DB: Where are you?
SJ: In Dallas, a tour corporate headquarters.We’re in a renovated brewery and cabinetry shop in a part of Dallas that hasbeen reclaimed. There are a lot of funky old buildings available, and we took one of them and created a headquarters for 550 people.
DB: What’s going on there?
SJ: We’re preparing interview presentations for an upcoming 140-bed hospital in Livingston County and a new district library in Ann Arbor. We’re quite busy in Ann Arbor designing the U-M C.S. Mott Children’s and Women’s Hospital Replacement Project. Despite our technological capabilities, it always works best to get our people together to brainstorm.
DB: How has your Detroit office drawn millions of dollars of work amid a challenged economy?
SJ: We’re expanding beyond our primary focus of health care — for example, the Ann Arbor District Library project. Despite what many people think, there are areas that are growing in Michigan.
DB: What other projects are you working on in metro Detroit?
SJ: We’re designing the St. Joseph Mercy Oakland surgery expansion project, and we’re planning for a future bed tower. We’re also working at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor on a replacement for a patient bed tower.
DB: When will Detroit rebound?
SJ: We’re here responding to two bids, and the projects are coming at a steady pace. Despite the challenges of the Big Three [automakers], our office is busier than ever.
