IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 47

PERSPECTIVE: How does that DNA affect the work
you produce?
TIMMONS-BEUTNER: Look, I'm a perfectionist.

And we do have a hierarchy, with a design director,
project manager, senior designer, interior designer, and
design assistant. But, I think that because of our casual
environment, everyone still feels encouraged to speak
up and offer ideas. That comes from trust and feeling
comfortable.
KOO: For all of our major design opportunities, we create a
design brief and open it up to everyone in the office, and all
the ideas are brought to the table. Then we see what floats
to the top. We meet as a group and take those top ideas
and start experimenting with multiple design concepts in
a very rapid fashion. The result is that the solution-based
ideas that our staff brings to the table directly influence the
design outcomes of our work on a project.
This holds true for both interior design and
architecture-it's all very fluid within our office, and
everybody works on most of the larger projects. From an
interior design perspective, that means that if you come
up with a strong design direction that requires a wall to be
moved, then that's what we're going to do. It all happens
together and is the result of a real dialogue.

GALULLO: The thing that holds Rapt together, our DNA,

is that we have an incredible curiosity to get to our clients'
truth. Lots of clients can tell us what they do and how they
do it, but it's harder for them to get to why they do it-why
they matter, why they matter to their staff, why they matter
to their customers. The essence of Rapt's DNA comes down
to a drive to finding the why behind what our clients do.
We have an incredible respect for our clients as a partner
in the design effort. Rapt is not a place where we say, "We're
the designers, so stand back and keep your fingers away from
the machinery, lest you get hurt." We invite our clients to
engage in the process.
Designers are not always generous with their ability
to allow people into the conversation. They're not always
as thoughtful and empathetic and curious as potentially
they could be. So we always say that the thing that holds us
together is that intense need to understand what it is that
we're trying to solve for. And then it's about getting to a
simple and elegant solution.
PERSPECTIVE: How is DNA and distinct culture
reinforced?
KOO: We have a process called Lessons Learned where

the main project manager on a job will do a presentation in

MEET OUR EXPERTS

Credit

DAVID GALULLO, LEED
AP, CEO and chief
creative officer, Rapt
Studio, San Francisco,
California, USA
Galullo created Rapt Studio
from the former Pollack
Architecture in 2011, using the
rebranding effort to announce
an expansion from Pollack's
architecture and
interiors practice to
a multidisciplinary
studio that includes
brand strategy and
design for brands
such as Fender, HBO
and The North Face. Its
Dropbox headquarters in
San Francisco
won a Best of
Show Award
at the IIDA
Honor
Awards in
2017.

SCOTT HIERLINGER,
FIIDA, LEED AP,
vice president of
interior design and
managing principal,
NELSON, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, USA
Hierlinger leads NELSON's
60-employee Minneapolis
office, which focuses
on corporate
and hospitality
work, and
leads the firms'
creative culture
initiatives. His
23-year design
career includes 14
years with NELSON,
which is one of the world's
largest architecture design
firms. Hierlinger also is a
past president and current
vice president of the IIDA
international board of
directors.

JACKIE KOO, AIA,
IIDA, LEED AP, founder
and principal, KOO,
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Koo founded her
eponymous
architecture
and interiors
firm in
2005 after
15 years in
corporate
architecture.
Her firm's work
includes both the architecture
and design for several
landmark Chicago hotels,
beginning with the Wit
in 2009 and now a new
waterfront hotel that's
under construction on
the city's historic Navy
Pier.

KIMBERLY TIMMONSBEUTNER, IIDA,
NCIDQ, founder and
principal, Kimberly
Timmons Interiors,
Denver, Colorado, USA
Timmons-Beutner's
20-year-old firm has won
numerous national awards
for its residential and
commercial design work in
the southwest. She also has
worked internationally. Her
projects include Starwood's
Sheraton Steamboat
Resort, as well
as numerous
restaurant
collaborations
with celebrity
chef Troy Guard.

summer 2018

perspective

47



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018

IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018
From IIDA
Contents
Next
World View
Sum of Its Parts
Talk, Talk
Data Viz
Pre/Post
I Design
Every Where Has a Why
More Than Meets the Eye
To The Max
Picture It
DNA of a Design Firm
Scratch Pad
Insider Intel
IIDA News + Updates
Why This Design Works
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - Cover2
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - From IIDA
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - Contents
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 3
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 4
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 5
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - Next
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 7
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 8
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 9
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - World View
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 11
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - Sum of Its Parts
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 13
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - Talk, Talk
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - Data Viz
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - Pre/Post
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 17
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - I Design
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 19
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - Every Where Has a Why
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 21
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 22
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 23
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 24
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 25
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - More Than Meets the Eye
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 27
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 28
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 29
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 30
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 31
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 32
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 33
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - To The Max
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 35
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 36
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 37
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 38
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 39
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - Picture It
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 41
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 42
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 43
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - DNA of a Design Firm
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 45
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 46
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 47
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 48
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 49
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - Scratch Pad
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 51
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - Insider Intel
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 53
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - IIDA News + Updates
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 55
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - Why This Design Works
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - Cover3
IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - Cover4
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