Quinn Evans Architects hires 3, named AIA Michigan Firm of Year

Wednesday, June 30, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

If there is a name brand for historic preservation in Michigan, it would be Quinn Evans. The Ann Arbor-based firm is using that specialty to grow its staff at a time when architecture firms are shrinking or disappearing. It's also roping in some major awards, such as being named Firm of the Year by the Michigan chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

"That's probably where the market is the strongest," says Michael Quinn, FAIA and founding principal of Quinn Evans Architects, referring to the reuse of existing buildings. "People have to take care of what they have right now."

Quinn Evans Architects has quite the resume to back that, including heading up the restorations of the former Wayne County Building in downtown Detroit, the Michigan State Capitol building and Hill Auditorium, among many others. It uses those projects as a springboard to help land others in an economy when there is precious little new building occurring.

The architecture firm to add three employees over the last year and now employs 63 people between its Ann Arbor and Washington, D.C., offices and a satellite office in Madison, Wisc. It hopes to continue to expand its staff as necessary and is seriously looking at opening a Detroit-based office.

"We've been fortunate," Quinn says. "We have been able to find new work and keep existing work."

AIA Michigan has named it the top architecture firm in the state, just another feather in the cap of the 25-year-old company that has collected more than 100 awards for 60 of its projects.

"There are only a few higher awards," Quinn says. "It's a boost to everyone in the firm."

Source: Michael Quinn, founding principal of Quinn Evans Architects
Writer: Jon Zemke