Milestones included technical advancements, staffing additions, and design achievements in cultural restorations.
As a firm, Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects reached milestones, set records, and collected awards in 2019.
During its 34th year in business, the company achieved its highest gross revenue.
“But that’s not really the story here, in terms of client or staff satisfaction,” explains Frank Dittenhafer, II, FAIA, LEED AP, president and co-founder of the firm. “It was a year of growth and accomplishment in capabilities.”
Beth Reed, Principal and Director of Operations who handles project finances and spearheads business development, goes further.
By any measure, she says, “It was really on every level the best year the firm has ever had.”
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The milestones included technical advancements, staffing additions, and design achievements in cultural restorations.
“We upgraded our digital capabilities and did more 3-D animation and digital renderings,” Dittenhafer says of the firm’s design work. “We were able to really take our technical and digital capabilities with new software to a very high level.”
The 25-person staff grew by about 25 percent.
“The folks we hired were really talented,” says Reed, who also is in charge of human resources. “This is the best overall staff we’ve had during my tenure.”
The Architects and Architectural Designers have been the driving force in the firm’s technical know-how, she notes.
“It’s just amazing what they can do and the speed with which they can do it. They can quickly and accurately convey design ideas,” she says. Clients “have a clear understanding of what the project will look like, and if they’re not happy, we can change or tweak it.”
Emphasizing learning
Among the firm’s awards in 2019, the Pennsylvania Chapters of The American Institute of Architects recognized Murphy & Dittenhafer for creating an environment that fosters learning and advancement among its staff.
“We had two or three design forums where we met for a good part of a day, the whole firm, going over design topics internally,” Dittenhafer says.
Also part of the learning experience is Murphy & Dittenhafer Day, an annual outing where the firm closes both of its office locations and the entire staff visits M&D designed projects in various stages of completion, even donning hard hats to tour construction sites. Afterward, the group goes to dinner.
“It really allows you to connect the dots in your head that you couldn’t do if you hadn’t seen the projects firsthand,” Reed says. “It helps you to appreciate how multifaceted it is to come up with a design and put together a building.”
Preserving culture
Some of the project sites visited reflect the firm’s work in restoring cultural masterpieces. One example is The Forum Building in Harrisburg. Adjacent to the ornate performance auditorium is a 400,000-square-foot office building, unused for many years, which the firm is converting into a state-of-the-art workplace for State employees.
“The historic architecture in the building is phenomenal,” Reed says of the 1932 structure. Decorative trim around the elevators and beautifully crafted ceilings are being preserved in the upgrade.
Construction, to start in May, should take two years.
At the former Harriet Tubman School in Columbia, Maryland, Murphy & Dittenhafer’s work will promote community and cultural heritage. The building, named for the Civil War-era abolitionist, was erected in 1948 as a high school for African-Americans. With school desegregation, it closed in 1965 and has been used for school district offices and storage.
When it reopens, its redesigned auditorium/gymnasium will host events and performances. There will be an area for exhibitions about African-American culture, exercise and meeting space, a new kitchen, and offices for the Harriet Tubman Foundation and Howard County.
Campus culture is one of the firm’s ongoing interests.
“We almost always, even if the focus is office space, labs, a theater, or library, find ways to incorporate what Frank likes to call ‘third places,’ spaces to hang out, informally communicate, study in groups, collaborate,” Reed says of the firm’s numerous college projects. “Those spaces add something to the overall feel of campus and are very important.”
Unwavering goals
Dittenhafer says the firm was launched and continues to operate with three primary goals, which the staff discusses every year: “Produce excellent Architecture, receive fair compensation, and enjoy what we do.”
He notes two additional aims: Always improve the firm’s processes and products, and always provide excellent service to retain clients and welcome new ones.
Not on the firm’s list are targets for increasing revenue or the number of employees.
“We never believe those are the type of goals that fit our culture,” Dittenhafer says. “We will grow as we need to, hire quality people, and increase our capabilities to do the projects we want to do. That all happened in 2019.”
Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects took on the Architecture, Interior Design, & Overall Project Management for the new Bedford Elementary School, and the outcome is impactful.