The 1995 DJC A/E company survey


These firms participated in our survey:


KMD

MacKenzie Skene, director of Kaplan, McLaughlin Diaz's Seattle office, says the architectural market in this area has improved significantly and he plans to hire two new people to handle the additional work.

The San Francisco-based company opened a Seattle office three years ago when it won the $83 million Harborview expansion and renovation project. KMD now has 12 design professionals based here working on local projects as well as projects in other cities. All business functions of the firm are handled from San Francisco.

Among the other jobs the Seattle office is working on are the Children's Ambulatory Care facility at Indiana University, Duke University Medical Center's Children's Hospital and a small project for the University of Washington School of Medicine. KMD is also planning a satellite campus in Silverdale for Bremerton's Harrison Memorial Hospital.

Though health care is the bulk of KMD's work, it has done planning for a $4 million sound studio at Sand Point for the state film office and is evaluating the 250-bed legal offenders' unit at Western State Hospital for the state to see if it needs to be replaced or rehabbed.

Hotel work is picking up. Skene said his firm will continue to work on remodeling rooms at Rosario Resort on Orcas Island and has done hotel studies for owners and developers of downtown Seattle sites.

"I see improvement in a lot of areas," Skene said. "There is a lot more work out there than there was a year ago."

KMD hasn't done retail in this market but Skene said he would like to break into that also.

Skene said his firm is developing new ways of working with clients which have dramatically changed the way KMD architects operate. Using laptops and modems, architects now can work inside clients' offices for days or weeks at a time, and can plug into other KMD offices as necessary. Design teams can be assembled with people in Los Angeles, Mexico City and Kuala Lumpur who communicate with each other via computer.

"We work with clients where ever they are. Client satisfaction has skyrocketed," Skene said of the new system.

Designers are using computers to give clients quicker responses, turning out plans, perspectives and other data on a project during meetings with clients. "Everything we talk about they walk out with a record of," Skene said. "We've got to eliminate surprises."

Skene said the new approach lets designers spend more time with clients and makes decision making more efficient and rapid. "We're doing more work than ever before -- with a smaller staff. We just can't be inefficient."

Skene said he has dramatically improved communication with clients by using a three-step process: defining expectations of both designers and clients; getting commitment to perform from all parties and monitoring progress.

"I have this aversion to the word 'assume.' I don't allow my people to use it so we don't get there and find out we've gone down the wrong path."

Hewitt Isley

David Hewitt said in the past year the market has become very positive for Hewitt Isley Architects. The political situation has made public agencies more conservative which may impact spending on public work, Hewitt said, but "The private sector has come back to life!"

Hewitt said there is more discussion of new projects and of reviving old ones than there has been for years. "There isn't a sense of despair. We're thinking and moving. Positive discussions are going on."

Hewitt expects to see an economic spinoff from the major projects which are underway in the area. "We're looking forward to the next wave of projects."

Hewitt Isley's staff is about 40, up from 25 it employed 18 months ago. The firm recently added some new staff.

In addition to the $62 million central waterfront project, Hewitt Isley is working on Harbor Steps phase two, landscape architecture for Redmond Town Center and is working on the private/public partnership doing Sinclair Landing in Bremerton. The water front project will have a new ferry terminal, parking, multi-modal transit, retail, housing and open space.

Hewitt said the firm recently bought a new $150,000 computer system which is faster and more sophisticated. "It represents faith in the future."

Fuller Sears & Smith

Bill Fuller said he keeps expecting the retail business to slow down but it remains surprisingly strong. "There is still a lot more activity than I would have guessed. A lot of product is being built, more than can be justified in the long run."

The firm expanded its office space this year and now has space to grow from the current 10 to 15. "Roving freelance types" often fill in today when extra work requires it, Fuller said, which works out well and keeps the firm flexible.

"We have a 40-hour work week and then a 60-hour work week. It is hard to balance. But we are having a good time and doing interesting work," Fuller said.

Fuller Sears & Smith has been diversifying, going into other areas such as industrial, multi- and single-family and office tenant improvements. The firm is working in five states, including Idaho, Ohio, Wisconsin and Connecticut.

