Читать книгу Designing a World-Class Architecture Firm - Patrick MacLeamy - Страница 53

The three founders were united around the goal of geographic expansion beyond their St. Louis roots in accordance with Hellmuth's depression-proof-firm strategy. After all, if they were going to design a world-class architecture firm, they needed to get out into the world. But each founder had a different idea about where, and how, to expand.

Hellmuth told his partners, “You simply have to establish a real presence in New York and Washington. Too much significant work is going on there to be among the missing.”¹ He was in a hurry and proposed buying a firm with an established reputation in each city. The advantage of his approach was instant local credibility, but the disadvantage was the high initial purchase price.

Obata had a special interest in San Francisco; He wanted to plant the HOK flag where he had been “kicked out” many years earlier. Kassabaum favored Los Angeles, which was emerging as the dominant West Coast city. Both Obata and Kassabaum liked the idea of winning major new commissions in other cities, establishing project offices there, and then marketing for new work as the project was underway. The advantage of their approach was low initial cost, but the disadvantage was establishing local credibility, which could take years.

So, they agreed to disagree—and did both. It was expedient for HOK and is not a bad idea for any firm to grow opportunistically, depending on which opportunity presents itself in different markets. Sometimes HOK expanded by growing from a project office and sometimes by buying another firm, depending on the opportunity. In the early years, most new offices grew out of project offices.