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Design excellence: Kevin Sullivan President and CEO of Payette (Boston, MA), a firm that values the close relationships it builds with its collaborators on the journey from design to reality.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
S ullivan joined Payette in 1987, became a partner in 1998, and president in 2014. He provides strategic direction, vision, and intellectual design leadership. His body of work includes seminal healthcare, science, and campus planning projects which have been consistently recognized nationally for their attention to detail, social geometry, and integration of the landscape into transformative spaces. “I think it is extremely important to focus on developing staff with leadership potential, especially individuals who are stronger and more talented than you are,” Sullivan says. “This makes it obvious when it is time to promote someone; you have to do it and if the firm has to change to allow it to happen, the firm changes. You have no other choice.” A CONVERSATION WITH KEVIN SULLIVAN. The Zweig Letter: You’ve been with Payette for more than 30 years. What are some of the most significant changes you’ve seen during this time?
Kevin Sullivan: Design excellence. While we have always been a design-focused firm, we have consistently continued to raise the bar on design excellence in our practice. Thirty years ago, our firm was a strong regional firm. Now we are a national firm with a high visibility design practice working on high-profile projects around the world. We are also now the most highly-awarded firm in New England for design excellence over the past 15 years. TZL: How has COVID-19 impacted your firm’s policy on telecommuting/working remotely? KS: We’ve been working remotely since March 13 and plan on continuing to do so at least until the end of June. After this time and as we return to the office, working in the office will not be a requirement, especially with so many of our staff taking mass transit to work and with so many young families needing to stay home due to school, camp, and day care issues. We felt that we needed to be flexible, assist in keeping our staff healthy, and use the office more as a resource, rather than as a workplace in the foreseeable
THE ZWEIG LETTER NOVE
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