Long distance operations have worked "pretty painlessly," Fuller said. On one project, a 6,000-square-foot house on Long Island, the client often travels back and forth between Seattle and Long Island so meetings can be held here and the client handles much of the communication with local building officials.

Fuller is trying to get into other areas and is being interviewed for some municipal work, a brewery and an office headquarters.

Though he has been expecting retail to slow, Fuller said he is surprised at how strong it remains. Part of the activity is driven by significant changes in the retail industry such as converting closed malls into open formats and converting industrial warehouse space into retail.

Today Fuller said most new retail, even small projects, is tenant driven rather than developer driven, meaning much more attention is paid to the needs of the tenant than was done in the past.

Miller Hull

Miller Hull is very busy these days and, with 24 on staff, is the biggest its ever been. Some of the work is projects that were delayed two years ago but other work is new. The outlook for next year looks good too, according to Bob Hull.

Currently the firm is doing several nature and interpretive centers such as the $1.8 million Discovery Park Nature Center and a $7 million center at Yaquina Head near Newport, Ore. Lab work is also strong with a $6 million lab for the Bureau of Environmental Services. The firm is designing a new $2.6 million office for the Fremont Public Association and a distance learning center for the Lake Washington School District which will have administrative offices and training rooms. Construction will start in the spring on a new national veterans cemetery near Kent.

Despite all the work, Hull said he won't add more staff. "We think there is a magic number between 20 and 24. We're bordering on being too big now."

Hull said the company is trying to increase its visibility in the private sector because of the slowdown in public projects which currently account for 80 percent of the firm's work. This will be a challenge for the firm which Hull said "doesn't do well at the old boys' network. We don't know quite how to do it."

Despite technological advancements in computer-aided design and drafting, Hull said his firm is not embracing them as heartily as others are. "These virtual walk-through that are being touted, that doesn't mean jack-diddly to us."

"Computers definitely have their place and maybe we were pulled kicking and dragging our feet (into using them) but they don't satisfy the design effort by themselves."

Hull thinks architects still need to do a lot of drawing to be good at design and stay in touch with a project. And he think the process of building and manipulating a wooden model gives clients and designers a chance to explore ideas in ways that computers can't.

"It imparts energy into the office in building the model. Anyone who works on it takes ownership of the design. You find things in a model you didn't expect to. It's too subtle for a computer."

Hull thinks models let designers work from several sides simultaneously and are much more flexible than computer design tools.

"We use models and CAD. Clients like it all and so do we," Hull said.

Bumgardner

Business is picking up at Bumgardner though managing partner Jennie Sue Brown said this has been "a strange year." Projects have had trouble staying on track because clients are cautious, she said, but there is more activity on projects that have been on hold.

Currently the firm is working on a renovation of Congregation Beth Shalom, golf clubhouses, churches, a mixed-use project for the Vancouver Housing Authority, a waterfront retail and hotel project in Everett, an office addition on West Marginal Way and a brew pub.

"The whole business atmosphere seems to be picking up," Brown said. "It's definitely better though not in any specific area."

The firm is cautious about geographic expansion. "We haven't done much beyond Portland," Brown said, "but we would go further with a local client."

Bumgardner is trying to increase its work in hospitality, office expansion and tenant improvements, special needs housing, interiors and theaters.

The staff of 24 may grow a little next year, adding two or three designers.

Brown said the future won't bring a building boom. Most of the activity will be in moderately-sized businesses, many of which have pent-up expansion needs.

"People are more ready to make some fairly major steps," Brown said. "We're seeing them move or do a build-to-suit because they haven't in the last five years."

SVR Design Company

Peg Staeheli said business for her six-year-old civil and landscape architecture firm has been steady. "We're a growing firm. We haven't had a peak or a valley."

Some public work was held up by Initiative 601 but agencies seem to have figured out how to handle that, Staeheli said. While the future looks good the political climate is having more of an effect on both public and private work, she said.

