Saint Paul, MN, October 5, 2015 | Clever Architecture is pleased to announce that we have been selected as a featured firm in the latest issue of Licensed Architect magazine.
“It is exciting to moving so quickly,” said Principal and Architect Russell Peterson. “In just a few short months we have more than quadrupled our previous year’s billings and are getting national attention from the likes of Licensed Architect magazine. It really is quite remarkable and humbling.” Clever Architecture was contacted by Licensed Architect after they had reviewed their work and process on their website at http://CleverArchitecture.com. They were impressed by the depth of experience, client range and the project outcomes in such a short time frame. Featured projects in the magazine include: A cabin for two photographers in north central Minnesota; the Native American Montessori Immersion Preschool in St. Paul, Minnesota; the Charles Eastman Ohiyes’A Trail Head in Morton, Minnesota; and new offices for the Transportation and Environmental Planning group of SRF Consulting. “We are already so busy beyond my wildest expectations. I just looked at our workload and realized we have nearly a dozen projects going simultaneously in our office. We are definitely looking to add additional staff in the coming months,” said Russ. “It is exciting to see years of experience and months of planning pay off so quickly.” Clever Architecture is headed by Marcia Stemwedel and Russell Peterson. They are conveniently located in the historic Baker Court Building at 821 Raymond Avenue near Highway 280 and Interstate 94. The firm is a block from the Green Line on University and 5 minutes from either Minneapolis or St. Paul’s downtown. The published article can be found here: http://issuu.com/licensedarchitectwinter2009/docs/lo-res-1 on pages 18 and 19.
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Fifteen years ago I had one of the most successful small architecture firms in Minnesota: Johnson/Peterson. My clients included big name retailers, corporations, schools, and private executives. I provided creative solutions, personal service and successful branding. My family forward thinking designs for Life Time Fitness moved them into a dominant player in the fitness field helping them with a recent $4 billion capitalization. I'm proud of the work I did.
Then I chose to sell my company back to my partner and stay at home with my children as an at home dad for a decade and a half while supporting my wife in her professional career. If you think being an entrepreneur is hard, trying balancing screaming children, manipulative parents, the educational behemoth, and maintaining a house. There is a reason many don't travel this path. While I was serving my children and learning about how families interact with the world my architecture college classmates were forging ahead building their careers, networking, and leading some very prominent companies in Minnesota. To say I was jealous is an understatement. But I've learned patience is far more than a virtue. As my kids grew and became independent it was clear that I could once again have a career in architecture. One of my brilliant classmates, Marcia Stemwedel, who forged her own less traveled path accumulating experience at a variety of firms including an engineering and testing company specializing in forensics was in private practice for herself. So we teamed up and started a new firm together: Clever Architecture. In less than 9 months after strategic planning and building systems we already have more work than the two of us can handle and are looking to expand. Why do I think our new firm will be successful? "Because taking the path less traveled and patience are two of the most important traits in an architect." So we begin anew. Clever Architecture launches with the following projects: The Charles Eastman Trailhead and Education Center, SRF Consulting Group Interior Office Expansion, Sunburst Chemicals Lobby and Conference Rooms, Health Center Seclusion Rooms, Chiller Replacement at the University of Minnesota, Mechanical Redesign for Saint Paul Public Housing Authority, and a Cabin For Photographers Family On Howard Lake. Clever Architecture | Forging new paths with patience. Russell Peterson | ALA CID | 07 July 2015 Copyright Clever Architecture LLC All Rights Reserved Architecture | Interior Design | Entrepreneurship | Leadership | Creativity
McDonald's has been in the news recently for a dramatic sales drop. According to Forbes, net income is down by nearly 30%. United States sales alone are down more than 4%. McDonald's has been plagued by a number of issues world wide including health scares in China and Russia as well as competition from fast casual "healthier" restaurants in the United States. Several sources have cited McDonald's burgeoning menu as the biggest problem. Some might say that it bit off more than it could chew. But from a retail designer's standpoint the biggest issue of all is that McDonald's is having an identity crisis as originally mentioned in The Economist from January 2015. As McDonald's expanded globally they started making local adaptations, which for the most part is a good idea. Brands around the world do that frequently with great success. Everything is local. But in order to fend off competition from the likes of Starbucks and Chipotle, McDonald's entered an era of redesigning all of its restaurants. It developed a new, more European approach it branded McCafe. Then it imported those design features into its American regular McDonald's restaurants. An article in Lab Brand from 2011 sheds some light, "According to French designer Philippe Avanzi, the newly designed spaces are trying to enhance customer experience and attract a younger crowd... In order to reach out to them, McDonald’s has decided to change the original design of stores. The first step in their design strategy was dropping the 'clownish' red that for so many years has been the key element of McDonald’s interior and exterior decoration. This red has now been replaced with more subtle colors, such as light oranges and greens. Another change has been the upgrading of the chairs from industrial steel to wooden and more colorful stools. In some cases, leather chairs have been used..." Attracting and retaining a younger crowd is good, but they forgot one thing. The McDonald's theory was always "get them when they are young and you will retain them for life." So it pushed out the young kids (the red, iconic shape, the clown, the playland) in favor of the young adult millenials (streamlined, hipster colors, european cafe, wifi). The result is a suburban, non descript retail box with a yellow swoosh and an upscale hospital cafeteria inside. (See new design samples below.) Additionally, they made regional changes from one landscape to another resulting in a cacophony of designs that have removed it from an iconic brand. Here are two screenshots from searches of McDonald's images: exteriors and interiors Can you make out the brand? I'm not sure the public can. Now imagine this approach being applied across all areas of the restaurant, food, service, quality control, uniforms, signage... I think you can see where this is leading. It isn't just that the menu got to big and out of control, so did the rest of the restaurant. And it started with the idea that they needed to attract hipster millenials on a regional basis to boost sales. Obviously, it didn't work.
By Russell Peterson
Russell Peterson | ALA CID is an architect, interior designer, blogger and founder of Clever Architecture in Minnesota. He has designed a number of prototype projects for iconic brands including Life Time Fitness and Vision World. He can be reached at russ@cleverarchitecture.com. Photos assumed in the public domain unless otherwise notified. |
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