New position, but Portland designer isn't starting over

It's not unusual for Portland architects to leave their firms for positions elsewhere. But a recent move by Group Mackenzie's newest designer, Terry Krause, wasn't the norm.

After 20 years with the Portland office of Sienna Architecture Co., Krause at the end of 2005 walked away from a principal-level position. On Jan. 1, he began a role similar to his previous post with Group Mackenzie - a firm that, in the past, had been reluctant to find principals anywhere but in-house.

Admitted Group Mackenzie's president, Jeff Reaves, looking outside was unusual.

Promoting from within, Reaves said, really gives opportunities to young staff to move into positions of responsibility, and we've had that happen over the years.

People stay here for a long time, Reaves said. That's important from a company philosophy standpoint. Growth for us tends to be more organic than going out and acquiring from other firms.

But Krause, Reaves said, proved a special case. Group Mackenzie neared the close of 2005 eager to expand its retail operations at the same time Sienna was moving away from the work.

Said Krause: Being a multidiscipline firm - Group Mackenzie offers interior design, engineering and planning services in addition to architectural work - more and more of our clients were involved in retail projects, especially on the mixed-use side of design.

We really felt it was appropriate for us to add retail-level expertise, and Terry's experience from an end-user standpoint - fit well with our firm because it's not just architecture, it's civil engineering and structural engineering and more.

Krause hadn't been looking for work, the architect said. For 20 years, he'd spearheaded design efforts on Safeway, Fred Meyer, Nike and Quality Food Center stores for Sienna, and the work was satisfying.

But when a call came from Richard Mitchell, a Group Mackenzie principal who Krause befriended 18 years earlier on an American Institute of Architects committee, Krause found he couldn't say no.

I wasn't necessarily looking at the time, Krause said. But when the phone rang and the thought was put on the table, the more we talked, the more intrigued we both were.

I knew based on just the reputation in the (design) community and with other clients that they were a well-respected and well-managed firm. I've always really respected Group Mackenzie, and the fact that they're in a growth mode was important to me. In the last couple years they've opened offices in Vancouver and Seattle - and I was intrigued by that.

Mitchell, ironically, is one of just two Group Mackenzie principal-level employees to come from outside the firm since 1989, Reaves said. Mitchell joined the firm that year; Richard Spies, Group Mackenzie's director of design, followed in 1992.

As the firm's new (and first) principal of retail architecture, Krause isn't starting over, largely because the engineers and planners he's working alongside at Group Mackenzie are the same ones he hired as consultants when working on retail projects for Sienna.

Obviously, Krause said, I'm the new guy here, but I know several people here that I've worked with on other projects. Group Mackenzie's been a sub-consultant of mine for civil and traffic engineering, so I've got relationships with people in several of these departments as well as the architectural department. They know what I do. - I don't feel like I need to prove myself. I'll just do what I do.

Up first for Krause are four projects: Eastgate Plaza, a three- phase, multi-building retail center in Vancouver; Bridgeport Commons, the future neighbor of Tualatin's Bridgeport Village; phase two of Bend's Old Mill District; and a 118,000-square-foot town center in Happy Valley.

Krause, 42, promises those projects are four of what he hopes are ultimately hundreds that he'll lead for his new employer.

This is my last stop, he said.

Copyright 2006 Dolan Media Newswires
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