Among the current projects the firm is working on are a major utility replacement for Rainier Vista; 14 play areas in housing authority garden communities, sitework and restoration at several schools, reconfiguring the parking areas at Seward Park, a van distribution center for Metro and sitework for the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way. The firm is also beginning work on improvements at Camp Long and water improvements for the Arboretum.

Private work includes some high end residential projects, growth management studies and feasibility studies for site development on urban infill projects.

SVR Design recently added four people bringing the total staff to 22.

One of the changes Staeheli sees facing everyone in her business is the cost of upgrading computer equipment. She said in 15 months programs are obsolete. Hiring a new staff person used to mean adding a desk and getting more paper. "Now you need to have enough cashflow to justify a computer work station."

SVR Design is not a traditional engineering firm, Staeheli said, and she said it will continue to stay flexible to meet employees' needs. Staeheli said employees want more time off to cope with higher stress levels and she thinks that trend will continue.

KDW Architects

Doug Diel of KDW Architects in Seattle said his 12-year-old Seattle-based firm keeps a low profile because many of its high tech and communications industry clients don't want their work publicized.

The firm works primarily in three areas: high tech, interior store planning and multi-family. Current work includes a 60-unit luxury housing project on the Boise River, an industrial warehouse in south Seattle, new REI stores in Boise and San Diego and remodels for other REI stores.

KDW recently completed work on a rehab clinic in Ketchikan and is working on several proposals for progressive care facilities in Idaho. Diel said he is interested in designing projects that would combine co-housing and nursing homes, giving people separate units and some common facilities.

KDW is licensed in 14 states and is active in Washington, Idaho and Alaska with clients that include AT&T, USWest, Microsoft and Pemco.

"We've never had a down year," said Diel. "It has been constant growth and the last two years have been the best ever. Next year looks like another good one. It seems our combination of clients has projects that overlap well. They seem to fill the voids."

The firm has a staff of 12 with five architects. KDW manages to avoid the yo-yo affect of hiring and firing by offering one-stop shopping to clients, providing a variety of services depending on clients' needs. By offering services during the project planning phase as well as during design Diel said the firm keeps a steadier employment stream than if it focused on design alone.

"We find out what clients need and match our services. If they need a new service we provide it."

An example of the ways KDW is meeting changing client needs is storing information on buildings for corporate clients. Diel sees this as an opportunity to provide a better service by using computers to store the documents.

"We are becoming a clearinghouse for intelligence on a building. (Clients) don't want to staff up (to do this) and this is an opportunity to meet that market demand. It is not traditional architecture but it's a service."

It also keeps KDW involved with clients and nearby when the next big project rolls along.

Diel doesn't do everything clients ask for. He draws the line at purchasing equipment for them. "We'd just as soon not get into that for tax reasons," though he works with clients to find someone who can help them.

Architecture has become much broader than just designing buildings, Diel said. He sees his role as helping clients manage their resources.

Triad Associates

Scott Bigbie, president of Triad Associates in Kirkland, said business volume at his civil engineering, landscaping, surveying and site planning firm has grown about 10 percent in the past year and is hiring.

"This year has been pretty good and we expect that to continue into 1996." Some areas such as office and industrial have come back to life. There is less residential subdivision work but other markets have more than made up for the that. "So many office parks have leased up entirely that people are looking to build more," Bigbie said.

Some current projects include construction surveying for Lionsgate, a multi-family project for Trammell Crow in downtown Redmond; surveying for Glen Eagle golf course in Arlington which will have commercial and residential, and engineering work for Mackie Design in Woodinville.

Though he is enjoying the work, Bigbie is happy to see the market is not booming. "Most people would like to see some steady growth rather than a huge quick upswing because I can almost bet it will be followed by a huge quick downswing."

For example the Tri-Cities area was very hot for several years but the housing boom there suddenly collapsed. Triad has pulled out of the market.

A year ago Triad decided to expand into south Puget Sound and opened a small office in Tacoma. Bigbie is optimistic about residential and commercial growth continuing and wants to do more expansion into those markets.

