After working at OMA's New York office for 8 years, Patrick Hobgood moved back to Raleigh, NC to run an architectural practice alongside his father, Kenneth, and brother, Paul. Together, with fellow associate Alan Tin, their firm, Hobgood Architects, is working on a range of a projects near and far, from a boutique hotel in Raleigh's warehouse district to an Art Foundation in the Middle East.

As part of our Small Studio Snapshots, we talked with Patrick about his time at OMA-NY, what it's like running a family practice, and projects the firm is currently working on. 

How many people are in your practice?

Currently we have 8 people on staff, that number fluctuates slightly from project to project, but that's an accurate representation for us the past couple years. Four years ago there was just four our us, those four are the core of our office: my brother Paul, my father Kenneth, our long time associate Alan Tin, and myself.

Why were you originally motivated to start your own practice?

Our office is actually a continuation of the practice our father started nearly 25 years ago. He set a pretty high standard for us, his career has been one heavily decorated with design awards and AIA recognition. He continues to work and collaborate with us on a variety of projects and proposals. A couple of years ago we decided to change the name from Kenneth Hobgood Architects to just Hobgood Architects. Seems pretty simple and straightforward, but I've always thought that was a pretty huge gesture, up until then the office had really just been about him and his work. I would also say that my personal motivation to move back to Raleigh, aside from the opportunity to work with my father and brother, was the fact that my wife and I had a couple kids back to back and living and working in New York, especially after 8 years with OMA, was becoming a tough juggling act.

What is it like running a family business?

From the beginning we've always been in each other's business

We grew up in a very close family environment, so from the beginning we've always been in each other's business. It is a wonderful feeling to come in to work every day and see my father. Much of my childhood was spent in his office, playing with scale cars and peeps, as I grew older I graduated to work to site models and context buildings. Also to share this experience with my older brother is quite special, the two of us have assumed the day to day responsibilities, as well as business development and human resources. My mother is also in here, she does the accounting for us in the office and is always there. Oh and my wife Eve does a lot of the built photography and website management for us. We also do a lot of collaborations with my father's younger brother, Tom. He is an incredible furniture maker located in Charlotte, he does the built-ins when the budget allows as well as a lot of free-standing pieces. So the line between family and work is beyond blurred, for all intents and purposes its virtually nonexistent.

What are some of the things you learned from working with OMA that you have carried over into this new practice?

Looking back I feel incredibility fortunate to have worked in OMA-NY's office for nearly a decade. Prior to graduate school I worked a year under the direction of Joshua Prince Ramus. Then after GSD, I spent almost 8 years working with Shohei Shigematsu. It is hard to summarize how incredibly wonderful that experience was, surrounded by incredibly talented people from all over the globe, working on phenomenal projects in the Americas and Japan, and for the most part, with super interesting clients. It was beyond a dream. 

I would also say that being there during the financial crisis in '08 proved to be the most intense and rewarding experience. When I started, there were maybe 40 people, when the economy tanked we shrunk to around 10. Even though we were under the OMA umbrella, we very much functioned as a small office. Desperate to keep the doors open we pursued every possible lead, doing proposals and competitions, one after the other for a couple years. It allowed our little team, 5-6 people, to become very efficient in pursuing potential projects. I don't know exactly how many projects we went after during those lean years, but could have easily been 30 or more. 

We fancied ourselves a special ops teams, often times on what felt like a suicide mission

What was remarkable for me was the experience of working so closely with Shohei on everything we pursued. We fancied ourselves a special ops teams, often times on what felt like a suicide mission, and there in the trenches with us was one of Rem's most trusted generals. Occasionally Rem would be very involved on certain projects, which was very intense and exciting to have a dialogue with him, but for me, what effected me most as an architect was that time spent with Sho and that team. It was a total re-programming of how to approach design, conceptual narratives, team building, presentations, project and client management. Nearly everything we try to do here is a direct result of what I was lucky enough to experience and learn with OMA.

What hurdles have you come across?

