by Tracy Ostroff
Contributing Editor

How do you . . . group together during difficult economic times to share clients, projects, and expertise?

Summary: Hyperform Design Co-op is a Colorado nonprofit corporation that provides educational and collaborative opportunities to designers and small design firms. The organizational model allows members of the co-op to work individually as designers or use the professional resources of the group for projects. Membership is open to all designers and design professionals.

At its weekly meetings, the group discusses ongoing projects, potential leads for new work, research-based pursuits, and educational opportunities in an open and collaborative environment.

The co-op is the brainchild of Tim Geisler, AIA, LEED-AP, who reached out to Eric Anderson, AIA, a long-term friend and colleague, to take on the role of co-director of the 501(c)(3) organization, based in Arvada, Colo. Geisler and some out-of-work colleagues began meeting informally in his home to collaborate on theoretical and urban design projects, share resources, and discuss the state of the profession and the economy in a safe forum, he explains.

The group, now at about 15 members, mostly in Colorado but also from California, Mexico, and China, grew by word of mouth and personal associations, as well as through the “Architect” group on LinkedIn. At first it was an ad-hoc group with no revenue or expenses. But with potential clients who were interested in hiring the co-op, Geisler says it was imperative to incorporate. “As soon as there came to be fees and revenue involved, we were obliged to incorporate if we wanted to move forward with some of this work, like a project for a church in Texas.” The group meets weekly in Geisler’s office at a Jehn Engineering building in Arvada, where he also maintains a street gallery presence to exhibit work and keep the office fresh.

“I knew in my gut that it was possible to do work for clients as a nonprofit. It was just a matter of setting it up.” It was also a matter of timing with the economy. “It turns out that clients these days, when they don’t have a lot of money, like the feeling of an organization with little overhead and competent managers.”

New working model
Geisler’s office, Hyperform LLC, now serves as the co-op headquarters. Each member entity maintains its own office, and the relationship of Geisler’s design practice to the co-op is the same as any other member. The group, Geisler says, is formed on a number of mutual understandings. “First, we understand that the co-op is not for profit, and the co-op does not distribute revenue to its members or directors or anyone else. The second understanding we have is that the co-op is an open forum, and we agree not to use information that we learn in the meetings to steal clients. There is a no-compete agreement, so we can openly share information and not worry much about it. And a third is that we understand what the mission of the co-op is: to provide educational and collaborative opportunities to designers.”

The members’ only responsibility is to contribute to the intellectual life of the group. There is no expectation that a member bring work to the co-op, and all souls need not be bared. “If I have a project I can do myself, and I just want to plow forward with it and not even discuss it with the co-op, I am free to do that, and all the other member companies are free to do the same thing. But, when something comes up, so far, the people who have joined the co-op are people I know or know of, or people who know people who joined early on. There isn’t a whole lot of work, but what I do get, generally speaking, it just feels right to share it.”

From left to right, Carrie Momeni, marketing director, and members Cindy Leibman, Steve Wagley, Amy Burke, Tim Nuanes, Dan Gonzales, Eric Anderson, AIA, and Tim Geisler, AIA.

Market advantages
When they started meeting in October, they had only one paid project—a solar architectural feature for a client in Cheyenne, Wyo. Geisler just received word that the co-op was designated by the State of Colorado as a pre-qualified provider of as-needed architectural services. “We are really excited about this, as it is our first open RFQ that has resulted in an awarded contract.”

The rest of their time, Geisler says, is spent on theoretical and speculative architectural design work, as well as on critiquing portfolios, and possible entries for design entries. But still, part of the reason for having weekly meetings, Geisler says, and getting together with each other and working on speculative work or competitions is to explore each others’ skill sets, so we can really match our abilities up with the requirements of a particular project.”

From time to time, when there is work, and they need support from an individual or from the co-op as a group, they can find it from within their cohorts. “So far, we have had a couple of members who have had access to some work, which they either aren’t big enough to do themselves or are not licensed architects, so they will look to one of the directors to help them out or check and stamp drawings, if necessary, or to another member to provide the skill set the client needs.”

Market advantages of working through the co-op, Geisler adds, also include access to experienced AIA members; easy, risk-free access to multi-disciplinary input; use of standardized procedural forms; and the ability to build working relationships that could evolve into partnerships or employment.

Geisler points to a project in China as an example of sharing work in the co-op. “I have a background in China and have done some consulting work over there, but have not worked on a specific project. A colleague of mine there needed a landscape architect, and I passed that along to one of our members, a landscape architect who teaches at the University of Colorado in Denver. Now she and some colleagues are doing this, and I’m providing client management and contract management.”

“We do everything we can to make each member succeed, providing guidance on everything from client communication to budgeting to IDP assistance and sponsorship,” Geisler says of the group he founded with co-director Eric Anderson.

Marketing
The members market individually, and as the co-op. At 30-minute weekly meetings that far-flung members can attend via Web conferencing software, they discuss potential leads, including requests for proposals. At a recent meeting, they discussed setting up a file-sharing service. So far, they have collaborated on design projects in Texas, Wyoming, Colorado, and China. In most cases, one member is the primary contract holder. Group member Amy Burke, a designer in Colorado, appreciates the opportunity to turn to the group as a place to pool resources. She can rely upon the organization as a way to bolster her own position as a sole proprietor in the marketplace. “You can go after a project and know that you could bring it into the co-op and have these resources who could fill in their specialties [or, if the project goes beyond a member’s expertise,] hand it off to people you know and trust.

“It’s an interesting opportunity in a market when you don’t want to build an office with employees and assistants,” Anderson says. He sees the co-op as an entity that can be used to function as a larger office as needed. He also sees the co-op as poised to pick up on the trends of architectural practice, particularly in sustainable design and alternative energy. He’s encouraged by stimulus funds trickling down to the states and by the change of leadership in Washington that is focusing more on new technologies. The co-op is providing educational opportunities in these areas and investigating opportunities with solar energy companies.

Different working model
“We have found that there is a lot of good will out there. We promote a spirit of mentorship and collaboration in a profession that sometimes appears to engender a culture of domination and territorialism,” Geisler says. The group is looking to reach out to the related fields, including interior design, landscape architecture, and urban planning, to become a more well-rounded organization, Anderson notes.

Cindy Leibman, a designer in Denver, just joined the co-op in the past couple of weeks, having been laid off from her firm four months ago. She characterizes the group as “collaborative and welcoming.” She liked the group’s commitment to pro bono work, which she had been doing on her own since losing her job. For example, the co-op is working with agencies in the city of Arvada and the board of directors of Historic Olde Town Arvada to enhance vacant storefronts.

Geisler thinks this model can stick beyond the current recession. “It is something that happened without a lot of intentionality, but as it turns out it addressed a couple of the criticisms that I have had of current architectural practice, which is that so many architectural practices, and not all by any means, but many cultivate a culture of domination and territorialism … I have always thought that it would be great and I would thrive in a organization that focuses more on mentorship and collaboration. A lot of architects feel that way and are struggling to find that really healthy work environment. I hope that this will be one way to get there.”