Baskervill: Building Bridges
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Written by Eric Slack   
Monday, 01 June 2009
Baskervill: Building Bridges
Through industry-specific expertise and a knack for creating lasting client relationships, this architecture, engineering, and interior design firm is making waves in the hospitality industry and beyond.


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It sounds simple, but the key to success for any company in any industry is to do a good job, exceed client expectations, and keep them happy. It is easy to say but not easy to do. That is why Virginia-based Baskervill, a diversified full-service architecture, engineering, and interior design firm brings in industry experts like Carole Hochheiser Ross to oversee each of its specialty areas.

Baskervill: Building Bridges
Bob Clark, president
“Hospitality is like a large family, and I can remember a few thousand dollar fee becoming a million dollar fee with the same client years later,” said Ross, principal of the company’s hospitality division. “If you don’t burn bridges in this industry, you will evolve with your clients.”
 
Set up for success
As a company, Baskervill’s history dates back to 1897. It has grown into a full-service architectural, engineering, and interior design firm that services a myriad of industries. From the financial markets to retail and healthcare to motorsports, Baskervill is licensed in 30 states, and its projects have stretched across the country and internationally.

In hospitality, Baskervill is a little younger. In the late 1990s, the firm brought in Ross, who worked with the firm on several projects in the past and had a strong hospitality interior design specialization. Ross joined the firm in 1999 as the principal in charge of Baskervill’s hospitality sector, which was added to its service mix specifically for her talents.

Baskervill: Building Bridges
Carole Hochheiser Ross, principal of the hospitality division
“Each principal here is an expert in their arena and basically runs their own division. We used the resources of the overall firm and built a nucleus of experts in hospitality,” she said. “We come together as one company and make decisions as one company, but we each speak as experts in our particular arenas.”

This allows the company to be client-centric and have a better understanding of what each client’s needs are based on the industries they represent. By properly blending an understanding of client needs and expectations and delivering projects within time and budget parameters, the company has built a loyal stable of repeat business. In fact, Ross estimates that nearly 80% of the firm’s projects are from repeat customers.

Since entering the hospitality market only a decade ago, Baskervill has made steady strides in building its reputation within the industry. First and foremost is the firm’s overall reputation for delivering on the traditional three-legged stool of completing projects on time, on budget, and with a high level of quality. But Bob Clark, president, said Baskervill takes that one step further.

“We add a fourth leg—experience. You can deliver an on time, on budget, quality project from a design standpoint, but if client had a bad experience, they aren’t coming back,” he said. “The first three are a given. The experience can be the differentiator.”

Baskervill’s hospitality work has included renovations and ground-up hotels and resorts up and down the three-, four-, and five-star spectrum. The company has worked extensively with Sheraton and has recently been hired for prototypical work such as designing a new Courtyard by Marriott look. The company has also worked on locations like the Kimpton Lorien Hotel and Spa in Old Town Alexandra, Va. and the Equinox Resort & Spa in Manchester Village, Vt.

Paving the way
Although this is a down cycle for the hospitality industry, Ross said Baskervill has a decent backlog of projects that should carry it through until the market turns around. Renovation projects continue, as the lifespan of FF&E is roughly five years and must be replaced to maintain a property’s standards. At the same time, some projects have been temporarily delayed, such as a Disney resort in Orlando the company was working on. But the company is finding opportunities even in projects on hold.

“When the Disney project is reactivated, we are going to substitute much of the FF&E and design items in order to pursue LEED certification,” said Ross. Promoting sustainability has become an important part of Baskervill’s business strategy.

“In the last two years, commercial property owners who were lukewarm on sustainability are embracing it now because studies are showing that if you aren’t in a green facility, you are, by default, in a brown facility, and the financials that go along with a green building look better than brown buildings,” added Clark. “If you take emotion out and just talk about smart, energy-efficient design, I have yet to meet an owner that doesn’t want to save money.”

Developing the strengths of the entire firm is a priority for Clark. The industry is moving toward building information modeling (BIM), which uses three-dimensional, real-time, building modeling software in order to boost productivity. As the industry becomes more dependent on BIM models and new integrated delivery process that are coming through the American Institute of Architects (AIA), decisions are being made earlier in projects and engineers, architects, and interior designers are all getting involved in projects earlier on.

This means investing in people and the tools to support them. All architects have to complete the intern development program (IDP) to get licensed, but several years ago Baskervill created its own workforce development program that mirrors the IDP matrix. The IDP matrix used by the AIA is based on hours and time served. Baskervill’s is actually more complicated and based on a level of expertise in each skill set as an individual progresses through the firm. In 2007, Baskervill’s IDP program won the AIA’s IDP Outstanding Firm Award.

The firm is also currently using this slow period to refurbish its CAD library and is working to expand its expertise with the AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite. Pushing green initiatives and promoting energy savings is another current priority. The biggest limitation for the firm and the industry right now is financing.

“That is one thing that is out of our control. We are winning work that can’t get financing to get past the schematic stage, and good projects with good histories and good developers can’t get financing,” Clark said. “But as long as we continue to please our clients and prepare to take advantage of opportunities coming out of the recession, we can continue to grow, no matter the economy.”
 
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