ARCHITECT Magazine featured William Duff’s opinion on design approach, titled William S. Duff Jr.: Establish a People-Based Practice in Architecture. He shares examples on how to create a people-based firm and discusses the benefits in doing so.
This is a summary of the article.
“When I look at architecture, I see people — clients, visitors, the people for whom buildings are designed. But most importantly, I see the architects who work together to bring a project to life. According to “Types of Architecture Firms and Their Business Models,” by Charrette Venture Group senior management consultant and business development manager Lucas Gray, Assoc. AIA, firms are typically organized around one of three practice models: efficiency, experience, or expertise. These models capitalize, respectively, on a specific strength: process efficiency, depth of experience, or design expertise.
However, a people-based practice capitalizes on all three strengths. It supports, nurtures, and engages the people who together create the practice’s designs, imbues the designs with their expertise, and shepherds them through the process that brings them to life. Incorporating this philosophy in a few key areas can have a transformative effect on a firm. In fact, it has helped earn our 34-person practice recognition from the San Francisco Business Times as both a “Fast 100 Fastest Growing Private Company” and a “Best Places to Work.”’
Read more here.