"We will try to branch out because development is going places other than King County. We still have faith in King County. We won't abandon it. But I suspect we'll grow faster in other areas."

Bigbie said because of modems and other technology it is easy to work in distant areas. Much of the work of the Tacoma office gets done by modem in Kirkland. Surveyors now can send data from the field to the office in an instant.

"We used to send messengers but that has almost evaporated. Everybody's reeling from trying to keep up with technology."

The business of surveying has been revolutionized by global positioning systems. Satellites have made the work much more precise and it can be done with fewer people. Clients are astonished by the speed, Bigbie said. Work that used to take weeks can now be done in days.

But of course the rapid change has a downside too. Twenty years ago surveyors bought equipment they would use all their working lives; today new technology comes along monthly and requires a continual process of education and reinvestment.

Making business people out of technical people is a struggle, Bigbie said.

"Ten years ago work magically came in the door. Now we are retailers and we have to be out there hustling work. We are constantly changing how we sell and who sells."

Triad once had one person in sales but today there are at least 12. Virtually everyone in management has sales responsibilities and the process has become highly organized. Bigbie said his job as president is to coordinate the sales effort.

"All our competitors are the same way. We are as big as anyone but there are an awful lot of competitors and you have to be aggressive. Those of us who are will succeed."

"If they don't realize there is no difference between this and retail they are crazy."

Though technological change is dramatic in his business, Bigbie said it is not his biggest worry. Managing the firm and sorting through new management ideas for ones that work is the hardest part of his job today.

Technical changes are rapid but they are concrete; business changes are not. It is hard figure out what makes sense and what doesn't and get people to agree on that, he said.

"Keeping up with technology is easy compared with getting people to accept new business ideas. I'm astonished at how many business books there are. I don't want to ignore what may be good ideas but I don't want to jump on every business fad that comes down the pike."

Managers at Triad are assigned to read new books and report to the group on them. Bigbie said he also looks outside his field at firms such as Nordstrom and Costco to see what practices of theirs would make sense for him to adopt.

GGLO

After 10 years in business, GGLO has grown to 38 people and enjoys a healthy flow of work, according to partner Bill Gaylord.

The firm's specialties include hospitality and commercial work. Gaylord said he is expanding into retail and plans to do more historic renovation following completion of the Monte Cristo Hotel and Eagles Auditorium.

Bellevue/Olive Apts GGLO's Bellevue/Olive Apartments (107k jpeg)

Gaylord said an early investment in computer technology has paid off. The firm is now fully networked and is integrating new technologies such as CD-ROM and networked faxing. Connections via modem to clients, consultants, reprographics companies and employees' homes has increased efficiency and is allowing more flexibility in scheduling work.

Current work includes Waterfront Landing for Intracorp, Bolyston & Howell Apartments for the Capitol Hill Housing Improvement Program, Marina Heights condo in Kirkland, Key Arena corporate suites interiors, University Village tenant renovations, Westlake Center food court renovations and several multi-family projects for Trammell Crow.

Integrus Architecture

Integrus Architecture has spent the past year trying to "align our services with clients' needs," said Kirk Wise, principal. "We have been changing delivery methods to meet the technological expectations of our clients. We've gone through a learning curve and through the process we have improved our capabilities."

Some examples of the changes Integrus has made are interactive computer presentations for clients and community meetings; three-dimensional modeling software for programming and pre-design to help clients visualize options and a bulletin board and other electronic communication systems which make communication quicker and more efficient.

"We are providing more accurate and deeper analysis of everything from programming to communications with clients and consultants," Wise said.

The firm's work volume is about the same as last year with $6 million in billings for the Seattle and Spokane offices combined. The staff now numbers 60.

Most of Integrus's work is schools, higher educational facilities, justice centers and libraries. Recent projects include the new Franklin Elementary School for Tacoma Public Schools and the Tri-Cities Consolidated Information Center for Washington State University.

Integrus has expanded its engineering staff, adding civil engineering to the structural capabilities.

