Award

6 | A PR IL 2019 S2 Architecture After 25 years S2 Architecture continues to have a profound impact on the built environment by NATALIE BRUCKNER | photography courtesy S2 ARCHITECTURE Design T o build a successful business takes grit, determination, and an under- standing that sometimes you just need to jump right in and take on projects that others don't want to do. When Robert Spaetgens set up an architecture practice in 1993 working out of his home in Calgary, that's exactly what he did. A year later, Spaetgens teamed up with a couple of partners, one of which was David Symons, a former classmate and roommate from the University of Manitoba School Of Architecture, and together they formed SSE architects. "He was the only other guy from Calgary," laughs Symons, "so we became roommates and went on to work together at another firm in Calgary. Bob then went on his own and the following year I joined him. It has been steady growth ever since." Spaetgens and Symons's longtime friendship and professional association became a major influence on the strength, stability, and sustainability of the firm. "In the beginning, the firm's philosophy was to attract better clients and better employees. There was an attitude of investing in the future – building slowly and carefully with a view to long-term growth and legacy," says Jane Kratochvil, human resources and office manager. Those early years consisted of taking on projects that others would perhaps consider to be unglamorous, such as building audits, and additions and retrofits in the multifamily-residential, schools, and seniors sector; areas that the founders already had experience in. Investing in these client relationships soon paid off, as bigger and better projects started coming along. "In the early days of S2, it was understood that building a strong reputation for high-quality construction documentation and providing a high-quality, client- centric service was the best foundation for the firm," says Symons. Today, S2 Architecture has grown into a full-service architectural and interior design firm with studios in Calgary, Edmonton, and now Vancouver (having recently merged with Vancouver's Assembly Architecture), and has 90 employees, nine senior associates, and four associate principles. While many of the original clients remain (impressively, more than 80 percent of S2 Architecture's clients are repeat clients), today the firm is involved in a wide range of sectors including fire and emergency services, seniors and health care, recreation and athletics, commercial, hospitality, and urban mixed-use projects. S2 Architecture's seven partners – Spaetgens, Symons, Linus Murphy, Brian Corkum, Genevieve Giguere, Peter Streith, and Robert Lange – bring together a highly unique set of talents and expertise. Their passion for design, ability to work as a team, and superior client service emanates through every fibre of the company and is obvious in every single S2 project, no matter what size. S2 Architecture strongly believes in promoting a culture of empowerment, trust and transparency, respectful interaction with all team members, collabora- tion, work ethic and integrity, high functioning and competent professionalism. 1 3 2

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