Brian Staton Interview - CEO of HMC Architects
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You know the workplace has changed, from remote working to rotating shifts to even how we share our office space. So, how will we continue to connect and collaborate on ideas? How will we remain productive in the workplace of the future? My guest today is Brian Staton, and he's President and CEO of HMC Architects, a company on the leading edge of creating those workspaces and helping leaders prepare for what's now and what's next.
You can find Brian Staton at:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-staton-5b886013/
https://hmcarchitects.com/
You can find David Avrin at
www.davidavrin.com
www.linkedin.com/in/davidavrin
www.twitter.com/DavidAvrin
www.facebook.com/therealdavidavrin
www.instagram.com/therealdavidavrin
David Avrin: And welcome to the customer experience advantage podcast. I'm David Avrin and you know I'm excited today to talk a little bit about not just how we buy, but how we work.
David Avrin: And there's been a lot of talk a lot of prognostication about the workplace, of the future, I remember, there would always be as part of these design competitions, you know what is the workplace, of the future and over the last 2030 years it's everything from.
David Avrin: You know, remote 3D holograms and everything else sort of the back to the jetsons time and everything else, but there is reality and a lot of those realities have come to fruition.
David Avrin: My guest today is Brian state and he's with hmc architects and and he and I worked together before and I was just fascinated wanting to talk to him because, excuse me.
David Avrin: You know what let's just let's start that over us just do a pause will do that over again and normally normally I don't do any I had cove it about six weeks ago so still I was good, not a big deal just a little bit of a cough.
David Avrin: Okay i'm starting hi and welcome to the customer experience advantage podcast my name once again.
David Avrin: Is David average thanks to all of you who subscribe and all of you who listen every week last time we talked about.
David Avrin: How customers by how clients make their decisions, what is that experience that we provide but you know a lot of that experience also translates into.
David Avrin: The organizational experience the employee experience you know we talked about cx and, of course, you X for user experience.
David Avrin: But there's also E X any acts as the employee experience and how we work, and we all work wherever we work.
David Avrin: impacts not only our satisfaction and our productivity, but, of course, how we interact with our customers and clients as well, so today i'm really excited to talk to Brian state information see architects.
David Avrin: Just brilliant as a team everyone on their team and i've had a chance to work with them before and I love the conversation around.
David Avrin: Not just the changes and prognosticating what the changes but, but how that makes organizations and the people within a more effective and certainly.
David Avrin: interior designers and architects have been talking about this for a long time, but we have never seen the kinds of changes that we've seen over the last couple of years.
David Avrin: And once again it's not about coven but it's very much about a post coven world, what do we learn what did we learn what works.
David Avrin: What doesn't work I think we've seen that in a lot of a lot of things that things that were prognosticating.
David Avrin: When actually put into practice, were less effective and certainly less appealing.
David Avrin: Then we had been led to believe and so very few people are on the front lines more than.
David Avrin: Then, Brian Brian welcome to the show thanks for joining us, I will tell you really quickly before we get into a little bit quick his introduction, and for those watching the video version of this on my website i'll put on my smart glasses.
David Avrin: As President CEO of hmc architects brian's collaborative leadership and commitment to partnering with clients to improve lives and communities to architecture.
David Avrin: is fundamental to setting the company apart as a leading design firm he's been with the firm over 27 years.
David Avrin: With experience spanning all aspects of architecture and industry, including project management programming design, construction.
David Avrin: Administration, he leaves with humility is known for creating a diverse positive workforce environment.
David Avrin: And we're others are empowered to do their best work is passionate as the intersection of architecture and people and believes that hmc success is attributed to the talented staff and clients, which is certainly.
David Avrin: Great.
David Avrin: Great way of looking at your team why you do a yard let's talk practically for our listeners for our viewers.
David Avrin: What have we learned in the last couple of years, as so many people were forced to work remotely adopt technologies that in many cases were present, but weren't widely used.
David Avrin: Tell us from your perspective from an architecture to design perspective, what do we learn.
Brian Staton: Well, first of all thank you for having me this morning and those nice compliments David I appreciate that I think the world changed on was in March 13 march 14 I forget was a Friday, and we all realize that we could no longer.
