Young + Wright Architects: Finding a new business angle

Business editors are receptive to stories about new, more-lucrative ways to work.

As the cover-story press hit in the Report on Business section of The Globe and Mail stated, “Young + Wright Architects has a novel way of managing projects. One of its staff acts for the client. It makes for lively discussion.”

Y+W had hired architect Gerry McMaster to manage their extensive work in Canada and the Eastern United States with multiplex theatre company AMC. McMaster was on the Y+W payroll, yet he thought of himself, and their client thought of him, as Director of Project Development. This allowed Y+W to expand their traditional role in a lucrative way by providing more than just architectural services.

As the story explained, McMaster, “knew not only the ins and outs of the architectural side of the business but the more prosaic planning details of securing lease agreements, hiring lawyers, developing marketing plans and even securing favorable financing.” He even attended to the installation of seats and projectors in a virtual turnkey operation.

McMaster said, in an interview, “This is unusual. It’s unheard of. I don’t know of any other similar architectural example.”

Feature story in The Globe and Mail Report on Business

David Lasker Communications

Banner photo: Pendant lamps reflected in the mirrorized ceiling at Table Rock House Restaurant, Niagara Falls, Ontario, by The Ventin Group Architects (+VG) and Johnson Chou Design, copyright © David Lasker Photography.