Designing a World-Class Architecture Firm

PATRICK MACLEAMY, FAIA, worked his way up from junior designer to CEO of HOK, a global architecture, engineering, and planning firm, where he worked for 50 years. A self-taught executive, MacLeamy loved designing a firm just as much as he loved designing buildings. He is best known in the design and construction industry as the creator of the "MacLeamy Curve," which advocates front-loading effort during the design process to catch errors early. A pioneer in leveraging technology to support design quality, MacLeamy is chairman of buildingSMART International (bSI) where he pushes tirelessly for the global implementation of building information modeling (BIM).

• Introduction xiiiComing to HOK xviiLooking for My Place xviiCloser to Home xviiThe Interview xixBig Dreams xixImpressions of HOK xxMy First Assignment xxiSection One The Founders, 1955–1982 1Chapter 1 The Problem with Traditional Firms 3Why St. Louis? 3Hellmuth & Hellmuth 4George Francis Hellmuth 5The Depression-Proof Firm 6Chapter 2 A New Kind of Architecture Firm 9Starting HYL/LHY 10Gyo Obata 11George Kassabaum 13Forming HOK 15HOK’s Early Years 17Chapter 3 Innovate Early and Often 21Marketing Innovation 21Design Innovation 23Production Innovation 25Start-to-Finish Innovation 28Core Boards Innovation 29Staffing Innovation 29Ownership Innovation 30Chapter 4 Company Culture is Crucial 33Mutual Respect 33Considerate Communication 34Taking Care of Employees 34Family Atmosphere 35Storytelling 36The HOK Name 37St. Louis Office Fire 38Chapter 5 Growth: Project Offices 41Planting a Flag in San Francisco 41Launching in Washington, DC 43Landing in Dallas 44Chapter 6 Many Jobs, One Firm 47Going to Pittsburgh 47Settling in San Francisco 48Working in Alaska 50San Francisco Projects 53Chapter 7 Managing Versus Leading 57Becoming a Project Manager 57Managing Versus Leading 58Case Study: Moscone Center 60HOK as Matchmaker 63Chapter 8 Transitions: Succession Planning 67Naming Successors 67Adding HOK New York 72George Hellmuth Triumphs 73George Kassabaum Dies 74Section Two The Obata Era, 1982–1993 77Chapter 9 A Designer Leads the Firm 79Building Buildings Again 79Rise of Project Specialists 80The New Marketing 80The HOK Matrix 81Growing Pains 82Signs of Trouble 83Bringing in the Pros 84Chapter 10 Run Toward Trouble 87Becoming Managing Principal 87Run Toward Trouble 88Collecting Money 89Working in the Middle East 90Chapter 11 Growth: Project Specialists 93Lessons of Los Angeles 93Sports Design Specialty 94Team Member in Tampa 96Retail Design Specialty 97Opening in Hong Kong 98Launching in London 99Chapter 12 Selling Stock to Investors 101Kajima Invests 101Expanding in Europe and Asia 103Traveling to Tokyo 103HOK Tokyo 106Sustainable Design 107Chapter 13 Transitions: Hiring Family 109Bob Stauder Resigns 109Clark Davis Helms St. Louis 110Bill Hellmuth Joins HOK 110Gyo Obata Consults 112Section Three The Sincoff Era, 1993–2002 115Chapter 14 Get Bigger or Get Better? 117The Sincoff Strategy 117Sharing the Strategy 120Offices Push Back 124Chapter 15 A Firm-Wide Role 127Innovating in Silicon Valley 127Doubling Your Reach 129Overseas Adventures 130Joining the ExCom 133Chapter 16 Embracing Technology 135Computer-Aided Design 135Tech 2000 136Going Paperless 139buildingSMART 140Chapter 17 Growth: Buying Firms 145CRS, Houston 145Eduardo Terrazas y Asociados, Mexico City 147HOK Chicago 148Cecil Denny Highton, London 148Urbana Architects, Toronto 149Lobb Partnership, London 150Expansion in Europe 150HOK Dubai 151Chapter 18 Enforcing Financial Metrics 153Charm School 153The 50 Percent Rule 155The 90-Day Rule 155The 10-Month Rule 156Simplified Accounting 157Expanding the Board 158Chapter 19 Transitions: The Second Generation 161King Graf Retires 161George Hellmuth Dies 161Paul Watson Steps Aside 162Mahon and Pratzel Join the ExCom 163Jerry Sincoff Retires 163Chapter 20 Confronting Crisis 165The Kajima Crisis 165The Bank of America Crisis 166The HOK Sport Crisis 166Becoming CEO 167Section Four The MacLeamy Era, 2003–2016 169Chapter 21 Communicating Your Vision 171A Company in Crisis 171The Election 173The Pyramid Strategy 174Chapter 22 Empowering Firm Leadership 179Invigorating the ExCom 179Expanding the ExCom 180Naming a Design Successor 181Finding an Operations Leader 182Removing Office Leaders 183Empowering the Board of Directors 185Positive Peer Pressure 186Replacing Board Members 186Chapter 23 The Effort Curve 189The CURT Summons 189The Effort Curve 190Smart Effort Curve 192The Effort Curve at HOK 193Case Study: KAUST 194The MacLeamy Curve 196Chapter 24 Fixing Offices 197Finding New Leaders 197The Fixer 198The Recruit 200Case Study: HOK New York 201Tweaking the Bonus Program 202Chapter 25 Fixing Central Services 205Consolidating Accounting 205Fixing Advance Technology 206Streamlining Human Resources 207Chapter 26 Reclaiming Company Culture 209Visiting the Offices 209Explaining HOK Stock 210Posting Staff Photos 212Reviving Core Boards 213Celebrating 50 Years 214A Different Kind of Retreat 215Chapter 27 Buying Your Freedom 219Paying Off the Bank 219Buying Out Kajima 221Spinning Off HOK Sport 222Chapter 28 Transitions: The Third Generation 225Susan Williams Joins the OpsCom, ExCom 225General Counsel Promotion 226Human Resources Changes 227Riccardo Mascia Heads Home 228Bill Valentine Retires 228Financial Team Changes 229Carl Galioto Joins the ExCom 229Consolidating Offices 230Chapter 29 The Right to Dream 231Pressing Sustainable Design 231Case Study: Abu Dhabi National Oil Company 232HOK Product Design 234Expanding Again 235Back in the Game 236Finding the Next CEO 238My “Repurposing” 240Afterword: HOK Today 241The State of HOK 241Looking to the Future 242The Hellmuth Strategy 243Acknowledgments 245About the Author 247Index 249