Brian Staton: Work in the office and we needed to send everybody home, and it was a concept that people talked about for many, many years and had lots of reasons why it could work but at Friday for hmc architects we shifted from six offices to over 300 offices and everybody went home.
Brian Staton: And we quickly learned that it's a challenge we have a lot to do with there were people.
Brian Staton: who had kids.
Brian Staton: People who had family members, they needed to care for but over the first three or four.
Brian Staton: Months people were really looking forward to getting back into the office, but after six months of working from home realize they really started to get it to work and they found that the.
Brian Staton: Concentration that they could get working on projects at home was ideal what wasn't ideal was the fact that we were missing out on collaborating.
Brian Staton: And you forget those serendipitous moments of conversations and overhearing things at the coffee bar or the Jason desk is critical to your development as an individual and regardless of what practice you're in or what business you're in we are people, and we need.
Brian Staton: To be with people were not desirable isolated.
Brian Staton: And so we really started to look at what is the office of the future, and we feel that the office of the future is really a resource Center.
Brian Staton: The percentages of people who want to be there every day are small, I would say, the majority of the people want a hybrid experience few days in the office few days home.
Brian Staton: And some of our clients like high right clients realized that commercial real estate is very expensive bases are very expensive they haven't maintained.
Brian Staton: And so, our higher ED clients are now looking at.
Brian Staton: Having more remote.
Brian Staton: Employees and reconfiguring and re modernizing those existing facilities that might have.
Brian Staton: been admin.
Brian Staton: and turn it over to the students and have to build blessed square footage, and so I think, if anything, the short of it is.
Brian Staton: Just that we will be seeing least for hmc we will be seeing probably a 30% reduction in.
Brian Staton: The amount of square footage that we release every month in order to do our work and we're looking at studying that right now on various components with furniture and how would those.
Brian Staton: spaces work in a in a in an office environment we're also using virtual tools like miro where you can collaborate as a group, and a defined.
Brian Staton: sort of virtual office or virtual conference room and do your work and so there's been a lot of change and a lot of adaption on our adoption, I should say.
David Avrin: Over the last but actually both right adopting and adapting.
Brian Staton: Yes, I mean over the last two years, if we can all believe this we're coming up on a two year mark.
David Avrin: It talk to me in terms of where that pendulum is swinging, because we certainly learned that we can we can make it work it's not always ideal, we are missing.
David Avrin: The collaboration, or, as you said, the serendipity of the unexpected conversations that happen in the hallway is by the water cooler if anybody really has those anymore.
David Avrin: But, but we are realizing that there is a need to connect in person.
David Avrin: yeah so talk to us from a design and an architecture perspective.
David Avrin: What do those because I guess we're looking at retrofitting we're looking at new construction right, how do we repurpose and how do we design spaces.
David Avrin: So that they are a resource Center, as you said, what does that physically look like.
David Avrin: And how do we interact with it in a way that not just potentially saves money because we've got a smaller space that we're renting.
David Avrin: But how do we maximize the effectiveness, because i'm certain people have to be at work, certain departments and things need to be there, what does that physical space paint that picture for us.
Brian Staton: Well, you start to break the office down into zones and so you will they'll have a percentage of the office that are.
Brian Staton: Traditional desks that's got your five to 10% of those who like to come in every day and they know that they need to own the real estate and they want to be in the office every day it's a certain generation then there's an also a secondary section within the office that will have.
Brian Staton: What we call hoteling stations, and that is a desk.
Brian Staton: That you can come in, you come in and pick one of those open desks, and you sit down at the door open for everybody.
Brian Staton: And then we also have them start to have collaboration spaces, which are have a lot more soft seating it might have like a picnic style picnic style table where people can sit around and talk.
Brian Staton: and work for for eat.
Brian Staton: And kind of hash out what they're working on and they'll review reserve those spaces for different lots of time.
Brian Staton: You say i'm going to have my team in on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 to two and i'm going to take one of those collaboration spaces and we're going to talk about what we're working on.
