HOME RENOVATIONS


Andy Warhol once espoused, “Tey always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” After more than 30 years in our downtown St. Louis studio, time had changed many things: the make-up of our staff, how we collaborated on projects, architectural and design standards and innovations, and even the city around us. We were growing at 10% year-over-year for over four years, and we were bursting at the seams. Much like you may have experienced in your own office, there were patches, quick fixes, band-aids, and temporary reorganizations at every turn.


IT WAS TIME FOR US TO CHANGE THINGS OURSELVES.


We then endeavored on a one year, $3.2m renovation and expansion of our St. Louis design studio, collaborating with our Kansas City office, PGAV Architects. Te project would nearly double our space, creating a new and dynamic two-floor environment. We would diligently and excitedly challenge our established philosophies on how we


worked, how we collaborated, and the importance of health and fitness.


A critical initial component was listening to our staff with rapt attention. Trough surveys and focus groups, we invited everyone to contribute their ideas and suggestions into what should be included in the renovation. As experts in placemaking with creativity as currency, their input was incredible with surfacing great ideas. Secondly, it generated sincere staff buy-in to the endeavor – employees knew they had real say in what we would collaboratively develop. While we were able to incorporate most of the suggestions, we’re still checking the building codes for the feasibility of the waterslide that would lead to the ground floor.


Empathy is a key component of attraction design: empathy for guests, empathy for clients, empathy for animals. In this issue of Destinology, we explore the lessons learned throughout the renovation of our most familiar attraction, our design studio, and how we kept the creative engines running while the walls came down.


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