When Amy Smith and Darcie McConnaha started their internships at LRS Architects in 2001 and 2003, respectively, neither might have imagined their longevity with the agency. Each are actually associates, working their very own slates of initiatives and advising principals on the course of the agency.
“I bear in mind how LRS offered a lot flexibility with my college schedule,” says Smith. “They understood that I wanted to shuttle between work and sophistication initiatives. And later once I grew to become a mom, they have been nice about accommodating me as I transitioned again to work. This versatile work tradition is a giant cause why I’ve stayed with LRS for thus lengthy.”
This tradition of flexibility, which locations a powerful emphasis on staff’ work-life stability in addition to fostering collaboration and permitting staff to deal with particular person pursuits, has turn into a key element of what LRS staff really feel makes their firm a rare place to work.
LRS Architects is a 2021 winner in The Oregonian/OregonLive’s High Workplaces competitors, which is now in its tenth yr. That is the sixth consecutive yr that LRS Architects has gained this award.
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The corporate relies in Portland, with a satellite tv for pc workplace in Bend, and employs a complete of 121 individuals. LRS Architects’ self-reported 2020 annual income was about $24 million.
LRS Architects is made up of a number of studios which every perform their very own specialised forms of design initiatives: automotive, civic, multifamily, workplace and office, retail, and senior dwelling. Shoppers have run the gamut from the Metropolis of Vancouver, Washington, to native automobile dealerships, to the conversion of Portland’s defunct Guild Theater into the Kinokuniya Bookstore.
In nameless High Office surveys that staff accomplished, a number of widespread threads emerged. Staff felt that the corporate nurtures particular person artistic pursuits in a supportive and inspiring atmosphere, and that they’re a part of a extremely collaborative staff with minimal egos who perceive that they serve a larger goal.
“If you happen to categorical a artistic curiosity to your supervisor, there might be a undertaking the place you’ll be able to follow that,” says McConnaha. “Different corporations would possibly lock you in to doing door particulars for 2 years; right here you’re inspired to comply with your pursuits.”
Trish Nixon, president and managing principal of LRS Architects, is seen right here throughout an workplace social occasion.Randy L. Rasmussen/For The Oregonian/OregonLive
“Individuals genuinely take pleasure in their time collectively right here,” says Joe Bosnar, a job captain who has been working for the agency for over eight years. “I work totally on multifamily initiatives, however typically we open our design course of to permit enter from colleagues who work in different studios as a means of presenting new concepts to the consumer.”
Bosnar continues, “There are lots of people to go to should you get caught otherwise you need assistance. Staff are totally supported via the entire design course of.”
That assist extends to shielding staff from burnout. “At different corporations, there’s an expectation that staff work 50 to 60 hours per week. That simply doesn’t occur right here,” says Bosnar.
A whole lot of issues have modified on this planet of Portland’s structure corporations since Invoice Ruff and Steve Lee based the corporate in 1976. When Ruff and Lee established their agency, they differentiated themselves from others by focusing firstly on the consumer relationship. This philosophy took root and remains to be a vital a part of the way in which LRS Architects does enterprise at this time.
“We collaborate with our purchasers moderately than directing them, which is why we now have a lot repeat enterprise,” Smith says.
McConnaha continues, “Shoppers are happier ultimately as a result of they’ve been a vital a part of the method all alongside.”
2021 marks the primary yr that LRS Architects grew to become a majority woman-run firm, with three of the 5 managing principals being feminine. “Structure has traditionally been a male-dominated occupation,” says McConnaha. “After I began right here, Trish Nixon was the one feminine principal. The tradition has modified.”
Nixon, a 25-year LRS Architects veteran, now heads the corporate as president. She obtained this yr’s High Workplaces particular award for management within the midsize firm class.
See extra High Workplaces protection at oregonlive.com/topworkplaces.