CNA

CNA has experienced modest growth this year with the staff increasing from 35 to 40 and billings up from $4.9 million in 1994 to $5.1 million. Growth is projected to be about 10 percent in 1996, according to Arlan Collins, managing partner.

The company continues to focus on technologically complex projects and has narrowed its focus to five distinct marketplaces: commercial/industrial, public/institutional, healthcare/research, biotech and interiors. This year Collins said the five areas are being treated as profit centers.

Collins said narrowing the firm's focus has required internal changes such as in marketing. Where the firm once had one marketing plan it now has five. The plans are developed and implemented by teams that meet once a week to share information and track results. The members of the teams include anyone who is responsible for or interested in marketing. Some people serve on several teams. The emphasis is on building longterm relationships.

CNA has also adopted what it calls Team Build delivery. The system means that consultants, contractors and owner/developers make decisions about cost and quality from the beginning of a project. It makes clients integrally involved in the design process and saves them time and money, Collins said.

"The traditional sequence follows this pattern: draw it, buy it, redraw it, build it. (Now) We draw the project once, before the client buys it and builds it," Collins said.

One trend Collins sees in the design industry is that everyone is learning to change the way business is done. For example, managed care is cost driven so providers are consolidating. They will need the design and construction industry to help them redefine their programs and design more efficient facilities. Collins said his firm is forming alliances with other health care professionals to expand its services.

CNA expects to capture a major share of the biotech and biomedical market in 1996.

"We have a lengthy track record of designing biotech/biomed facilities and we have entered into an alliance with eight other companies to provide integrated services," Collins said. "This industry will grow in the Northwest as more companies here gain approvals and begin to scale up."

Zimmer Gunsul Frasca

The volume of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca's Seattle work has increased 20 percent over last year's and the staff has grown about 10 percent, according to associate partner Nancy Fishman.

One of the areas seeing the biggest increase for the Portland-based ZGF is corporate work including research/laboratory projects for biotech companies and new facilities for Microsoft. ZGF is handling Safeco's corporate facilities needs nationwide.

Recent health care work includes ambulatory care facilities and hospital remodels to accommodate changes in women's services, MRI technology, emergency room and urgent care services and the consolidation of providers. ZGF recently completed a 149,000-square-foot clinic for Group Health in Olympia and is proceeding with the second phase clinical research building for Fred Hutchinson.

Fishman said that even though public budgets are increasingly limited the firm has been involved in more public/private partnerships. Retail is still an active market for the firm which is serving as master architects for the University Village renovation.

Technological improvements have increased the speed of decision making with clients and contractors, Fishman said. Design documents now include intelligence that supports clients' facilities management systems. Also, Fishman said, communication is enhanced by the ability to share information simultaneously with an entire team through the Internet, e-mail and other electronic tools.

Northwest Architectural

The Northwest Architectural Company has had one of the most active years in the firm's 35-year history.

Robert Grossman, managing principal of the firm's Seattle office, said technological advances have had major impacts on the firm's internal operations. CAD facilities for every production person and electronic networking for the Seattle and Spokane offices have allowed the firm to better balance staff time between the two offices.

"Our ability to successfully accomplish specific projects utilizing staff concurrently in our two offices is a tremendous step in our exploration of new modes of operation for our firm," Grossman said. This process will allow the firm to structure regional, national or worldwide alliances with other firms for specialized projects in this region.

Recent work includes high school projects for the Mead and Moses Lake districts as well as school projects for Renton, Woodland and Northshore. Work at the Spokane office has slowed somewhat. That office is currently working on $50 million worth of projects including a biotech facility at Washington State University.

The Seattle office has become more active with the new Cavanaugh's Hotel downtown and planning work for Pemco.

Staffing is down by 8 percent compared with a year ago but hiring will be necessary within the next six months to handle projects in both offices.

Entranco

Entranco opened new offices in Tucson and Boise this year and added 25 people to its technical staff. The balance between public and private work is 70 and 30 percent respectively.

Sales will be about $15 million companywide for 1995, a 25 percent increase in revenues over 1994. Gary Van Wieringen, president, said the firm is exploring the possibility of expanding into the Vancouver/Portland market.

