THE BVH ARCHITECTS

TO YOU R FIRST DAY

BVH ARCHITECTS

TO YOU R FIRST DAY

BVH ARCHITECTS

TO YOU R TO YOU R FIRST DAY

WELCOME!

Congratulations on your fi rst day at BVH Architects!

Now, we know these fi rst few days can be a little overwhelming as you try to fi nd your way around and meet everyone. So we’ll help you settle in, introduce you around, show you where the snacks are, and where the really good snacks are. (Steve’s desk, bottom drawer.) In short, we promise to help make your transition into your new role as easy as possible.

Which brings us to this guide.

The purpose of this guide is to introduce you to BVH, and to help you get acclimated to your new surroundings. Rather than give an exhaustive account of all known information in a single volume, this guide provides a brief, high-level look at some of the key elements of BVH—our history, our culture, our design philosophy—in the hopes of starting you out on the right foot.

When you’re ready, we’ll begin.

1. HISTORY2. CORE PRINCIPLES3. STRUCTURE4. CULTURE

1. HISTORY

Established in 1968, BVH Architects has become a leader in architectural design services throughout Nebraska and the Midwest. Designing for markets such as higher education, K-12, religious and historic preservation, we’re extremely proud of our legacy and the impact we’ve had in building our community. With nearly 50 years under our belt, we’re excited to build on the strong foundation our predecessors have laid.

522

PROFESSIONAL�STAFF

STUDIOS

Bahr & Hanna Architects, LLC, established by Deon Bahr and Bob Hanna, opens its fi rst offi ce at 1030 Que Street in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Lynn Vermeer joins the fi rm as a partner.

George Haecker, AIA, joins the fi rm as a partner. BHV&H opens its second studio in the Omaha Building in downtown Omaha, Nebraska.

1968

1969

1971

48 YEARS�IN�BUSINESS

BHV&H becomes BV&H as Bob Hanna departs. Today

BV&H drops the ‘&’, ushering in a new era of design thinking.

1976

2006

2. COREBELIEFS

We act on our belief that architecture is rich with optimism —and it is with this prevailing attitude that we approach projects. The foundation of our optimism lies in our desire to inspire people and create places that contribute to the vitality of communities. This is the mark we leave on this world.

BELIEF 1:

COMMITMENTTO PEOPLE

We know that genuine investment in bettering communities transcends designing buildings. As architects we are uniquely positioned in the civic realm to support communities through our activism for quality in the design of the built environment.

We place public participation at the forefront of our interaction through an authentic, collaborative process to promote meaningful dialogue. Furthermore we are interested in the multiplicity of voices, not just ours, to build consensus among all involved with the project. We believe when this process is embraced we will achieve the desired outcome; however when we transcend the outcome we know it’s special.

BELIEF 2:

PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE

Our practice draws inspiration from immersive research and investigation—we love to learn. We impart the knowledge gained to cultivate projects by stating project goals and intentions derived through the research. As a consequence our projects respond to the context specificity as nuanced by the relationship of place, material and time.

In the same vein our frontloaded approach to ecological stewardship provides meaningful, vernacular responses to site and climate. Today’s buildings demand high-performance solutions to improve the quality of life as well as be good stewards of our resources. While this is often referred to as sustainable design, we unequivocally think of it as the baseline for design. Our focus on research and ecological stewardship situates our projects as a response to the particular time in which it was built—we are not interested in stylistic architecture but rather architecture authentically distinguished of its time.

BELIEF 3:

SENSE OF WONDER

Design excellence combines function, economy, performance and beauty. When these converge, our projects have the chance to inspire, creating a sense of wonder. It takes great skill to combine these four tenets and we consider it a challenge. It is a challenge we expect our clients to pursue along with us, as a project is reliant on an inclusive, collaborative process. Careful listening coupled with an intentional embrace of the ‘do more with less’ mantra allows us to eff ectively and effi ciently solve our clients’ needs. It is our intention to aim for a clarity and economy of design elevated by optimism.

BELIEFSMATTER.

We make a big deal out of our core values because they inform literally everything we do, from design to finances. For us they’re not just reminders of what we believe, but expectations for how we work, live and create. They are the ‘why’ behind what we do every day.

3. STRUCTURE

Like our studios, we try to keep a pretty minimal organized structure. We do this because we believe we do our best work in collaboration with each other, no matter what our titles are. Still, we gotta have structure, so here’s a quick rundown of how we work:

beliefs

goals

shareholders directorsstudio thought leaders

Just like our beliefs, our goals drive who we are as a fi rm and help inform our day-to-day decisions, allowing us to work effi ciently within a framework established by the Firm Directors.

