Northwest Architectural Co. has become the largest Spokane-based architectural firm by focusing on three Hs: high school, health care, and higher education.


It just so happens that those sectors consistently generate some of the biggest construction projects in the Inland Northwest.


As weve been successful, its made it difficult for other firms to compete in these fields, says Bruce Blackmer, Northwest Architecturals CEO.


Look at a list of recent and upcoming projects the firm has handled in those sectors, and itll confirm Blackmers assertion. An informal tally shows that Northwest Architectural either is designing or is expected to start design work soon on several projects in the Spokane-Coeur dAlene areawith construction values that total a hefty $165.6 million.


Northwest Architectural is in line to design major reconstruction projects at Shadle Park, Rogers, and Ferris high schools in Spokane during the next five years, says Steve McNutt, managing principal of the firms Spokane office. The first of those projects, Shadle Park and Rogers, each are expected to cost $42 million to build. In recent years, the firm also designed the new University and Central Valley high schools in Spokane Valley and a major renovation and expansion at Lewis & Clark High School.


At the Riverpoint Higher Education Park, the firm is designing the planned $31 million Academic Center for Washington State University at Spokane, and the anticipated wet-lab technology center for the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute, says Blackmer.


Meanwhile, over the past five years, Northwest Architectural has designed projects worth a combined $90 million in the health-care industry, says Bill Podobnik, a principal in the firm who heads up its health-care division. In that time, it has designed all of the major expansions at Deaconess Medical Center and Valley Hospital & Medical Center, as well as the five-story Integrated Medical Plaza, and the Inland Northwest Blood Center. Also, at Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur dAlene, the firm is designing a planned parking garage and envisioned emergency-department expansion and also handled nearly completed 45,000-square-foot additionall of which will have a combined cost of nearly $20 million.


Northwest Architectural also does work outside of those sectors. It is doing the design work for the Fox Theater rehabilitation downtown and designed the refurbished arena at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center in the Valley and The Spokesman-Reviews expanded production facility downtown. It also has done work for the U.S. military and some work in the retirement industry.


Revenues holding steady


Northwest Architectural employs about 100 people, who are split evenly between its Spokane headquarters and its Seattle office, which opened in 1983. One of the firms principals, R.G. Nelson, operates his practice out of a small office in North Idaho.


Each of the firms two main offices has just over 20 licensed architects, and the Spokane office has four licensed engineers. The firm is the largest in Spokane in terms of number of licensed architects, according to an annual Journal of Business list of architectural firms.


The firm is registered in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana, and is going through the process to become registered in California. Blackmer had said last year that it was considering opening an office in California, but those plans now have been put on hold.


Out-of-state projects the firm has designed include the University of Idaho Student Recreation Center, in Moscow, Idaho, and two new medical office buildings in Medford, Ore.


Together, the firms offices brought in about $16 million in revenue last year, roughly the same as 2002. Blackmer says he believes other firms fortunes havent held up as well.


Many others have dropped in volume and number of architects during that time, he says. Despite the downturn, weve been able to maintain volume and employment.


Blackmer points out that despite its flat revenues, the firm has risen in an annual ranking of the largest architectural firms worldwide by London-based World Architecture magazine. Northwest Architectural ranked as the 178th largest firm, in terms of revenues, on the list the trade publication included in its January 2004 issue, up about 50 positions from last year, he says.


The firm is projecting a 10 percent increase in revenues this year. That boost likely will come mostly from its Seattle office, which expects to get a surge in new work as that areas construction market comes back to life.


Generally speaking, the firm targets projects that have total costs of between $10 million and $30 million. McNutt says that architectural and engineering fees on a project typically run between 6 percent and 10 percent of total cost, with smaller percentages on the biggest projects.


The firms focus on higher education and health care sharpened a few years ago, when it went through what McNutt refers to as a period of examination.


Weve undergone a self-evaluation of what weve done and what we like to do, and it comes down to wanting to take those projects that enhance quality of life, McNutt says.


Adds Podobnik, What I find rewarding is the contribution to our community. Were designing enduring buildings that will last beyond our time.


Blackmer, McNutt, and Podobnik all are part of Northwest Architecturals second generation of leaders.


The firm was formed in 1979 when two long-established Spokane architectural firms merged.


One of the original firms, Trogdon, Smith & Grossman, was founded in 1960, and the other, Tan, Brookie & Kundig, started in 1970. Trogdon, Smith & Grossman had designed a number of large projects in Eastern Washington, including the office building at 801 W. Riverside that now houses the Spokane Business Development Center. Tan, Brookie & Kundig also designed several buildings in the Inland Northwest, including the former Great Northwest Federal Savings and Loan Building at 222 N. Wall.


McNutt says that shortly after Northwest Architectural was formed, the firm landed a job with Spokane School District No. 81 to design 13 new elementary schools that were to be built during the early 1980s. He says that helped the company establish its niche in education, which has evolved into the more tightly honed specialty of designing high schools.