This month, the tale of WORKSHOP8 was featured on AIA Colorado’s blog, which is exciting for us! Of course you can read it on their blog, but we’ve posted it here just to make it even easier for you to enjoy. With pictures, so you don’t have to imagine as hard.

The WORKSHOP8 Story

In the fall of 2009 the small firm (VaST architecture) I started with my wife (Brandy) in 2000, was hurting.

Historic shot of Joseph and Brandy at the company Christmas party in 2008…foreshadowing?

Work had steadily been declining for the last two years and we were trying to either sell or rent our house, sell our second car, and sell or rent our commercial building. Life was pretty scary. The custom home market was dead, and who was going to hire a mom & pop shop to work on anything other than smaller projects? Especially when everyone else was vying for the same work.

That October we attended the AIA Colorado annual conference because I was on the North Chapter Board and was required to. If I hadn’t been on the Board, there is no way we would have spent the money for such a luxury. It turned out being a very influential and informative couple of days. I attended a presentation about the amount of work being performed by large architectural firms versus small firms, and how the percentage was increasing for large firms and decreasing for small firms. This was pretty scary stuff for a small firm on the brink of bankruptcy. However, the presenter went on to talk about joint-ventures and collaborations. As we re-capped this presentation, Brandy and I started talking about how we could survive given this trend.

The birth a new architecture firm

We started contacting other sole proprietors and small firms about the possibility of collaborations or joint-ventures, and maybe even merging. Our original concept was to talk to as many disciplines within the field of architecture as possible and try to create a diverse pool of professionals. We talked to interior designers, landscape architects, energy consultants, LEED consultants, general contractors, graphic designers, architects and even structural engineers.

The first person we pitched the idea to was an interior designer we had previously shared office space with. We were surprised how readily and enthusiastically she joined up! That gave us the motivation to contact others and by the end of 2009 we had a small group of people who were meeting on a weekly basis, talking through what this new entity might look like, and how we might operate. In March of 2010, Brandy found a national design competition and pitched it to the group. I recall sitting around the table when Brandy made the pitch and the room kind of lit up.

Joseph is an architectural superhero! Brandy saves the day!

None of us had anything better to do, so we eagerly agreed to enter, mostly as an exercise to see how well we worked together. The next few weeks were a complete blur. There was a lot of pent-up energy and an excitement that was palpable. We were trying to create a good design, but more importantly, we were trying to impress each other, and forge a longer term working relationship. Not all of the original participants stayed with the group, the people who left had good reasons to do so, they definitely thought we were crazy for putting the amount time into the initial design that we did.

The name WORKSHOP8 was generated at some point between midnight and 2:00 AM, over a flurry of emails without a lot of debate. We needed to incorporate and present a somewhat professional front.

Getting Pregnant on your first date
To make a long story short, we won! We beat out other national caliber and highly qualified firms. Our first thought was pure joy, quickly followed by complete panic! We were just a group of designers, we didn’t have a common work location, no insurance, no past working relations, no operating agreement, no graphic standards, and no common software/hardware.

The project had a very tight deadline, as the client had received an ARRA grant (American Recovery and Reconstruction Act) and the funds needed to be spent in a short timeframe to help jumpstart the economy. We needed to have our 100% construction documents completed by mid-September, less than four months away. It was an incredible process, from the crazy start, to the surreal start of construction, and finally the joyous inhabitation of the structures. The process changed us all forever, it will be a pivotal point in all of our lives and one we talk about in our retirement.

Joseph and Brandy at WORKSHOP8’s 2010 Winter Party

Epilogue
Spoiler alert, stop here if you want the Cinderella ending.

The original WORKSHOP8 partnership lasted about four years. Ultimately we did not give enough forethought, nor put in enough ground work into the business entity. We operated without any sort of working agreement and only a generic set of bylaws. If, from the outset, we had put a little more effort into the legal/business entity of WORKSHOP8, I believe it may have survived in its original form.

In the early Spring of 2014, WORKSHOP8 Inc. bought out three of the partners. So, it is back to Brandy and me.

Joseph and Brandy this Summer at WORKSHOP8’s DAM installation.

We are planning on bringing additional partners on board at some point, we are definitely not a mom & pop shop anymore!

Well, actually, we kind of still are.

C. Joseph Vigil, AIA
WORKSHOP8 Inc.