Brian Staton: And kind of get the energy and the collaboration going on the project and really look at what are the solutions that we're applying to that particular client and that particular project, so you have these multi.
Brian Staton: zone places around the office and the resulting is is that it actually takes less square footage to do that and it actually opens up.
Brian Staton: Better actually than just a traditional office there's always those people who, like the quiet zone there's no Sir like it.
David Avrin: loud.
Brian Staton: This gives you much more flexibility to kind of adapt to yourself and your own personality in order to where you want to sit and work and collaborate with.
David Avrin: Your folks.
David Avrin: What about the the social aspect, the where the fact is we recognize if we if we break our life up into thirds we miss a third of it because we're asleep right, so our waking life.
David Avrin: You divide that military we lose about 23 years of our life we miss because we're asleep for it.
David Avrin: So while we're awake the one of the great things whether it's.
David Avrin: meeting your potential spouse, creating your peer group and all those things as well, of having that collaborative space and i'm not trying to pay play devil's advocate i'm trying to ask how are we going to address how are employers.
David Avrin: going to address that I mean are we just going to abdicate to starbucks are we just going to abdicate to a we were kind of a situation as well because.
David Avrin: Let me tell you what's driving this, not only because me i'm i'm an extrovert to the core part of why i'm making my living on stage speaking and presenting and consulting.
David Avrin: But I am the father of five we're new empty nesters and i'll tell you my kids who are no longer kids are struggling with profound loneliness.
Brian Staton: mm hmm.
David Avrin: And part of it was imposed on them, because of course they're working remotely.
David Avrin: But they're coming from an environment where they were part of their sorority sorority they're part of their fraternity very, very active through college and everything else tons of friends to the point where they're sitting by themselves or with their cat.
David Avrin: For eight hours a day, and then three hours before that, as they're getting ready, maybe a couple hours after that for dinner or something before they go to sleep how sustainable and certainly from a financial and logistic perspective it works for employers.
David Avrin: How is this working for their employees and what do we put on your your plot your crystal ball, how are we going to deal with that.
Brian Staton: I think that one if you go back at the beginning of the pandemic to touch on a little bit, we had a lot of employees who are new to this profession, who did live alone.
Brian Staton: And they were the first ones, it says, can I just please go to the office I just need to get out of my apartment there's nobody here, and I think that that's when it was sort of triggered for me that.
Brian Staton: A lot of what this isolation is doing is not healthy it's like we're almost going to have sort of a post traumatic syndrome from being home too long, it really affects people's mental health.
David Avrin: And certainly with our kids those who are home from.
David Avrin: School during it yeah.
Brian Staton: we're not designed to be in isolation that's you know that's what they used to do to prisoners in the war, you want you want to be in an office you need interaction and so we tried to do it virtually a few times during the pandemic, with some hit Mrs but.
David Avrin: We also said modicum of success.
Brian Staton: they're just not the same as when you can actually see somebody.
Brian Staton: And so we want to we're putting together more social programs for people to do things in the office together various other kinds of things that people can then take that opportunity to connect with one another on a social level.
David Avrin: Is that part of the conversation.
David Avrin: Let me ask it.
David Avrin: bright is that part of the conversation once again we're talking to Brian state information see architects.
David Avrin: I know you're very collaborative so when you're working with with designers construction but also leaders of organizations, what is the space and how is it going to work for them.
David Avrin: From your perspective, our leaders going to have to enhance their.
David Avrin: Oh i'm trying to think the best way to put this their emotional intelligence to recognize how to lead from afar, or to lead when the the proximity is sporadic and how does design and architecture.
David Avrin: facilitate that or get in the way of that.
Brian Staton: I think that it has to the environment, the built environment has to be augmented in order to create different experiences within any setting whether it's education know healthcare office.
Brian Staton: That we have learned through this pandemic that we cannot return to what we had prior and that a traditional office that everybody's got a desk in everybody or university where everybody's got a seat in the in the room in the classroom is is in the past.
Brian Staton: And that there is some value in having some what I would call downtime.
Brian Staton: That you get to club you get to really focus and get your work done is kind of healthy, but then we have to overcome the mentality of it or the mental.
