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ON THE MOVE WARE MALCOMB ANNOUNCES NEW LEADERSHIP POSITIONS IN HOUSTON OFFICE Ware Malcomb , an international design firm, announced two new leadership positions in its Houston office. Chris Royster has joined the firm as regional director to lead the Houston office. In this role, Royster is responsible for the overall growth and management of the Houston office. As a practicing architect in the Houston area for more than 20 years, Royster brings a significant depth of experience to his new role at Ware Malcomb. He has worked on a wide variety of project types including office, industrial, healthcare, hospitality, education, interiors, and renovation. His experience spans all aspects of architecture including master planning, programming, design, project management, documentation, and construction assessment. “We are excited to welcome Chris to our Ware Malcomb team,” said Jay Todisco, president of Ware Malcomb. “His talent as an architect and leadership experience rooted in the Houston market will provide us with a strong platform to further grow our architecture and interiors practices in the region.” Royster holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Houston. An industry leader, Royster is president of the
Houston Chapter of the American Institute of Architects for 2020, and has served on the board of directors from 2016 to the present. Ware Malcomb also announced that Heather Griffin has been promoted to director, interior architecture and design in the firm’s Houston office. Griffin is responsible for the growth and management of the interior architecture and design studio and oversees all interiors projects for the Houston office. With more than 15 years of interior architecture and design experience, Griffin brings an extensive background in commercial and corporate interior design to Ware Malcomb. She joined Ware Malcomb in 2018 as studio manager, interior architecture and design and has successfully expanded interior design services while managing the Houston office for the past two years. Her work in the technology, healthcare, and government sectors encompasses a wide range of interior design projects, including office, corporate headquarters, renovations and tenant improvements. Griffin’s responsibilities include overall design/vision, project management, programming, space planning, consultant coordination, and contract administration. “Heather’s passion for interiors, strong business
development and networking skills, and commitment to client service have resulted in solid growth for our interiors practice and increased brand awareness for Ware Malcomb in the Houston market,” said Todisco. Griffin holds a bachelor’s degrees in studio arts and in interior design, both from Texas Tech University. She is a registered Interior Designer and an active member of the International Interior Design Association, Commercial Real Estate Women Houston Chapter, and CoreNet Global in Houston. Ware Malcomb’s Houston team recently relocated into larger, office space to accommodate its recent growth. Established in 1972, Ware Malcomb is an international design firm providing planning, architecture, interior design, branding, civil engineering and building measurement services to commercial real estate and corporate clients. With office locations throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, the firm specializes in the design of commercial office, corporate, industrial, science and technology, healthcare, retail, auto, public/educational facilities and renovation projects. Ware Malcomb is recognized as a Hot Firm and Best Firm to Work For by Zweig Group.
MARK ZWEIG, from page 9
hearing many cases of employees communicating with senior managers who are much higher in the organization than they would have been talking to in the past. That is fantastic! If the barriers to communication and information flow through the organization are eliminated, I can’t see anything but good coming from it. 6)We are going to be working on new types of projects and providing new types of services. There will be some major changes in many firms. It won’t be business as usual if you design hotels, retail, offices, sports facilities, restaurants, schools, and more. The needs of these clients to handle the new normal will require many more firms to be doing renovations than ever before. And some of these sectors will be a long time coming back to where they were, so firms will have to find all new markets for what they do. And some firms may find they need services they don’t now have in- house because clients will have new needs for services that A/E firms may not currently have as offerings. There will have to be new needs for better HVAC, security systems, and much more. 7)We may be hiring people in some cases whom we haven’t met face to face or whom haven’t been to our offices. While turnover will go way down and some people may be easier to find, the cost and hassle of in-house interviews could very well just go away in the near future. That sure would speed up the process when job candidates live out of town! Profound changes are coming to our industry. As is always the case when the external market makes huge shifts, those companies that can adapt will do well. Those that can’t probably won’t do so well. MARK ZWEIG is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.
3)Individual workspaces will get larger. Office spaces overall may or may not shrink however, because of this lower density. I’m already reading about restaurants, classrooms, and sports facilities reprogramming to have lower density and I’m sure offices will follow. As an owner of office space I will tell you I am less worried now than I was at the start of this thing. Companies may not have as many people in the office but the ones they have will be more spread out and they’ll need more private offices. 4)Work hours will change. With all the remote work being done people can work any time on any day from anywhere. This actually improves the productive capacity of firms. Theoretically they should be able to get more done faster if people can work 24 hours a day. It may create new strains on managers who are trying to keep up with people working around the clock. “While turnover will go way down and some people may be easier to find, the cost and hassle of in-house interviews could very well just go away in the near future. That sure would speed up the process when job candidates live out of town!” 5)We will have new internal and external communication methods and channels. This may help flatten organizations and get the rank and file closer to top management. I am
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THE ZWEIG LETTER MAY 4, 2020, ISSUE 1343
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