Traditional architecture firms aren't the only viable employers worth exploring as designers and architects continue to navigate the job market. New and exciting job opportunities with unique architecture adjacent practices continue to emerge with businesses seeking the expertise of individuals with architecture backgrounds. Pair this with advances in AR/VR, visualization modeling, and data analytics architects are finding new ways to approach healthcare, housing, and commercial projects.

Take the Cambridge-based spatial analytics company Spatio Metrics for example. Its founders, Sonal Singh and Jim Peraino, have combined their business, wellness, and architecture backgrounds to develop a company that "helps architects and their clients analyze floor plans and bridge the gap between design, data, and human performance."

Both MIT graduates, the duo founded their company in 2019 and has gained attention as a startup that uses spatial analytics, visualization software, and machine learning to explore architecture and health-based design outcomes. Singh and Peraino's primary goal is to use spatial analytic software to help analyze room layouts and floor plans to deliver high-impact buildings that promote health. According to Spatio Metrics, they explain "architecture affects how we live, work, and learn. We generate spatial data, visualize it, and reveal ways to improve operational efficiency and well-being in buildings."

Currently, the firm is hiring and looking for qualified candidates to join their team. Besides having backgrounds in design and programming software like Grasshopper, Rhino, and Python, Spatio Metrics seeks candidates passionate about design research and engineering. With three featured job opportunities listed on Archinect's Job Board, the companies' data-driven design methods open new doors for job seekers looking to combine their backgrounds of architecture and design with data science and machine learning. 

For example, if you're an architect or designer interested in combining data science and machine learning, they seek a Data Science & Machine Learning Researcher. The ideal candidate will "develop data science and machine learning models that study how building design is related to health outcomes in hospitals [...]. You'll help shape the direction of an early-stage startup and work towards bringing AI and data-driven workflows accessible to noncoders. This role is funded as part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) SBIR grant."

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In a 2020 interview with MIT, the duo discussed their plans to use spatial analytics to improve design workflows for healthcare facilities. Singh and Peraino explained, "We started Spatio with the belief that if we could work with data to bridge the gap between design and outcomes, that we could fundamentally change the way buildings are designed to improve our health." To help illustrate their design methods Spatio Metrics' software works by "running 20 analyses of a hospital floor plan and then generating 200 data points for every room on that plan." 

*As part of Archinect's job highlights series, we showcase employment opportunities for individuals with architecture backgrounds who are exploring other ways to apply their skills beyond a traditional architecture firm. 

To read inspiring stories of architects that have found success in other industries, check out Archinect's Working Out of the Box series.

Stay up to date with our latest coverage of exciting opportunities on the Archinect Job Board following the tag Interesting Jobs.