Brian Staton: burden of it of being by yourself with opportunity to socially collaborate with one another, even if it's just you know, having your team come in on a Tuesday for lunch let's all by will buy lunch for you, once you guys all come in and just.
David Avrin: To get everybody together yeah.
Brian Staton: Yes, because you need we need that as humans, we need that connectivity, in order to really keep us up right and thinking out loud and challenging one another two stories or experiences or the work product.
David Avrin: Is that going to be a challenge for leaders from a recruitment and retention perspective I think some of the work from home sound very attractive.
David Avrin: And yes, we know our dogs and our cats are going to miss us when we go back to work, but I think you're right I think there's a whole new generation of people coming in, who need.
David Avrin: Not just the social connection that's a given, but they need mentoring, yes, and they need, and as we talked before about that serendipity of somebody knocking on the door and say, Brian you got 10 seconds.
David Avrin: Right we're scheduling those meetings right the zoom meetings and everything else but or.
David Avrin: From a design perspective, are you seeing an increase role of helping.
David Avrin: leaders understand how to use space better to facilitate this kind of connection and collaboration.
Brian Staton: I think we have to.
Brian Staton: We have to be able to appeal and appeal to everyone, I mean it is right now it's probably a recruiting trend the talent is so scarce out there for most businesses that it's like, if you want to work from home.
David Avrin: yeah will be as flexible as you need us to be.
Brian Staton: we've learned that pretty easily, but if you get too many remote employees at 100% being remote.
Brian Staton: Then you start to worry about those people on a mental level and then also want a professional development level because it doesn't matter what you do for a living.
Brian Staton: You gotta have that on the job training and you really can't get that off the teams meeting, and so I think that we as leaders we need.
Brian Staton: To be able to create these types of.
Brian Staton: working environments, whether it's working from home certain days or working collaboratively or independently or as a team within the office, I think we have to get a blend of that and be comfortable with that and not having people with their their.
Brian Staton: butts in the Chair, so to speak, that is gone, we need to trust each other and get the work done in a different way and I think that the work and the work environment is evolving in a in a positive way, if you can get the best of both focus.
Brian Staton: and professional development and connectivity to one another.
David Avrin: Does technology play into this, are we looking from a design and architecture perspective of.
David Avrin: making sure that we are future proofing our buildings and our facilities and our structures to recognize that there is a need for.
David Avrin: Remote teleconferencing are we going to end up wiring every office are we just going to assume that everybody's personal device is going to be wired and it will less than the need for that, how are you looking at it from a design perspective.
Brian Staton: For architecture engineering and construction, we still all need to be connected digitally so I don't see that going away and being replaced by devices.
Brian Staton: We still need to be able to share files and so on, and things like that at the moment you can't do that on phone.
Brian Staton: You still you can but it's not very effective, so there is still the infrastructure of technology in the form of equipment and programs that are still required.
Brian Staton: There is a shortening of some of that and how we don't do too many drawings as much anymore, everything is a three dimensional model and the model is then shared virtually regardless of where you sit, so you can have 12 people on a hospital towers sitting in.
Brian Staton: different locations working on the same model.
Brian Staton: So that kind of connectivity you see that you'll continue to need that you can't get with a phone.
David Avrin: Sure from abroad macro perspective, clearly, we can talk about trends, but when we go a little more micro we're much more industry specific aren't we.
David Avrin: There are certain industries manufacturing and others where you have to be on site, but then there's others service based advice Council kinds of things that can be much more remote, where are we seeing.
David Avrin: Ways of understanding the current thinking to handle both ends of the spectrum, how is new thinking and covert affected their super hands on and the super hands off and where do they diverge.
Brian Staton: I must say that, in the built environment.
Brian Staton: Most of our practices are turning away from specific spaces, we need spaces that are very flexible programs change it, colleges and universities.
Brian Staton: and healthcare is always evolving with with how they approach their their ex or their customer or employee and customer experience cx sex.
Brian Staton: A big change, I would say that we're starting to see in healthcare is that medical office buildings are now starting to shift.