That's a difficult question, or maybe one that is too easy. I would say that every office trying to establish new footings faces inward and outward obstacles. Many of our internal issues have been transitioning from a traditional set up of a singular author to a practice that embraces multiple voices. When my father was running the office it was a master-apprentice set up, he would sketch out the plans and sections and pass them off to architects to put in the computer. We have shifted from that approach to one of open collaboration, preferring to have an atmosphere where everyone can put forth and challenge ideas. When its one person doing all of the lifting, its easy for a language to be developed. Rather than learning that particular language we prefer each project to have its own identity, a specific response to the site, program, and desires of the client. Basically, results should vary.

The RFP and RFQ processes don't do any favors for small offices

Outwardly I would say it's very difficult for a small office to make it. Architecture is slow by nature and takes a lot of time and money to make happen. Therefore, a lot of trust, as well as a ton of expertise and experience is needed. It's difficult to get hired for a particular project unless you can show you have already successfully completed a similar project. For these reasons, it's also very difficult to work in the public realm. It's really sad—we would of course prefer to be working in the public sector, but generally speaking, the RFP and RFQ processes don't do any favors for small offices. I'd say our desire to not specialize in any one typology also puts us at a disadvantage, but it's much more interesting for us to bounce around from one set of programmatic needs to the next. Currently we have a pretty good mix: a mosque in Durham, a headquarters for a dutch textile company in NC, an art foundation in the Middle East, a 30K sf private residence in Miami, 2 separate hotel+condo projects, one vertical arrangement in downtown Raleigh, and the other more horizontal organization located on the southern most portion of the Outer Banks, a couple office upfits and a number of furniture projects.

Is scaling up a goal or would you like to maintain the size of your practice?

I hope we can maintain this current size, it allows us to work on a couple actual projects while still pursuing a number of potential projects. It is still a constant hustle to make ends meet—when a project goes on hold we definitely feel that pinch financially. Down the road, I could see us growing a little larger, something between 15-20 people would be great. Architecture is a slow moving creature, it requires great luck, good clients, and perfect timing to actually get a project built. Generally speaking, a project may take 4-5 years from concept to occupancy. So, it's a simple strategy, if you want to increase the chances of not only getting projects, but getting them built, you have to increase the work and speed at which you pursue them. And to do that you need horsepower. For us, that is finding, training, and encouraging good people to run with ideas and see where it takes us. 

Rather than expanding we prefer to partner up with other design firms or executive offices

At this scale you can still get your hands on just about everything, but much larger and I'm not so sure. Rather than expanding we prefer to partner up with other design firms or executive offices, it allows us to get fresh thinking, work at different scales, different typologies, different material sensibilities, etc...It can also make limited expertise and experience a non issue when dealing with a new scale or typology. We have partnered with ASA, a super talented young design office on the projects in Miami and the Middle East. We've teamed up with our friends at Kutonotuk on a nursing home in Iceland as well as an honorable mention for our entry for the Guggenheim Helsinki competition. In the last couple years we have pursued projects with OMA-NY, INABA, and SO-IL, sadly none materialized but we remain committed to bringing great people and ideas down here. Currently we are working with LS3P, a really good design oriented regional office in the southeast. We would be thrilled to play a role in bringing a really great office down here to do a project. It really represents a win-win for everyone.

What are the benefits of having your own practice? And staying small?

When it's your office, or your family's office in this case, you have the freedom to explore any direction—you can trash something and restart at any moment, you can work late or go home early. It is as close to total design freedom as there is, aside from design school and the modelshop at OMA. Conversely having your own office also brings the constant stress and pressure of payroll, bizness development, marketing, client management, contract negotiation, and a slew of other things they don't teach you in design school. Having a small office is similar to a small creek, or even something before that stage, where the water can freely wind its way and change course quickly depending on obstacles and topography. Larger offices are really those established bodies of water, fast moving rivers with a set route, strong currents, wide breadth, unable to adjust or change course quickly. At the moment we prefer the freedom, flexibility, and playfulness of staying small.