In our Creative Cultures series, contributor Crystal Henrickson spends a day inside companies to learn how hiring, onboarding and company culture play a role in employee happiness. From startups to design firms and all in-between, we’re pulling back the curtain on what it’s like to work in inventive and productive environments.
Every day, 50+ creatives convene above the corner of Granville and Hastings in downtown Vancouver. They’re pushing limits and redefining the approach to architectural design. Today, I’m visiting HCMA to learn how developing a community-centric culture is propelling the company beyond traditional practices and into the future of architecture.
The firm’s history reaches back to the mid-1970s and in the over 45 years it has been actively engaged in community oriented projects. “Throughout our history we’ve developed a strong belief in the power of design to positively impact the community.” says Managing Partner, Darryl Condon. When visiting their offices it is clear that this firm is on a path of discovery that looks to push this potential.
HCMA is a nationally and internationally recognized architectural firm evolving to meet the needs of the future. At every level, creativity and curiosity are being fostered: during charettes (brainstorming sessions specific to architecture), in staff library book suggestions, on Wednesday’s lunch club and even while selecting a new coffee bean to try during “kitchen duty.”
Thoughtful and intentional, HCMA’s space has been configured into common and quiet spaces creating a full spectrum of interactive and regenerative zones. As Mark Busse, Director of Creativity + Engagement, takes me on tour, you can see how purposeful design has contributed to their collaborative nature. Panels and doors recess opening up the come together “jam space,” where conversations and creativity are celebrated. Brightly coloured, foam padding transforms filing cabinets into impromptu desk-side seating. Around the perimeter, a few office “nooks” give space and privacy. And the best views of Vancouver, traditionally reserved for senior partners and executives? Everyone enjoys them from the kitchen and lounge area. It’s all part of the fabric that makes HCMA.
Environments we occupy, the things we use and how we interact with each other can have an impact on us. To face architectural design challenges head on, HCMA carries its curiosity to the outside world, finding new ways to drive participation.
In 2014, HCMA founded an Artist In Residency program which “functions as a way to find emerging artists or unexpected collaborators from different areas outside of architecture,” shares Mark. In one of the first partnerships, they collaborated with Julien Thomas, a public artist to create Faraday Cafe. The cafe used a mesh enclosure to repel electromagnetic signals, like cell phone signals, encouraging analog, low tech social interactions. “We want the firm to exercise its lungs as arbiters of culture, inhale the world and exhale creativity,” says Mark.
The firm also seeks out opportunities to builds bridges within their peer industry. Mark and I bump into Melissa Higgs, an Associate at HCMA, as she returns from delivering a surprise order of organic popsicles to another architecture firm. “I think we can learn from each other,” she enthuses. “We compete against each other for work obviously, but it doesn’t have to be a negative. We can still celebrate each other’s accomplishments and we can still socialize, network and riff off of each other.” HCMA also boasts a charity, matched giving and micro-funding initiative where employees are invited to pitch causes they’re passionate about, whether it’s homelessness, mental health, the food bank or growing local food, among others.
To stay connected to public space, HCMA recently participated in a challenge to activate a public space. A dart on a city map marked the random spots that teams selected.
A culture such as this one is a newer model for the architectural industry, but HCMA is committed to creating a space where it’s intuitively clear to people that they’ll know they belong. “Once they know they fit, it’s a catalytic effect, we can have even more impact,” states Darryl Condon, Managing Partner of HCMA. “We want people here who want to have the same impact out of their work.”
It’s that desire to make an impact beyond the everyday that is driving the transformation of this company. With the right people on board, an environment where everyone’s voice matters and everybody can come into conversations and collaborations, making a noticeable impact for social public good isn’t just a beautiful dream, it’s a reality.
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