The Aftermath

I've given quite a bit of thought as to where we head as a firm in the Aftermath of the Great Recession. And when I say Aftermath, I mean when things start on the upswing and clients are looking for architects once again. I don't really think we are there yet. New work is still pretty scarce and cash is flowing like thick mud.

But as we do move ahead into the Aftermath, things will be different. Kermit Baker, chief economist for the AIA states that "...architecture is a cyclical industry, with very rapid growth or steep declines. The steady state is never there." I have indeed noted that over my 25 years in the industry and it's never been more obvious than this time around. The recessions of 1984, 1993 and 2001 have nothing on this one. There was another bad recession in 1976 that I am too young to remember, but those that do say this is even worse than that one, too.



For us, things were crazy busy from about 2003 until 2007. We could not get enough work out the door. We could not find enough good employees because they already had jobs. It was hard to take vacations. We were making mistakes because we rushed things and clients were willing to overlook them because they had even more work for us to do. We even had to start outsourcing as a way to get work finished on time. Things were hectic.

Now things have changed. Clients are still demanding. Business is still hectic, but in a very different way. Every detail of every project is scrutinized by our clients as they attempt to make their thick mud spread as far as possible. Invoices are being rejected if every reimbursable expense is not clearly backed up with receipts. Hourly rates are questioned. Timelines are being stretched as clients wait for bank financing to pay fees. No one seems to be in a hurry. And to make things harder, the competition for new projects just got a whole lot stiffer. Large architectural firms are now going after work that they would not have even considered a year ago. Employees that have been laid of are striking out on their own.

So the simple formula is this; less work, more competition means more or less, no work!

But it's not the end of the world. For those firms that are creative and can see the big picture there are opportunities. Reinvention in the Aftermath is a must.

Next: Our formula for reinvention in the Aftermath.

Remodeling-The Way to Go in This Economy

As we sloooooowwwly start to come out of the Great Recession I think everyone is going to be just a wee bit cautious about jumping headlong in to things. Being prudent only makes sense. And with so many buildings left vacant it will be a while before full out construction of new buildings happens. Remodeling and fixing up what you have will be the status quo for a while.

Enter Curtis Architecture and the Curtis Crew. We have been remodeling and renovating from the start so this part comes easy for us. Many architectural firms that used to get big work are now searching for tidbits like this. And sometimes they just don't do it well. They try to run it the only way they know, like a big job; nice and tidy and official.........and expensive!

The Crew can get in there and get our hands dirty like no other. What's are secret? Well, I'll tell you outright what it is and no big firm is gonna copy this one, because they are scared to.

Big sissies!

What we do special is this: We, as architects, design our own mechanical, electrical and plumbing work.

"Oh!" you gasp, "can they do that?"

The answer, of course is yes. In every state we work in it is legal. But almost every architectural firm in the US refuses to do this. Because they don't know how, don't want to take the time to learn and are afraid of the insurance implications..........because they don't know how and don't want to take the time to learn.

I, Fearless Leader, learned to do all of that as a way to keep more of my fees during the early lean years. I then taught the entire Crew. So, with one meeting and one Crew member we can look at your space with a very different eye to remodeling and save you tons of cash at the same time.

Are you in the mood for a remodel? Call me direct: Dustin Curtis, on my cell phone: 602-620-4088 and let's have a little conversation.

Oh, did I tell you we're easy to reach?

Now for Something with Substance

It has been a few years now since it dawned on me that a good specialty for architects to get in to would be the design of nursing homes. With the aging Baby Boomer population reaching retirement age it only made sense. But like any specialty in our business you don't just waltz in and start doing nursing homes.

But it still was something I had an interest in and we recently got a big break in that department. A small design firm out of Vancouver, Washington asked if we would be willing to collaborate with them on nursing home projects. They had the experience, we had the ability to work in multiple states. It was a match made in heaven and we have already begun our first joint project in Gresham, Oregon.

The company, SCM Design, has worked in this field for over six years and has good relationships with several nursing home operating companies. The types of projects include skilled nursing facilities, assisted living centers, and Alzheimer's special care units.

