You could call the Handel Architecture firm a jack-of-all trades firm. Handel Architects doesn't just focus on one sector of the architect market, they cover them all. Their firm completes projects of all types including residential, mixed-use, renovation/restoration, hospitality, office, retail, interior, master planning, and cultural/institutional projects. Handel Architects completes projects all over the country and throughout the world. They complete projects as small as a LEED Platinum residential home in San Francisco to a The Rosewood Abu Dabi.
Our class was greeted by John Ishihira, Director at Handel Architects San Francisco and Jason Fox, architect at the San Francisco office. We were each given a copy of "Icons of Architecture: The 20th Century" by Gary Edward Handel & Associates which was such a great gesture and has found it's spot amongst my favorite coffee table books.
The Handel Architects of San Francisco is a relatively small firm with about forty employees. Out of these forty employees there are only three interior designers on staff along with seasonal interns. I really loved the work environment and how the office was designed. They have configured several "pods" of four people usually including a project manager, technical person, a designer, and a jr. associate. This configuration is set up to encourage working together as a team and learning from each other. It was interesting to find out that Handel would prefer someone who knows a good amount about a lot of areas rather than hire an expert in just one particular area. Larger firms tend to lean toward hiring specialist where smaller firms like theirs prefer a well-rounded person. This was my first tour of an architecture firm and it was a really wonderful glimpse into what it would be like to work in that environment.
No comments:
Post a Comment