Mon, 27 July 2020
Today's guest should need no introduction, but you may not have heard of him because the firm he led as CEO from 2003 to 2017, one of the largest and most successful architecture firms in the world, doesn't revolve around the fame of one individual.
Our guest is Patrick MacLeamy, former CEO of the firm HOK. MacLeamy just released a book on his experience in leadership and business through his time at HOK titled: Designing a World-Class Architecture Firm: The People, Stories and Strategies Behind HOK. MacLeamy is also the Chairman of buildingSMART International, which works to achieve open standards for the exchange of digital information in the building and infrastructure industries. He was a founding member of buildingSMART, in 1994.
He spent 50 years at HOK, which grew into one of the largest architecture and engineering firms in the world during his time there. MacLeamy rose from Junior Designer to CEO of HOK and witnessed the firm’s growth from a single midwestern office to 27 locations across the globe offering architecture, interiors, engineering, planning and more.
MacLeamy joined HOK St. Louis in 1967, after which he helped establish the firm’s San Francisco outpost in 1970 - later becoming managing principal of that office. He joined HOK’s executive committee in 1995 and was named COO five years later. In 2003, HOK shareholders elected MacLeamy Chief Executive Officer.
He led the firm for 13 years. In 2016, MacLeamy chose a new CEO for HOK, remaining as Chairman for one more year before retiring —or as he likes to say, “repurposing.”
In this episode of Business of Architecture, MacLeamy shares hard-learned business lessons from his time at HOK and the principles that led this company to be the success that it is today.
► Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for updates: https://www.youtube.com/c/BusinessofArchitecture ******* For more free tools and resources for running a profitable, impactful and fulfilling practice, connect with me on: ******* Access the FREE Architecture Firm Profit Map video here: http://freearchitectgift.com Download the FREE Architecture Firm Marketing Process Flowchart video here: http://freearchitectgift.com Come to my next live, in-person event: https://www.businessofarchitecture.com/live Carpe Diem!
Direct download: ep327-designing-world-class-architecture-firm-patrick-macleamy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:00am PDT |
Wed, 15 July 2020
Today we have the privilege of hearing from one of the icons of architecture - the man who co-founded one of the largest architecture firms in the world, Kohn Pedersen Fox or KPF.
Now In its 46th year, KPF spans the world with offices in 8 countries and with projects in more than 40. KPF founder Gene Kohn has, with his two partners, built an architecture business that flourishes because when it comes to good business he practices what he preaches.
Gene just released a book chronicling the challenges and successes of building this incredibly successful firm: The World by Design: The Story of a Global Architecture Firm.
What are his secrets for success?
On this episode you'll discover that KPF is set up and operates as the antithesis of the starchitect syndrome, the firm is not built around the personality or designs of an individual.
From the outset KPF was designed as a firm that would carry on after Gene and the other founders retired or passed away. This strategy different from many other prominent firms where the reputation of individual designers emphasized. Instead, KPF developed and lives by a culture of teamwork, rather than one of star designers.
Gene believes in discovering the most talented recent graduates, training them in all aspects of the profession and then elevating them to leadership positions. This approach has worked and KPF now has 31 principals – and a president - who rose from the ranks. Today KPF employs more than 650 people with offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Berlin, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Abu Dhabi and Singapore
The KPF team has been hugely successful with major buildings all over the world. Of the world’s 12 tallest buildings, 6 of them were designed by KPF – the Ping An Finance Center in Shenzhen, the Lotte World Tower in Seoul, the CTF Finance Center in Guangzhou, the CITIC Tower (also known as China Zun) in Beijing and the Shanghai World Financial Center. These bona fides in global markets have positioned KPF to be named the architects for one of its newest projects One Vanderbilt, the 1401-foot-high-tower across Vanderbilt Avenue from Grand Central terminal that, with its observation deck and office floors, will make it higher than the neighboring Empire State building.
Gene turned what was initially a NY-based firm into a global powerhouse. This expansion strategy has allowed the firm to ride out major recessions in the U.S. by doing work abroad. It has also given the firm the chance to develop expertise in designing large complicated projects – first in Asia and now in the U.S. For example, the firm designed the JR Central Towers atop an active rail yard in Nagoya, Japan in the 1990’s, and then used that experience to work on Hudson Yards in NY.
Now you man be wondering - what does the story of one of the worlds largest firm's have to do with my success as a practitioner in a small firm?
Listen closely, because the strategies that Eugene Kohn used to grow his practice are the same you can use in your firm to build a firm to suit your life.
Many architects think of business as a dirty word. Gene however has emphasized the need for architects to solve their clients’ problems on time and on budget, without compromising design integrity.
He and his partners have made a practice of developing strong connections between the architectural profession and the business world.
► Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for updates: https://www.youtube.com/c/BusinessofArchitecture ******* For more free tools and resources for running a profitable, impactful and fulfilling practice, connect with me on: ******* Access the FREE Architecture Firm Profit Map video here: http://freearchitectgift.com Download the FREE Architecture Firm Marketing Process Flowchart video here: http://freearchitectgift.com Come to my next live, in-person event: https://www.businessofarchitecture.com/live Carpe Diem!
Direct download: ep326-lessons-leadership-legacy-eugene-kohn.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:15am PDT |
Mon, 6 July 2020
Today, we speak with the co-founder of the architecture firm Wingate Hughes, based out of Washington DC. The firm Wingate Hughes has made a big splash since they came on the scene and were founded over a decade ago in the year 2010. In this episode, co-founder Gavin Daniels shares how he and his partner have been able to win work from more established firms, how they’ve grown their firm to a team of over 20 employees, and how they’ve been able to use culture to retain and get the best staff members working on their team.
► Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for updates: https://www.youtube.com/c/BusinessofArchitecture ******* For more free tools and resources for running a profitable, impactful and fulfilling practice, connect with me on: ******* Access the FREE Architecture Firm Profit Map video here: http://freearchitectgift.com Download the FREE Architecture Firm Marketing Process Flowchart video here: http://freearchitectgift.com Come to my next live, in-person event: https://www.businessofarchitecture.com/live Carpe Diem!
Direct download: ep325-building-resilience-through-company-culture-gavin-daniels.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:00am PDT |
Business of Architecture Podcast
Discover strategies, tips and secrets for running a fun, flexible and profitable architecture practice. The focus here is simple: discussion of ways for architects to create a dream architecture practice: design what you want, when you want, and get paid well for it.
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