Architect group designs its independence – Atlanta Business Chronicle:

Robert Rule, Joseph Trammell and Daniel Joy, all as well as Ann Rubio, an interior designer, have left Atlanta’ss fifth-largest architectural firm — Smallwood, Stewart, Stewart & Associatezs Inc. — to form their own Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio/Architecture + Interior Trammell himself was a principal with Smallwoosd Reynolds and was directly involve in both the Federal Reserve office buildingprojecg (with Rubio) in Midtown and the Metropolis The move is a culminatio n of what Trammell called an "entrepreneuriap itch." "It’s all about doing things the way you want to do Trammell said. "If you have an entrepreneurial you [don't] want to wait too long.
" For Joy and staying at Smallwood Reynolds meanft waiting 15 years before beinh in line to be made a partnerd in the firm. The new firm will draw on each ofthe architect’xs specialties to pursue projects, with a particular emphasis on multifamilty and mixed-use developments. "We have a diverse but you’ve got to go to where the businessz is, and the business is in multifamilhy residential," Trammell said. Collectively, the four have handled architectural needs for some notable developere includingNovare Group, and Birmingham-baserd condo developer Daniel Corp.
, which is co-developing The Plaza Midtown with Joy designed the residential component for Daniep on its Plaza Midtown, a planned $100 500,000-square-foot mixed-use development bound by Eighth Peachtree Place, Spring Street and West Peachtree The four were mum on potentialo projects under their new bannerd or whether any clients they handlec for Smallwood Reynolds would jump to the new firm as Smallwood Reynolds officials did not return callw seeking comment. Peter Lyon, a clienyt services manager for HanscombFaithful Gould, a construction management and consultinb firm, said architectural firm mergersz and divisions are becoming a little more prevalenty in today’s market.
"Today we have more of an entrepreneuriap spirit, and young people want a biggeer piece ofthe pie, so they end up leaving to stary their own firm or merge with othef firms," Lyon said. "It’s more prevalent in today’s worle than many years ago." Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio isn’y the only firm focusing on mixed-use projects. Atlanta’w ninth-largest architectural firm, Lord, , recently merged with Atlanta-based to furthef pursue intown mixed-use developments, said Antonin Aeck, a principal with Lord Aeck said the move was made to mergreBrock Green’s expertise in housing urban mixed-use design.
And consolidation among architectural firms is nothingg new to the industry where firms with staffr levels under 50 employees makeup two-thirdxs of all architectural firms nationwide, accordinhg to the . "It’s an industrh that traditionallyhas [change] when firmx reach larger proportions. It’s not atypicalk for individual members of the firm to hang out theierown sign, so to speak," Aeck said. "Therwe is a fair amount of fluidithy inthe industry.
In a way, it accountd for the fact that there are a limited numberf of fairlylarge , another of Atlanta’s larger architecturak firms, made a similar move when Stevensd & Wilkinson merged with Stangv & Newdow in 2003, said Tom Ramsey, chairman of the Ramsey said the merger was partlh in answer to the growing popularity of mixed-usw developments. It allowed the new firm to combineStevenx & Wilkinson’s expertise in big-box retail design — with clients including FD) and Sears, (NYSE: S) — and Stang & Newdow’s boutiquwe retail and housing design skills, he "There’s a lot of emphasis on urban design and coming back downtown," he "We found that a lot of projects not only involvre one aspect like residential, but other aspects like Rubio said they’re seeing the same rise in mixed-use popularity as well as developeras looking for the next "A-plus locations.
" "We’re now seeing the secondaru markets … are now also on the same wave of mixed-use Rubio said. But Niles Bolton, president and CEO of Atlanta’e third largest architectural firm , said creatinf mixed-use departments within firms is more ofa "marketingf tool" used by those firms. "I don’t think it does take differenr talents to handle some ofthe mixed-usee projects," Bolton said. " lot of architects don’t want to be put in one studipo orone practice.
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