Gensler

Edie Cohen -- Interior Design, 11/1/2005 12:00:00 AM

Projects and profits are just part of it. Executive director Diane Hoskins identifies three key pushes for the coming years: "We're going to focus on differentiating ourselves—by sponsoring client-focused research, by growing global accounts, and by continuing to expand our network of offices." Locations in Las Vegas and Costa Rica are in the immediate game plan; Beijing, Moscow, and various Middle Eastern cities will follow. As a result, revenue streams will eventually flip, executive director David Gensler predicts: "Now, most is domestic. In 10 years, more than 50 percent will probably be international."

Board members talk about additional objectives to be achieved by 2010. Designers are looking at alternative ways to deliver projects, such as working with clients throughout the life cycle of a project as opposed to just one transaction. Gensler is also teaming up with other architecture and design firms that have traditionally been competitors. On the question of employee compensation, board members are examining performance-based bonuses and, further down the line, "in-sourcing, no outsourcing"—to quote Joseph Brancato, who's a board member and a managing principal for the Northeast.

The firm's internal structures and external projects are increasingly complex and varied, contributing to a multidisciplinary profile that continues to evolve. Still, Gensler remains essentially an interiors and architecture outfit. And it plans to stay that way.