Collaboration is a concept often cited by architecture firms describing their process and culture—but how does collaboration really work? How do we ensure that collaboration is a benefit to our teams, work, and practice, and not a hindrance?
Portland-based Holst Architecture, the largest women-owned and disadvantaged business (WBE/DBE) in the State of Oregon, will share the ways in which collaboration informs their evolving practice as a hallmark of the firm’s new generation of leadership. Owner Renée Strand, Senior Associate Ray Brand, and Associate Yuki Bowman will give an honest assessment of Holst’s growth, transition, and increasingly collaborative process through examples in their practice and exploration of their recent work.
Learning Objectives
- Learn about Holst’s recent internal initiatives aimed at facilitating communication and ensuring all voices are heard during the design process
- Examine how an evolving internal team structure can impact opportunities for collaboration, especially during this work-from-home era
- Apply lessons learned from various aspects of collaboration in Holst’s diverse range of projects
About Holst
Founded in 1992, Holst doubled in size over four years prior to its transition to new owners Kim Wilson, Kevin Valk, Dave Otte, and Renée Strand in 2016. Named the AIA Northwest + Pacific Region Firm of the Year for 2020, Holst is a women-owned architecture firm of forty professionals with a renowned reputation for award-winning design, meticulous technical standards, and a pervasive commitment to social responsibility.
Renée Strand, AIA, LEED AP, Owner/Principal
As Owner, Principal, and Managing Director at Holst, Renée Strand leads many of the firm’s largest projects and oversees office operations. Her leadership and vision are instrumental to maintaining Holst’s high standards through the studio’s significant growth and leadership transition. Her exceptional communication skills have also served her well in managing large project teams and navigating permitting processes in more than sixty cities and counties across the US.
Ray Brand, RA, NCIDQ, Senior Associate
Senior Associate Ray Brand brings extensive architectural and interior design experience, primarily in the hospitality, retail, and residential markets. Especially adept at translating the exterior architecture to the interior, she plays a key design role on projects with a wide variety of scales and complexities. She is detail-oriented, collaborative, and brings a strong aesthetic sensibility to all of her endeavors.
Yuki Bowman, RA, Associate
An Associate at Holst, Yuki Bowman brings a foundation of design writing and Japanese craft to a practice of architecture committed to conceptual clarity and spatial dynamism. As a key member of the design team on Holst’s educational projects, she collaborates with colleagues, clients, consultants, and contractors to maintain design rigor throughout the detailing and construction process.
AIBC approved for 1 Core LU
Zoom Webinar link will be sent by email on the day of the event.
Thank you to DIALOG for hosting this event.
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