CREJ - Building Dialogue - December 2017
WORDS: Kimberly MacArthur Graham For more than 50 years, award-winning firm OZ Architecture has shaped, and been shaped by, its home state of Colorado. With 165 employees in offices in Denver and Boulder, OZ provides architecture, master planning, interior design and, more recently, brand experience design to clients and projects across the U.S., and in Africa, Asia and Antarctica. Its portfolio includes a host of iconic “I didn’t know they designed, that, too” work and a wide variety of project types, from academic (University of Colorado's Center for Academic Success and Engagement, University of Colorado Colorado Springs’ University Center) to retail (Punch Bowl Social, Platform T) to corporate/office (SmartWool, Alteryx) and civic (Van Cise-Simonet Detention Center, Silverthorne Performing Arts Center) – not to mention a bevy of well-known multifamily, hospitality, medical, assisted-living and mixed-use campuses. Ask nearly any OZ team member or alum what drew him to the firm, and you’ll get a similar answer. It’s not the quality of the work, so clearly evidenced by a consistently full docket and an office full of awards and publications. It’s not the terrific clients who challenge and trust the team with meaningful projects, or the co-workers whose encouragement and complementary talents bring about all the great projects. It’s not even the firm’s strong support of professional and personal growth. But, in a way, it’s all of these. Inevitably, you will hear how much each values the culture. Principal Kelly Davis, who, like all of OZ’s leadership, is involved in multiple project types, recalls, “When I moved here [Boulder] in ’95, it was booming, and I had maybe a dozen job offers, all in Boulder, which I didn’t expect. It was down to two, OZ and another firm that was competing on a job. The other firm actually won the project, but I liked the OZ culture – and their design – better. It was the best decision I ever made.” Tracy Tafoya, a principal who started as an intern and now heads the interior design studio, adds, “I’ve grown up in this place. It’s like a second family – the clients, the culture are really compelling.” When Davis describes the firm’s portfolio as “focused on diverse, impactful design,” fellow principal Rick Petersen agrees, adding, “Here there is diversity, the opportunity to grow without limit to have an impact on the community.” While the firm has completed dozens of noteworthy, award-winning projects in its five decades, there are inevitably favorites. Asked to share some of those that best represent OZ, Davis, Tafoya and Petersen discussed an eclectic list of work that spans project types and eras. A few of the more recent projects named include 250 Columbine, a Cherry Creek area condo/mixed-use development, the World Trade Center Denver building in River North, a health and community services campus in Longmont, and McMurdo Station in the climate extreme Antarctica. Nearly every company can cite a vision and values, but few seem to have aligned with them as powerfully as OZ. Words from the vision and values crop up constantly in conversation about the firm, its work, and its future. The OZ vision includes “embracing the ‘freedom to take risk and push the industry’ to build a practice that is ‘significantly diverse and unique,’” and it’s regularly noted as a guide point for firm decisions. Its five values – making others successful, pioneering, an attitude of openness, stewardship of community and upholding the OZ continuum – are equally respected. The idea of the continuum, which casts current employees as caretakers of the past and nurturing forces for the future, is what Davis calls “the singular idea or overarching thing that makes OZ special.” The firm traces its roots to 1964, when Alan Zeigel (the “Z” in OZ) founded Everett Zeigel with a partner and began designing notable projects including several for the National Park Service. Fast-forward just over 20 years, when Zeigel and former co-worker (and CU Boulder alum) Tom Obermeier (the “O”) decided to combine their individual firms. Since then, OZ has flourished by pairing thoughtful growth with honoring the founders’ idea of architecture that honors people, place, and timeless design. With its strong ethos, solid footing, and talented people unafraid to reach for the future, OZ, now in its third generation of leadership, is certain to continue transforming the built environment for the next half-century – or more.