For 1996 he projects sales will decline 10 to 15 percent because of reduced funding for transportation projects and regulatory changes which could affect environmental services.

Entranco has added three new vice president positions. Two of the new executives are in charge of the Northwest and Southwest regions and another has been named to oversee quality and risk management.

KPFF

The Seattle office of KPFF has seen steady growth over the past few years with billings up 12 percent in the last fiscal year. Ralph Iboshi, manager of the Seattle office, said growth should be flat or a small increase in the next year.

KPFF has been adding staff slowly as the workload increases and now totals 280 employees. In the past two years new offices have been opened in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Cairo, Egypt.

Iboshi said public transportation work has been fairly steady over the past few years but is starting to trend down due to funding cuts. Consultants focusing on this market have been hurting but KPFF has enough diversity to weather this change, Iboshi said, and has continued to grow. KPFF is doing more school projects, public facilities and multi-modal transportation projects.

The private sector is becoming fairly active and retail remains a big part of the firm's business.

Recent projects include the SuperMall in Auburn, Redmond Town Center, Terminal 5 expansion at the Port of Seattle, the Oceanography and Fisheries Building at the UW, two high schools in Edmonds and utility work for the UW Southwest campus.

Bassetti Architects

A name change for Bassetti Architects and a new location on Western Avenue along the waterfront have marked this year of growth and transition, according to president Richard Metler.

Revenues have increased throughout the year with staffing levels remaining constant at 40; three quarters of those are licensed architects.

Bassetti Architects' portfolio of current projects includes both public and non-profit work. Restoration and an addition to the Old Physics Hall -- renamed Mary Gates Hall -- on the UW campus will give the university a model for how to build classrooms in the future.

The building will be wired for a variety of existing media -- and for technology which doesn't exist yet but is expected to be available when the structure opens in 1997. Though the building has seats and classrooms the media equipment is designed to expand students' and instructors' reach beyond the walls. Bassetti is designing the building with Hart-Cox Architects from Washington D.C.

Other recent projects include the King County Library at North Bend, the Redmond library, Eve Alvord Theater and new scene shops and rehearsal space for Seattle Children's Theater.

Facilities for K-12 education make up over half the firm's work and it is expanding its scope of work in this area. For example the firm has been involved in uniform design standards for the Edmonds School District's facility development and is participating in a community-wide facility design team for the district. Edmonds has set a goal of developing schools which are regarded as learning centers for the whole community.

Portico Group

Last year was the best year for The Portico Group in revenues and although 1995 has not equaled it, the firm expects significant increases for 1996. Public projects have seen a dramatic increase in funding and the firm has been involved in a number of feasibility studies and master plans for projects which have not yet been funded.

Staff levels have stayed constant this year at 25.

Portico has seen an increase in international work with new projects in Auckland, New Zealand, as well as Taiwan, Singapore and Ontario. At Science North in Toronto the firm is doing space planning and design for live animal exhibits within a traditional science center and museum setting.

Technological advancements have changed the way the firm does projects. Production work beginning with schematics is computer generated and, while this hasn't produced a substantial time savings it does allow more access for design review. Technology also allows more remote coordination with the owner and other design disciplines.

Portico's current project list includes renovation of the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, the South American Gateway Exhibit and the Avian Conservation Center at the San Francisco Zoo, the grasslands exhibit at the National Zoo and the Shasta Lake Visitor Information Center.

ABKJ

Business has been steady for ABKJ and seems to be picking up recently. Staff size has not changed from 58 in Seattle and 10 in Anchorage. The firm has expanded to do work in Oregon and is also working in Malaysia on construction methodology and and technology transfer.

ABKJ's transportation department has been extremely busy, working on the Terminal 5 overpass for the Port of Seattle and the I-5/196th interchange in Lynnwood. It is also working on transportation projects in California and Oregon.

The seismic department has a steady workload and is expected to grow with projects for the state General Services Administration, schools and prisons. The Anchorage office is doing structural design work for the South Pole Research Station in Antartica.


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