PRACTICE AREA
INDUSTRIAL &
MANUFACTURING
WE DESIGN PURPOSE-BUILT MANUFACTURING FACILITIES FOR WIDGET MAKERS.
Resurgence of Manufacturing
We’re energized by industrial projects because they’re tangible: they involve making, moving, and improving. Whether upgrading the interior in a legacy building or a purpose-built manufacturing & logistics facility, we enjoy learning about a client’s process—and using architecture to amplify it. We’re also motivated by the broader story of supporting a progressive resurgence of U.S. manufacturing and the long-term benefits for our region and country in rebalancing economies toward both intellectual pursuits and manufacturing.
Wellness in Industrial Facilities
We focus on optimizing human health and wellness in industrial facilities for employees and surrounding communities alike, helping business owners be good employers and good neighbors. This attracts top talent and leads to increased employee retention, lower stress levels, and reduced workplace injuries and absenteeism. Tactics include indoor air quality, optimized lighting, thermal comfort, noise mitigation, hygiene equity, on-site fitness opportunities, spaces that encourage active movement, and access to healthy food and water.
Sum Greater Than Its Parts
We consider the components of manufacturing and industrial facilities holistically akin to a 3-legged stool:
Leg One: Production & manufacturing areas where products are made—here we focus on efficiency, ensuring smooth flow of raw materials through finished products using LEAN manufacturing principles.
Leg Two: Office & workplace areas to support C-Suite leadership, R&D teams, sales and marketing teams—here we apply our extensive workplace design experience
Leg Three: Front-of-house spaces where the brand story is on full display and the customer gets to test the widget, drawing from our years of retail and hospitality design expertise.
We’re unique among small firms in having expertise in all three areas, always seeking ways each component can catalyze and amplify the others to ensure the entire facility performs as more than the sum of its parts.
COMMON QUESTIONS
How do you design facilities to optimize production efficiency & workflow?
We lean on principles drawn from LEAN manufacturing and the Toyota Production System to think about waste reduction, circulation clarity, and process logic. We coordinate the real drivers of the building: process equipment, utilities, material flows, and future growth. While we’re not process engineers, we routinely coordinate equipment layouts and Process & Integration Diagrams to ensure that the architecture of the building plays nice with the architecture of the manufacturing process. We also help clients masterplan for phased buildouts, recognizing that successful companies evolve quickly and need facilities that can adapt.
Can you help with site selection or evaluate the feasibility of a potential location?
Absolutely. We’re frequently engaged with clients upstream of the design process, while they’re looking for property to build on, analyzing real estate purchases with the benefit of understanding sites’ constraints and opportunities – leading to informed buyers and clients. Understanding a potential site’s inherent constraints ensures that a site will be capable of supporting a business’s operations – before commitment.
How do you address energy conservation and environmental sustainability in industrial facilities?
Great question – buildings are deeply implicated in the consumption of limited natural resources. Through elegant design and innovative problem solving, we can design buildings that consume less and last longer. Tactics to address energy conservation and environmental responsibility in large manufacturing and industrial facilities include specifying high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, proper thermal insulation, reducing a building’s carbon footprint by using more renewable materials (Mass Timber) and less concrete, employing heat recovery and cogeneration systems, careful wastewater treatment and designing for longevity in the first place – the less material we discard into a landfill, the better.
”From day one, Mark and his team dove in with a collaborative spirit and a problem-solving mindset. His ability to stay calm under pressure, think creatively, and work side by side with the team made a real difference in the success of the project. Mark brings deep experience across many project types, and his adaptability and leadership make him exactly the person you want in your corner when things get tough.
Carly ParkinsProject Manager, Maitri Consulting
