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EMBRACING OUR COLLECTIVE COMMUNITY SWBR & 3t’s Quest to be One, While Positively Impacting Many by Scott Townsend, AIA
The Offer
The Analysis
The Offer
The Analysis
SWBR—specifically, Dave Beinetti, this year’s AIANYS’s Frederic Schwartz Community Development Award winner - approached my partner, Geoff MacDonald, and I in the summer of 2019 and broached the intriguing idea of our firms joining forces via an acquisition of our firm, 3tarchitects.
Bearing that in mind, our analysis began. The initial discussions quickly revealed—
Geoff and I were flattered. SWBR is a rock-solid firm with a stellar reputation and portfolio of work. Yet 3t had just come off its best financial year to date, and was winning awards and garnering attention. 3t’s trajectory was on the upswing. Why would we sell since, on paper at least, we did not need them? The question “why?” was at the root of most discussions and our thoughts over the months ahead. The answer of why to merge probably varied, but each team member answering it for themselves became paramount to considering a deal. From where I sat, any reason to merge must be sincerely offered and resonate deeply. We all knew the concept could possibly work, so we quickly began sharing data and providing answers to see if it would elevate into the realm of it probably will work.
SWBR & 3t’s market sectors overlapped one another. 3tarchitects was known for creating quality historic adaptive re-use, urban infill mixed use, market rate and affordable/ supportive housing buildings and communities. Upon the merging of Geoff’s firm (MMA - McKinney MacDonald Architects) in 2016, 3t gained expertise in college and university work. We had also completed office, retail/hospitality, and manufacturing projects. SWBR mirrored 3t’s markets but at a larger scale. Our professional services paralleled one another. SWBR is an architect led firm also offering interior design, landscape architecture & planning, structural engineering, sustainability, and graphic design services. Likewise, 3t is an architect led firm that offers interior design services and had previously offered landscape architecture & planning as well as graphic design services, neither being financially sustainable at 3t’s scale. Our geographic aspirations complemented one another. Yes, SWBR approached us because our work complemented theirs but, just as important, we were an established firm in a
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