Best Practices
Ten Sure Keys to Achieving 100

by B. Allen Trousdale, AIA

Summary: In 1906, Frank Grad began an architecture firm in Newark that has shaped that city, and many others, over the course of 100 years. The firm now works globally and is still growing strong, reports Grad Associates President B. Allen Trousdale, AIA, as he shares his firm’s collective insight into business stability and longevity.

The real answers to how to stay in business 100 years are actually truths that everyone knows and have been so often repeated over the years they have become platitudes. Nevertheless, they are the real answers.

1. In every new project, the first crucial step is asking questions and listening carefully to the answers, until you really understand the client's needs, goals, limitations, and aspirations. A sound, thorough program of requirements followed throughout the development of the project will result in a well-functioning building from the client's perspective.

2. The site must be thoroughly analyzed as well—topography, metes and bounds, applicable zoning and code requirements, available utilities, accessibility and orientation of the property, and climatological conditions—to best establish the location, orientation, footprint, and massing of the building.

3. Only then can legitimate planning commence. Give each client two or three conceptual variations, as different as possible one from the other. This test—sometimes involving a formal, rated issue matrix and resulting in a combination of elements—derives the best functional solution with the fewest compromises or limitations. The resulting concept plan meets the client's functional needs and points toward a creative expression in forms and spaces.

4. Always encourage maximum client participation throughout the entire design process. An intimately involved client is a satisfied client. They understand the complexities and inevitable compromises because they have been a part of decision making.

5. Stay ahead of new ideas, systems, and technologies. A continuous internal research program serves clients’ needs and goals in new ways and lets them know they are in good hands. Good research also helps avoid pitfalls as new technologies weather the real world. Research also reveals new answers to common problems, from the exterior envelope to the interior environment.

6. Raise each client's understanding of the value of creative imagination in the design process and how sensitivity to form, spaces, materials, and light will express the goals and aspirations of the client so that, in the final analysis, their building becomes Architecture.

7. Strive always for the highest possible quality of construction through carefully considered detailing. Train staff to understand the stresses and strains on buildings by weathering, time, and wear and tear.

8. Lead during construction. Assist the construction team in carrying out the work in accordance with the construction documents. Fight for elements that are critical and be flexible regarding less critical elements. In a complex, multi-layered process involving many people, a cooperative atmosphere always achieves more in the end. Follow up within one year and again three years after completion of a project to assist the owner with any problems. Putting the client first, in deeds as well as words throughout the entire process, generates repeat clients.

9. Encourage every member of the firm to be an advocate for the firm and for the larger community that it serves. Encourage and assist every member of the firm, through training, seminars, and continuing education, to continue to learn and grow, personally and professionally. This is perhaps the key element in our longevity.

10. Have plenty of good luck!