Contract - Reprint Marketing Guide - (Page 3) contract legend award Moira Moser M Moser Associates EDITORIAL REPRINTS are customized printed From the initial strategic planning and programming phase, Moser and her team always try to understand what their client is trying to achieve from a business perspective and from a management point of view, including productivity, staff morale, and company image. Using Moser’s own words, it is “far more than just a simple headcount.” Over the years, ever-changing demands and challenges from different clients expanded M Moser’s menu of integrated services to include the technology division, data center infrastructure, and building services engineering. By also taking on the role of the contractor, the firm ensures that what it designs is what is actually delivered. With this control comes great responsibility. Moser and her company have from the very beginning followed the general principles of the AIA’s approach for designer-led design-build. “That she can have control of this quality is very good for both her and her clients,” Robertson remarks, with full respect and appreciation for Moser’s vision and persistence. “Moira has her own professional perspective of looking at things in a different way. She brought to Hong Kong the concrete background of the culture of the United States.” “We are a single point of responsibility, and clients love it because they know that they will get what we promise,” Moser notes. “We are responsible for 100 percent of the product. We are not selling hours; we are selling what we do.” Recently, they have even had clients ask them to go back more into the architectural field as lead consultant for an entire building. “That stretches us again, and that’s wonderful!” Moser says. Moser’s commitment to growth and excellence attracts many who share the same vision. O’Melveny & Myers, an American law firm whose work experience with M Moser has involved six office moves in Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong, credits her for her contributions and bold vision towards the Chinese market. “She is a pleasure to work with because of her enthusiasm and extensive knowledge of China’s culture,” says Mary Givens, the administrative projects manager for O’Melveny & Myers. “With Moira’s patience and sophisticated knowledge of the market, she significantly eased my learning curve regarding Chinese construction and how it differs from that in the United States. Working in China can be a daunting experience king for Westerners, but Moira is so attentive to her clients that I have many o legend award fond memories of social occasions sharing each other’s funny stories about sions typical misunderstandings between the two cultures.” tween “Moira has a high level of ability on both the design and the business side, ity which is very unusual,” adds Robertson. “She is a talented and vital person. obertson. She always looks around the world to seek opportunities. This is her nature.” orld From a small local design company to today’s global business that assists mpany giant corporations, such as UBS AG, IBM, ExxonMobil and Microsoft, to BS rollout facilities in multiple locations throughout the world, Moser reveals cations that this wasn’t in her vision at the beginning. “I could not have imagined that this would become a global company,” she shares. “But over the years, bal we have had very good people who have wanted to strike out somewhere e else, and we have found that it’s never as much of a problem to find the t’s projects as it is to find good people.” eople.” legends 2008 Moira Moser 2007 William Valentine 2006 Niels Diffrient 2005 Neil Frankel 2003 Hugh Hardy 2002 Margo Grant Walsh a passiondriven life Moira Moser, a musician in architecture legend award reproductions of your featured press. You can add your company logo or advertisement to increase its marketing value. By Celia Ying Photography by Vitus Lau of M Moser Associates, Lincoln Potter, Will Sadowski When most little girls were playing with dolls, Moira Moser played with blocks. Perhaps it was this distinctive interest that drove the founder and chairman of the now 495-employee design firm with 11 offices all over the world, M Moser Associates, to embark on a journey that led to the revolution of today’s workplace environment. “I decided when I was nine years old that I wanted to be an architect. That’s the only thing I ever wanted to be,” recalls Moser. “I looked at magazines, I saw pictures of houses that were very nice, then I discovered that there was something called an architect to design the buildings. That’s what I wanted to be.” Being a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, a member of the American Institute of Architects, and Hong Kong’s 2004 Entrepreneur of the Year, Moser is now more than just an architect and an interior designer; she is also a leader of a global business who helps clients set up their offices. Nevertheless, all of these accomplishments didn’t really emerge in her early imagination. Getting there was quite an adventure. Moser studied in