TZL 1396

TZL: Diversity and inclusion are lacking. What steps are you taking to address the issue? RS: I love that you asked this, and I hope we’re all asking each other the same question in the AEC industry and taking action around JEDI work. At Holst, we’re currently focusing on equity education within the firm, critical evaluation of our own hiring practices, and working to improve our community engagement processes. I’m personally interested in improving the pipeline in the architecture profession. I volunteer with a couple of groups here in Portland, including AFO’s Architects in Schools which focuses on elementary school architecture education. Architects and designers in our firm have also been participating in student mentorship programs, career fairs, and internship programs with the goal of improving diversity and inclusion in the profession. We need to see more architects of color moving into leadership roles, and more women as lead designers in this field. “How we work deeply affects the work we produce together, so we have put just as much focus on our process as we do our product. This is a key to ensuring we’re doing work that feeds our souls.” TZL: I see that there are four owners at Holst. Can you give me a little backstory on how you all got together to form Holst and the origin of the firm’s name? RS: Holst was originally founded in 1992 by John Holmes and Jeff Stuhr. They met while working at another architect’s office and saw an opportunity to combine their talents – they also fused their last names together to form Holst. They started with small projects that were mostly renovations and interiors. Over time, the projects grew larger in scale and our reputation spread in the region as a design firm that can do a lot with a little. Our ability to make the ordinary extraordinary has been in our DNA since the beginning. In 2016, John and Jeff decided it was time to hand the baton to me and my other partners – Kim Wilson, Kevin Valk, and Dave Otte. We purchased the business and are now proudly one of the largest, women- owned architecture firms in Oregon.

methods of design representation, tools for documentation, and now location/ communication platforms. I cherish the office culture we have at Holst and although we’re all making it work from home, many of us have been missing the aspect of creative work that is fueled by proximity and camaraderie, the energy that comes from being around the beautiful messiness of design process and materials. I do hope that we’re able to take the best parts of this remote work experience and carry those forward into the post-COVID work environment. I look forward to when we’re primarily back in the same workplace, hopefully with some newfound flexibility tested after this last year at home. TZL: How much time do you spend working “in the business” rather than “on the business?” RS: I shift fluidly between the two throughout each day, and there’s a lot of overlap based on how we collaborate in the practice. Generally, it’s 50/50. I spend time behind the scenes with overall project staffing, leading our PM group and working closely with our business director. I love the human side of owning a business and am constantly learning more about the business of design. TZL: What role does your family play in your career? Are work and family separate, or is there overlap? RS: In this last year of working from home, it’s become more blurred and interwoven as I’m sure it has for so many. I have two sons and I have taken a fair number of calls with my elementary schooler logged in next to me or a sleeping toddler resting slightly off camera. It’s a new reality that has both perks and challenges. TZL: What skills are required to run a successful practice? What do you wish you knew starting out that you know now? RS: I think it’s critical to understand your values as a team – and overall to align the work with those values. Personally, I’ve found being a self-starter, and a generally inquisitive and open-minded person to be my strongest skills in practice. I appreciate how Angela Duckworth defines the concept of grit as the “passionate pursuit of long- term goals” – that’s certainly a personal characteristic that has helped me along the way. Starting out, I wish I understood that while project type, program, and site are all important, good clients are everything.

HEADQUARTERS: Portland, OR

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 40

YEAR FOUNDED: 1992

NUMBER OF OFFICE LOCATIONS: 1

MARKET SECTORS:

❚ ❚ Commercial

❚ ❚ Residential

❚ ❚ Education

❚ ❚ Hospitality

❚ ❚ Nonprofit

❚ ❚ Sustainability

PURPOSE: Holst Architecture is devoted to creating architecture that people love, to making places that have meaning, and to turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. The firm’s architects and designers feel it is their responsibility to be agents of change toward social and environmental progress, and to use their privilege to respect and listen to all voices impacted by their work. Holst Architecture takes this responsibility personally, and it’s why its people love to do what they do.

See EXTRAORDINARY, page 8

NE 14, 2021, ISSUE 1396

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