The studio is run with the mentality that every team member has a highest and best purpose, and when put in that position they will elevate the studio’s purpose. Thought Leaders within the studio help push the fi rm through research, exploration and encouraging deeper examination of the practice of architecture.

Independent from the Board of Directors, the Firm Directors are responsible for the day to day management of the fi rm.

For shareholders, ownership provides both a voice in the fi rm’s vision and fi nancial reward through stock dividends. Shareholders include Associates, Senior Associates and Principals.

The foundation of our fi rm lies in our desire to inspire people and make places that contribute to the vitality of communities. Our beliefs drive our every action.

WE’REALLLEADERS.

We recognize the importance of the different skill sets and perspectives each member of BVH brings to the table. We strive for each member of the team to take initiative and responsibility for every design we put out. Here, each of us is a leader.

4.CULTURE

If our core values are the ‘why’ behind what we do, then our culture is the ‘how.’ It’s who we are and how we operate. It seeps into our design, our critiques and our conversations.

STUDIOOFFICE

For us, there’s a big difference between an office and a studio. One is for working, the other is for making. One is stuffy, the other is open. One is dull, the other is full of life. It’s more than a matter of semantics—it’s a whole mindset, and it leads us to be more creative in some interesting ways:

We’re intentional about our openness. You’ll find no cubicles or offices with closed doors. It gets noisy sometimes, but this allows us to approach projects with the collective knowledge of everyone in our studio. We embrace the creative and collaborative nature that evolves in a space where ideas can be developed and challenged. Plus, it’s fun to watch Amy rock out to ‘90s rap.

We’re transparent about our process. You’ve probably noticed our giant project walls, because we’re very proud of them, and it was most likely one of the first things we showed you. There’s a reason they’re so big: they let us think out in the open. We pin up projects and ideas, iterations, building materials, photos, inspiration, renderings, drawings, drawings upon drawings. We write on them, make notes on our own work and the work of others. We gather and critique. We bring our clients up close to their project as we wrestle with it alongside them. In short, we show our work.

We allow for evolution. Change can be hard sometimes, we understand. But we also know that change can be healthy for creative growth. Having an open work environment causes us to adapt more regularly and more easily to changing circumstances, something we desire for our designs as well. Ideas get shared more quickly. Problems get solved more efficiently. Change becomes less of a hindrance and more of a sign of good health.

A similar dynamic can be seen between our two studios. We compete with and encourage one another. We share projects, people and ideas. But each studio also responds uniquely to the community and neighborhoods in which it resides. Like siblings, we share the same creative DNA, yet the way it gets expressed can be both surprisingly similar and vastly different.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY

We may be mainly architects, but we do so much more. Operating out of a strong belief in collaboration, we place a high value on every member of the team at BVH and their unique talents, interests and perspective on design.

BVHDESIGN

BVHINTERIORS

BVH.IO

BVHPLANNING

CRITIQUE

At BVH we enjoy critique. Not because we like to disagree (though some of us do, Mark), or because we have a penchant for punishment, but because for us critique isn’t just about pointing out the flaws in something. It’s an entire approach to design thinking in that we’re constantly thinking about design. There are several reasons why we value this part of our process:

Good critiQue leads to better work. During a critique it will become very clear very fast if an idea isn’t right. Sometimes we know it going in, and we just need help solving it. Other times we need help seeing that there’s a problem at all. Whatever the case, having others intentionally push in on our work is the truest way to root out bad design and lead us to better solutions.

Good critiQue keeps us honest. As a general rule, if you can’t explain why you did something, it probably isn’t right. The critique process has a tendency to weed out those kinds of ideas. It keeps our egos in check so we’re not putting ourselves before the client or their design problem. Critique keeps us accountable to our process and the solutions we’ll ultimately present to the client.

Good critiQue helps us explore. As stated already in our Core Values, this is really important to us, and it’s a key part of our design process. Exploring is akin to playing for us, and critique gives us a way to process what we’ve found. Whether in larger studio design critiques, impromptu one-on-one conversations or in pointed discussions during our Tuesday & Thursday Afternoon Clubs, taking a critical approach to everything we do leads us to explore options and solutions we wouldn’t otherwise come to.

THEORY

PRACTICE

So there you have it.

There’s more to learn, of course, and that will come with time. But we sincerely hope you take as many opportunities as you can to ask questions, own your role and challenge us. You should expect to be pushed (in a spurring-on sort of way, not like that punk Jimmy from 4th grade) and to push back.

We brought you on for a reason, and that reason is much bigger than simply to design stellar architecture. You’re here to add to our culture and push us beyond our own comfort zone in the pursuit of better design. Let’s begin.

NOWLET’SBEGIN.