Webinar | Inside Growth

As firms expand, they face the challenge of balancing innovation with operational efficiency, ensuring that business growth doesn’t come at the expense of design integrity. Strong leadership, a well-defined internal culture, and strategic adaptability are key to fostering long-term success. The third session of the Architecture Hunter Webinar Series, “Inside Growth: Managing Architecture Firms”, explored this topic. Two accomplished leaders, Danielle Reimers (Principal at SAOTA) and Gina Berndt (Principal at Perkins&Will), shared their insights on leadership, firm culture, and business strategies that support innovation and long-term success.

While remarkable designs define a firm's public image, its true strength lies behind the scenes. Both speakers emphasized the importance of strategic leadership, mentorship, and adaptability in fostering sustainable growth.

Danielle Reimers reflected on her experience at SAOTA, an internationally recognized practice with a distinct architectural identity. She described how the firm operates as a "studio of studios", allowing each regional team to develop deep local expertise while maintaining a unified vision. SAOTA’s mentorship programs, internal design critique sessions, and structured knowledge-sharing mechanisms ensure that innovation thrives while project quality remains consistent.

She likened SAOTA’s approach to a Petri dish, a controlled environment where creativity, technical precision, and business strategy evolve together. "Architecture firms, much like people, go through distinct phases of development," she noted. "Success comes from continuously managing tensions between creativity and structure, innovation and consistency, independence and collaboration."

Gina Berndt, representing the global giant Perkins&Will, offered a perspective on growth at a much larger scale. With 32 studios and 2,500 employees worldwide, the firm balances autonomy with shared values. She introduced the company’s new vision statement, which underscores design’s role in shaping a sustainable, equitable future.

Berndt explained how Perkins&Will fosters collaboration across continents, ensuring that teams remain agile and responsive despite operating at a corporate scale. She highlighted initiatives such as cross-studio knowledge exchange programs, mentorship systems, and internal design competitions, which keep creativity at the core of the firm's culture.

Both leaders talked about the importance of workplace well-being in an industry known for its demanding nature. They shared strategies to prevent burnout, including flexible work models, structured career growth opportunities, and internal initiatives that reinforce a sense of community and purpose.

For young architects, their advice was clear: curiosity, resilience, and adaptability are key to professional growth. Whether through competition entries, strategic networking, or cultivating leadership skills, architects must be proactive in shaping their careers.

In an industry that constantly evolves, architects must be as intentional about firm culture as they are about design itself. This discussion offered a rare glimpse into how two globally recognized firms navigate the complexities of managing architecture practices while staying committed to excellence.

_article written by Daniela Moreira da Silva
_speaker 01:  Danielle Reimers - Principal at SAOTA 
_speaker 02: Gina Berndt - Principal at Perkins&will