96 Build 2017 Architecture Awards t the beginning, the firm’s services were focused on design and furniture manufacturing for residential and commercial clients. Throughout the years, the company has used its experience and past projects to improve its services and increase the area of expertise and presently, the team are proud to be known as a full architecture/ design built company which offers Licensed Architectural Services, Licensed Construction Services, Interior Design Services and Custom Made Furniture Manufacturing Services. Camelia talks us through the firm’s latest project, outlining the key challenges that the firm has had to overcome as well as detailing what aspects of these projects the firm is particularly proud of. “Out of our latest projects, we would like to mention one which is a huge furniture installation. We were commissioned by the extraordinary talented people at Hoorsenbuhs LLC to manufacture a massive mock-up of a vault. More or less a structure of 19 ft L x 11 ft H x 10ft W, entirely covered in brass, with every inch of brass hand polished. The main challenge for our company was to translate the original design developed by Hoorsenbuhs, into a physical structure, sturdy enough on its own, but yet built in modules, and also be easy to assemble and disassemble. We had to split 7200 lbs of physical matter weight into a 5-level stackable modularity, without distorting the design.” For any firm in any industry to be successful, there must be an overall mission with all employees and management pulling in the same direction, working towards reaching the same goals. Camelia describes how the client is always put first and all designs are put in place with the vision of improving people’s lives, before going on to detail the firm’s main focus during projects, which follows on from its vision of understanding client’s desires and translating them into the projects. “At OSAIID, our company’s overall mission is to implement design with every opportunity we have. Design is meant to improve people`s lives and our duty is to create an equitable trade between the idea of making business and serving the client`s needs. Another key principle of our mission is the responsibility we have, as design professionals, towards the environment and the protection of Best Interior & Industrial Design Firm – New York & Award for Excellence in Hospitality Interior Design – New York Open Square Architecture & Interior/ Industrial Design Open Square Architecture & Interior/Industrial Design (OSAIID) is a design-built firm, established in New York City since 2011. We spoke to Camelia Man to discuss what service the firm provides to clients and explore the secrets behind its success. Contact: Camelia Man Contact Email:
[email protected] Design Offices: New York City- USA, Cluj-Napoca- Romania Woodworking Shops: Brooklyn/New York City- USA, Grantham-UK, Targu Lapus-Romania Phone: 001 917 725 4064 Website: www.opensquaredesign.com, www.opensquarewoodworking.com, www.designcontributor.com AR170107 A this environment from design abuses, simply by using moral principles within our design process and implementing established environmental friendly ideas and materials. “When we work on a project, our main focus is to understanding the client`s desires and translate them, with the help of design principles, into reality. Constant communication, especially in not so desirable situations, is the only way to achieve success for both parties. Seeing every project as a partnership, facilitates this communication, because of the fairness which is implied by the definition of the word partnership.” The company distinguishes itself from similar firms within the industry by being adaptive, innovative and eager to learn. Camelia points us towards the multi-skilled approach tha the firm has towards recruitment, as a key factor in OSAIID marking themselves out as the best possible option for clients. “Competition is a natural consequence of being in business. So we have committed, from the beginning, towards embracing competition; more or less we always learn from those who are doing better than us, by building on top of our existing assets. And one of these assets is our constant focus to offering excellent customer service, regardless of the magnitude of the project. We also observed that a transparent process for the financial aspect of a project, plus the delivery of our best quality, have proved vital to our company success. “For sure, what marks as out as the best possible option for our clients, is the multi skilled approach we have for choosing our staff; everyone in this company is an expert in more than one field, so it really makes a difference when an engineer is building your furniture or when a designer is creating your space layout for your interior design project.” Lastly, Camelia comments on what the future holds for OSAIID, expanding globally as a firm. Opening up future offices across Europe, the firm is well placed to capitalise on its current success.