Give us a call, let's talk. There's more to learn in an interview than can be written here.

Travel Beyond the Call of Duty

As a firm we do work everywhere. We are currently registered in 14 states with the ability to get registered to practice in any state on about 6 weeks notice. So we travel a lot. James and I travel the most and we often go together. On complex projects we find two sets of eyes are always better than one. We make less mistakes and we keep each other awake on the 2-3 hour car drives that often accompany such trips.

One trip in particular is worth a mention. We had both been traveling much of the year but were both a few important miles from the next upgrade in our frequent flyer status. We heard that cheap winter plane fares were often available to flyers looking to do just that, get extra miles.

So we did the only logical thing we could think of.

We went to Amsterdam in December!








famous (or infamous) Red Light District


Those are just a few of the pictures I took throughout the 5 day and 4 night chilly-rain-fest. It's beautiful there in December but I can see why the rates are good. But no complaints here. We saw the Rembrandt and Van Gogh museums, Ann Frank's house, ate good food and even rented a car for a day and went to Dusseldorf, Germany. We drove the Autobahn, which is a great experience if you like speed, and circled back through Brussels, Belgium on the way back.


James ordering a bratwurst from a street vendor -Dusseldorf


Our recent travels have not been quite as exotic. We have traveled mostly in Texas, Southern California and the Olympic Northwest. But we have found this country to be every bit as exciting as Europe was, in it's own way.

Pretty soon I'm actually going to start writing about what we do as Architects.......stay tuned.

The Crew

So, you've been hearing about Fearless Leader, aka Dustin Curtis, aka me. But how about the rest of the crew. There are three others. James Farrell, Jon Totel and Kyliegh Merritt.

James is our taskmaster. He makes sure we all do what's right. Fiercely loyal to the cause he makes everyone around him better by example. I'm afraid to show up too late to work as he might yell at me. But deep down he is gentle, caring and extremely creative. I don't know if he even knows this about himself.

Jon is Mr. Production around here. The only thing quicker than his drafting ability is his killer wit. Jon doesn't say a whole lot but his words are carefully chosen and painfully hilarious. Jon also created our web site (www.curtisarchitecture.us). It's fantastic to have that in house ability as getting your web site updated by an outside party can be like pulling teeth.

Did I mention that one of our specialties is dental office design?


Smiles by Joyce -Scottsdale, Arizona

Kyleigh is our face to the outside world. She is our marketing genius. But she also has a degree in architecture and designs most of our restaurants. She has amazing connections and everybody loves her. I've always thought women should have a bigger role in the world of architecture and she is the perfect example why.

Did I mention we design restaurants?


YC's Mongolian Restaurant -Chandler, Arizona

That's the Crew. And I don't have a picture for you here in Blogville because every one was having a bad hair day. We do clean up well at times though and I will post one soon.

Fearless Leader

Here I am in all my ferocity. I guess you can see why everyone is scared of me. This is actually the only time I have been to Montana in my life. James Farrell, the member of the Curtis Crew with the most seniority, snapped this for me. We had been in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho after visiting a job site and decided to scoot over to Montana so we could both add a state to our list of places visited. By the way, there is a great steak house in downtown Coeur d'Alene called Brix. I thought it was pronounced Bree (like Gran Prix) until I ordered the "bree salad". The waiter said "you mean the bricks salad?" So much for showing off culture on the locals. Amazing food though and a really beautiful town.

Who are we anyway?

The easiest way to find that out is to visit our website at www.curtisarchitecture.us. There you will find an array of projects we have designed over the past few years. The site is a fairly normal site for architects in the way it shows off our projects; not a lot of words but a bunch of pretty pictures to look at. They look real good. And something you should know about us right away, 3 out of 4 of us are avid photographers with really nice cameras and some sweet glass (lenses). More about that later, but FYI we took almost all of the pictures ourselves. Here is an example from inside a condominium project we designed in Phoenix.



So, check out the site, get an idea of who we are and what we do and come back here to Blogville find out more good stuff about us.