Brian Staton: To you know you check in on your phone and you go outside and Aaron California nice places to sit outside because the last thing you want to do is be indoors and with a bunch of people who might be sick.
Brian Staton: And so there's a lot of how there's this huge, I guess, I should say there's been a huge shift lately on the value of exterior spaces as part of the built spaces.
Brian Staton: So how can we interesting.
Brian Staton: How can we get people outside more and still have a business that takes advantage of that exterior space.
David Avrin: So do you see that as something as a longer term trend certainly we saw that.
David Avrin: Very much during coven and we hope that this podcast is a little more evergreen and people might be listening to this for years, but we saw you know the the version of new normal or new next was the touch list tomorrow.
David Avrin: Right so everybody's got everybody's got a terminology course, but the touches tomorrow included curbside pickup or delivery APP ordering all of those as well, how is that impacting.
David Avrin: And I know the two to the areas you do a lot of work is in higher education, of course, in healthcare as well, how is do you see that trend of don't touch me keep your distance continuing or once again is that need for connection going to bring us back together.
Brian Staton: I think that I think that the need for connection will always be there, I think that that strong I mean.
Brian Staton: anytime you have a function and you get enough people in a room or what's everybody talking about oh my gosh it's so fun it's so fun to see you I missed you I missed this interaction, but I also think that people are becoming.
Brian Staton: are starting to see the value of exterior spaces as an extension of your program or your facility, and I mean does that work everywhere in the country, no does it work more in California most definitely I mean rk 12 clients have begin to really study what's it like to have outdoor learning.
Brian Staton: environments.
Brian Staton: and part of that is is well.
Brian Staton: I think it's not a matter of what up yes it's a matter of when we kind of go through a pandemic again So what can we learn.
Brian Staton: on how to equip our buildings in a different way, not only for our the programs our clients are featuring or delivering to their clients.
Brian Staton: But the value of exterior spaces and and the changing environment of a pandemic that has had an impact on us globally and it will change things forever, it will constantly be evolving.
David Avrin: Our companies and and how much of it involves ringing of the hands recognizing that, as they are building new structures and there will always be new structures.
David Avrin: They have to take into account the new realities, but how much consternation is there around Is this a blip is this forever.
David Avrin: Do we build a building for 3050 hundred million dollars, based on our assumption of how we're going to work based on current conditions.
David Avrin: How do you as an architectural firm and a designer, how do you engage in those discussions and how do you steer those discussions, because that's a big bet that companies are making as they're designing new spaces.
Brian Staton: Absolutely space in California and pretty much across the country.
Brian Staton: very expensive, so you really.
Brian Staton: want to make good choices, and you know you hear a lot of terminology like let's future proof this building let's future proof that.
Brian Staton: I think that the reality is there's only a certain percentage, you can actually do to do that, yes, this is constantly evolving and right now, I think that I would throw 30 to 35%.
Brian Staton: Of a program space up in the air and looking at how we can do it differently, most of our clients are looking for a I guess the trend.
Brian Staton: there's not too much of the ringing of the hands, they do realize that the ringing of the hands probably is most common with Do I really need to build this building, or is there an opportunity.
Brian Staton: To repurpose some existing space, such as a higher end client wanting to send the majority of its administration staff that support the campus home and repurpose that space, how can I have less square footage to maintain.
Brian Staton: Again, some of this stuff goes to trends and then a large percentage of, especially in healthcare goes to codes, we have to you know, a surgery suite that room just about lays out itself.
Brian Staton: With all the equipment or or entity and the requirements so some of these spaces are pretty rigid system, the spaces that are more.
Brian Staton: Support supportive to the clients are the customers, as you like to call.
Brian Staton: Are the areas that we're having more flexibility and really rethinking how those spaces work.
David Avrin: It is that part of the design process more of the vanilla box kind of an approach of saying let's let's build out the exterior or the interior wall space.
David Avrin: But with some flexibility so that five years now 10 years from now, we can move walls, we can move cubicles we can create.
David Avrin: Co working spaces and couches and all of those kinds of things as well, is there is there an eye in the initial construction phase two more of that flexibility down the road.
