The Construction Source

“I believe that by staying focused on the people, you make better buildings,” he adds. “If you really understand the customer’s needs, if you figure out how to make them happy, you’ll make a better building.” Over the past five years, Studio 531 has definitely made people happy. That’s evidenced by their rate of repeat work. In the private sector, they have clients that are on their third or fourth project with Studio 531. Those clients will usually bring them in early in the process and have them do preliminary studies. That demonstrates the trust they have developed in Jesse, Tom, and their team. That team – whose combined expertise and dedication Jesse considers another point of different – is comprised of 10 to 15 highly trained staff. They all contribute to every project, and they all work closely together. Recently, Studio 531 even added office space, despite the growing popularity of working remotely. The firm does have a hybrid model, where some people can work remotely like they did throughout the height of COVID, but they found that nobody wanted to lose the shared space. “We sat down with everybody, and everybody really expressed a desire to work together in the office,” Jesse says. “Nobody just wanted to work solely remotely. I think that speaks to our team- based approach.” “Everyone is working around big tables,” he adds. “Tom and I don’t have private offices. We all work together. That’s the spirit of our approach, and we’ve doubled down on it.” The firm also takes a ‘team- based’ approach to their relationship with builders. Jesse believes it helps that Tom himself has a lot of personal experience as a construction manager. Because of that experience, he knows how builders think, and he knows their value to the process. “We believe the builder should be a key voice,” Jesse says. “We often try to advocate for a process where the contractor comes on board early. We really value having them as a team member. We think that’s really essential.” AUGUST 2021