Practice Innovation Lab

Practice Innovation Lab: AIA Kentucky/AIA Indiana

The AIA Kentucky/AIA Indiana Practice Innovation Lab was a hybrid event that brought participants together both virtually and in person to focus on practice models to help the profession move forward after experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic. The half-day workshop took place on Sept. 23 as part of the AIA Kentucky/AIA Indiana Convention in Louisville. This workshop continued into a convention session where the two participating teams presented their concepts and led an open discussion on how other firms have adapted over the past two years. This Practice Innovation Lab workshop was a continuation of the 2017 YAF Summit, where the first PIL focused on developing concepts for innovative future business models for the profession of architecture.

The AIA Kentucky/AIA Indiana PIL was originally to have three teams of five participants each. These teams had a mix of students, associates, architects, firm owners, and fellows. Each team had access to a Miro Board and Google Drive folder prior to the event to start brainstorming and to make introductions. However, on the day of the workshop six participants were not able to attend, so two teams formed with a total of nine participants instead.

Above: Keynote presentation from Gensler’s strategy director, David Craig. (Photo provided by Dream Crew Productions) Above: Team pitches to the workshop participants and employees of Luckett & Farley. (Photo provided by Dream Crew Productions)

The workshop began with opening remarks to thank all the sponsors of the event and a keynote presentation from Gensler’s strategy director, David Craig. He presented to the teams via Zoom about Gensler’s Workplace Survey and how people have adapted to a hybrid work schedule in response to the pandemic.

Following the keynote presentation, the teams started working to answer the initial PIL question: With so much of the world in flux, through changes as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, how will architects adapt ways of practicing that will advance the profession? Teams spread out around the office in different conference rooms to work through concepts on how the architectural profession could evolve. The original idea was to prepare slides for the team pitches and convention session, but the use of Miro Boards, Post-it notes, and whiteboards proved to be more successful to present ideas and have a discussion.

The discussion from the team pitches carried over to the convention session attended primarily by firm owners. We found the audience had all taken different approaches last year

during the start of the pandemic; some firms chose to close the physical office and work from home, and some continued in the office as if nothing had changed. All the participants in this convention session shared the lessons they learned and what they believed worked successfully for their practice and employees.

As a result of the event, other attendees of the convention have reached out to learn how their firms can take these ideas and apply them to their own hybrid work schedules. This has also led to Axis Architecture + Interiors creating its own workplace strategy to determine whether the office environment is working for or against the hybrid schedule and what improvements should be considered.

Findings of Each Team Team #1 developed a wellness-based business model to focus on: personal wellness, environmental wellness, and professional wellness. It was recognized that the pandemic has adjusted people’s work habits and should continue to provide flexibility in the working environment. Their pitch is “to create an employee-focused firm based on personal and professional wellness that creates a culture of freedom and autonomy while enabling a collaborative work environment.”

Team #2 explored how firms can begin collaborating virtually to form partnerships across geographic boundaries. Virtual and hybrid practices can provide greater accessibility and flexibility but do face challenges to build a trusted network and provide equitable access to information. Firms who begin to form partnerships across the country can help expand the project market, experience, and knowledge.

A huge thank you to the AIA College of Fellows, Luckett & Farley, Ketchum & Walton, Dream Crew, and the AIA Kentucky/ AIA Indiana Convention for making it possible for this Practice Innovation Lab to happen.

Above:Team #1 discussions about the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of employees. (Photo provided by Dream Crew Productions) Above: Team #2 practice model to help firms collaborate across geographic boundaries.

Ashley Thornberry, AIA, NCARB

Thornberry is a project architect at Axis Architecture + Interiors in Indianapolis. She serves as the chair of YAF Indy and is the 2022-2023 Indiana young architect representative.