Hamburg and Istanbul, and she completed her architectural training back in her native California.When she left the United States and moved to Tehran in 1972, she was partner of the architectural firm Seyhoun Khalili and became a member of the International Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. During her six-month period as a visiting research scholar of the Council, Moser spent a month in Hong Kong doing a study on tall buildings, which sparked her acquaintance with the city that she now calls home. During the research period, Moser had the opportunity to meet many major architectural and engineering firms in Hong Kong. “So when there was going to be a revolution in Tehran and I had to leave, I thought,to Hong Kong in 1978, when it was still a territory of the Moser moved ‘Well, territo OK, Hong Kong is the place to go,’” she says with a smile. United Kingdom. She started at Wong Tung & Partners, and shortly theresh after she saw an opportunity: many western companies needed offices, but there was no one around who both understood their needs and also knew how to get those facilities delivered locally. As a result, Moira started her st own business and opened M Moser Associates in Hong Kong in 1981. i “This was so daring of her to come to Hong Kong and open her own business,” praises Leslie E. Robertson, founder of the acclaimed structural engineer struc firm LERA, based in New York. “It is not easy for a woman to open her pracop tice in a foreign city and become so successful. She is a very rare woman.” Robertson and Moser have worked together since the ’70s with the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (headquartered at IIT) to advance professional and industry knowledge and practices globally. Although they have never worked together on projects, in Robertson’s eyes, Moser is a great person to work with. “I’ve known her for many years. She is very positive, very interesting and responsive to the needs of her clients. She is a lovely person and very easy to work with.” When Moser first started her own business, there were only three people in the office, but her vision had no boundary. Looking back, Moser and her company came across many interesting and significant projects that stretched them beyond their limits. Among those memorable experiences, there was one project that differed from what many would perceive M Moser should be doing—a church. “The experience of designing the Shumei Church of Divine Guidance in Hong he Kong was exceptional,” Moser recalls. “The woman who led the church wanted ecalls. a structure that would respect its natural surroundings. When I asked her to ts describe what she meant, she brought out a photograph of Le Corbusier’s Villa rought Savoye—a wonderful inspiration, but a lot to live up to!” Sparing no efforts to on meet the client’s expectation, Moser made a conscious attempt to create a simple structure whose transparency blends the experience of inner and outer spaces—gracefully respecting its place in the natural surroundings of hills and sea, and creating a spiritual home for the congregation. After undertaking some other significant projects like the American Country Club and the Citibank regional headquarters in the early ’90s, Moser gradually intensified the firm’s focus on workplace design for corporate clients. “We only work for corporate end users,” Moser insists. “There is so much demand in the area of office facilities. Also, it is so rewarding to create an environment for the people who use it and see that you have supported their business goals and management objectives.” John Sellery, group managing director at M Moser Associates who joined the company through the Shumei Church project, credits Moser for her decision to focus on business strategy. He says, “Our client focus has led us as an organization to specialize our services vertically within the workplace sector, rather than trying to expand our capabilities horizontally within other design disciplines. Moira’s approach has allowed the organization to stay focused on the needs of the business and the needs of our clients.” To Moser, people are always the most important factor for expansion, but what gives her confidence to go beyond boundaries is not her clients, but her own staff. The firm has been very slow to expand into India, for example, until Moser found the right person to help start its presence there. She insists, “We can’t just start an office in a place because of projects; that isn’t right. Our commitment to a group of people is long term, so we have to have the right people.” Having celebrated the 25th anniversary of M Moser Associates in 2006, Moser is not only proud of finding the right people, but also of finding the right path for herself. “I wouldn’t change what I do. I like to continue to grow, continue to do better, and continue to strive for excellence,” she says. “I once took a test in high school that was supposed to tell you what y http://www.nxtbook.com/ygsreprints/ygs/ygs_nxtprintbook/index.php
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.