international community.”

Smith said MulvannyG2 has 340 employees after adding about 30 in the past year and launching its five-person Shanghai office.

Smith said recent China projects include the Shanghai Power Company headquarters and Zhangjiang Semiconductor Industry Park, a 2.1 million-square-foot, 90-building mega-complex in Shanghai.

Back in Puget Sound, Smith said the city of Tacoma and Nearon Enterprises hired MulvannyG2 to design a condominium/hotel project on the Foss Waterway. He said the project is in schematic design.

MulvannyG2 was also hired to design Redmond’s new city hall, which Smith said will be an airy building geared less for administration than as “a gathering space for people.”

“Both were very important wins for us,” he said of the projects, which are part of a push for public-sector work. “Both projects have a tremendous opportunity to contribute to the spirit of the community.”

Smith said he thinks MulvannyG2’s enthusiasm helped the company win the Redmond and Tacoma projects. With more competition for fewer jobs, Smith said enthusiasm is crucial.

“The good side of it is that it can lead to really great results, because everyone is challenged to put their best foot forward,” he said.