"We wish to go even further"

You have been associated for about ten years. How has the office evolved during this period?
In 2006, when I joined, the office had a dozen employees. Shortly after my arrival, we bought offices and moved to Mies on a larger area and took the opportunity to rethink the organization. We have decided to grow the office in priority to our existing markets, mainly private housing. The three associates of that time, Gavin Taylor, Roland Martin and myself, began a strategic reflection on the direction we wanted to give to mvt architects for the future. We have set ourselves several objectives: to improve quality, diversify and optimize the organization in order to always be able to respect deadlines and budgets, an equation that sometimes becomes difficult in a growth context.

In concrete terms, how did you change your organization?
We organized ourselves in leadership and we created middle floors of responsibility. We also wanted people from the office to take part in certain decisions and we created Departments (communication, legal, research and development, quality ...). This fundamental work has continued unabated since that time. We have invited external people to join our Board of Directors, and we have created a position of Human Resources Manager to allow a peaceful development. We are also developing two independent structures: a general company called Cido, and Nuances an interior design company.

What was the need to appoint three new partners in early 2017?
While maintaining a very stable structure, our office has grown a lot and we want to go even further, that is to say, continue its development by continuing to advance the architectural quality. Appointing partners is both a way to broaden the circle of people involved in management and to better defend the business outside. These appointments also stemmed from a natural need to retain and empower employees who have made a decisive contribution to the development of mvt. In addition, as architects, we have a great responsibility to build the environment in which people live, work, sleep and invent.
A multi-faceted reflection is necessary to carry out this mission. The opening to different profiles and visions allows precisely to cultivate it.