Brian Staton: Absolutely, you know you see it with.
Brian Staton: sensors all the clients are now outfitted in their their facilities with sensors are doing a digital twin.
Brian Staton: And with the sensors you can actually track and see how much that room is being used, and if the room is not being used and how can we repurpose it for.
Brian Staton: Something else again less specificity to about 30% of the.
Brian Staton: Building is going to give you much more flexibility in the future to repurpose.
Brian Staton: And some of.
Brian Staton: US that have driven the design are really programmed.
Brian Staton: spaces that.
Brian Staton: Are in the past, and people are not using them.
Right.
David Avrin: We we spoke a couple of years ago, and I remember you talking about some of the the learning and some of the incredible benefits that came out of.
David Avrin: People from varying departments, who normally wouldn't see each other, finding ways of actually designing space that would create intentional bottlenecks, where certain people had to pass the same area.
David Avrin: Just to create a collaboration that might not otherwise exist tell us more about that.
Brian Staton: One example was the intent taking a fortune 500 company and redesigning their their space and then redesigning their space you put all the leadership sort of down the Center of the room.
Brian Staton: And that you make all the employees, then come in and go out every day through those various departments, or those leadership, so that you get the kind of rank and file.
Brian Staton: Inner mixing with the leadership.
Brian Staton: So that you get a get a much different dynamic and it forces people from all departments to pass through and.
Brian Staton: See one another, almost on a daily basis, rather than the old, traditional you know where you had the.
Brian Staton: The top two floors in the building, whereas leadership and then you got all the people, the employees and the rank and file were on floors three through five.
Brian Staton: This takes all of the rank and file employees and funnels them through down the Center of the building if you're able to do it, this was a single story building for this client.
Brian Staton: And we put the leadership down the middle and they were all forced them to interact and it really starts to mesh.
Brian Staton: and push everybody together.
Brian Staton: An agency, we really try to make sure that it's it's an employee rich.
Brian Staton: environment, meaning that we are giving the best.
Brian Staton: environment for the employees to do their best work.
Brian Staton: And to be exposed with as much as you can of how the company works.
Brian Staton: In those that lead different positions and departments.
Brian Staton: Because you know what is the old align is is.
Brian Staton: who's the smartest person in the in the room it's the room of 10 people, not the one person.
David Avrin: Right well and as we're looking at fewer and fewer opportunities to be present to collaborate and connect.
David Avrin: there's real, tangible benefits for this isn't touchy feely I remember one of the things that you had and maybe you can elaborate on this that there was a story about a specific.
David Avrin: Whether it was a grant or a client or something that, like a $20 million deal came out of.
David Avrin: A collaboration of people who wouldn't normally have even talked but had a chance to sit down and work together to come up with an idea.
David Avrin: Which is as business leaders we're all trying to do right we're all trying to bring in the best and the brightest and where we get two plus two, plus two equals 20.
David Avrin: and creating space and we have fewer opportunities now don't we with this flexible hybrid work environment, we really need to maximize that space.
Brian Staton: I think you might be thinking that we did an elementary school two years back, and we got a grant from the.
Brian Staton: Energy Commission from the state of California or municipality i'm sorry i'm forgetting i'm blanking on it, and what it did, is it add several million dollars to the.
Brian Staton: Construction of the elementary school providing the money and went to sustainability, to teach elementary school kids.
Brian Staton: The value of water in southern California no water is hard to come by and we were able to put this environment with the local water.
Brian Staton: company or Minutes that madness, the polity and the school district and bring these two people together to really elevate how kids in an elementary school can really learn the value of water and then take that home, and then we also.
Brian Staton: Had outfitted it with.
Brian Staton: The gardens, and so the kids could grow stuff and have it for lunch or take it home and so it's really about expanding this particular one was about expanding.
Brian Staton: The knowledge beyond what you would normally get in a elementary school and really.
David Avrin: I think.
David Avrin: The future yeah well I think part of it is recognizing that space.
David Avrin: is not just a.
David Avrin: General function, but it is, it is a.
David Avrin: sort of thinking, but it's sort of a value add that's necessary for recruitment for retention for.
David Avrin: connection and collaboration, but I mean, even more so, today I think we've always looked at it people know space is important.
David Avrin: But now it's really crucial isn't it that we we overthink every possible angle interior exterior to make the best environment for our customers our clients and our employees.
Brian Staton: Absolutely absolutely and it's not, I think that the pandemic is really showed us it's.
Brian Staton: Not without a building a four walls.
Brian Staton: So that's part of it now continue, but how do we make those Jason sees to the outside spaces and how can we maximize education, health care in an external environment it doesn't have to be in the built environment.
David Avrin: Right and then we're also seeing for organizations how they're learning is in all environments right how they collaborate is in all environments in the physical structure and so so put on your crystal ball, or I guess put on your hat and mixing metaphors but that's okay.
David Avrin: What what is, what is the future.
David Avrin: Like for your industry, I mean I could ask you, what do you think it's going to happen in buildings in 10 years, but I think a lot of people what's it going to do is they're going to be a shakeout within the architectural world as well, of those who sort of get it and those who are traditional.
David Avrin: And is there going to be a widening of the gap between those who are really insightful and those who are merely competent.
Brian Staton: I think there is a possibility of that absolutely um.
Brian Staton: The American Institute of architects will tell you the average architectural practice in the country is three three to five people make up a practice which is primarily very traditional.
Brian Staton: And a lot of the times that's a homes and local businesses, large scale projects like we do at agency.
Brian Staton: are going to be more digital, meaning that we will no longer in the future, we will no longer be doing any types of drawings, of the three dimensional model.
Brian Staton: We will be partnering with local suppliers, depending on where that building is going to get constructed and then we're going to logistically work with those individuals for the lead time on the material.
Brian Staton: sand that stuff digitally over to the contractor and they'll take the the materials and so on, so forth.
Brian Staton: And components and pieces that they'll need to price it out share it with the owner and we'll see a quickening of the projects from to speed to market will be continuing to evolve and I think that.
Brian Staton: We really learned again, you know the the lead time for materials and material shortages that we're experiencing in this country in the escalated construction costs there's a lot of value if you're able to build a hospital tower and utilize building components within a 200 mile radius.
Brian Staton: need to market a lot quicker you're partnering with local so, then the hospitalist supplying in bright reaching out and helping.
Brian Staton: Economically impact the area for suppliers and so on, and I think it starts to go from this sort of large global digital model that everybody's in and it starts to hone down things in a local level that benefits the hospital and the surrounding.
David Avrin: area.
Brian Staton: And, and also in speed to market, it increases the shortens the construction time.
David Avrin: I asked the question so fascinates me last question.
David Avrin: What percentage of existing structures.
David Avrin: are not going to be suitable for.
David Avrin: For modification what percentage, I heard somebody I heard a statistic I don't know if it's true is that, within the next five to eight years 25% of all shopping malls will go out of business.
David Avrin: And then, of course, what do we do with the structures.
Brian Staton: I think that they're you know, a friend of mine who did purely retail at the beginning of the pandemic.
Brian Staton: did a lot of retail and hospitality and some of that stuff was getting.
Brian Staton: shut down and stuff and someone says what does that mean for you, Jim and your business, he says, I see nothing but opportunity because somebody needs to reuse those spaces and repurpose those spaces, so I think that.
Brian Staton: What we might I think what we're going to see as a reduction in new construction and we're going to see uptick in repurposing.
David Avrin: it'll be fascinating to see if people want to get in touch with you and learn more about the work that you do at AMC architects, how do they get in touch with you.
Brian Staton: I can go to our website it's agency architects, as with an s.com and you'll find a host of leadership folks there and we have a.
Brian Staton: Excellent PR guy named Bruce ball touch with anybody.
Brian Staton: So i'd love to hear from others and expand this conversation I think would be a kick in the pants I think it's it, the more we talk the better we'll get two things.
David Avrin: I think so as well, I think we started the conversation before the pandemic, I think the pandemic has.
David Avrin: Accelerated so many things and it's great to get your your insight into that as well, hang on for a second we'll talk, on the other side of this.
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