Following last week’s visit to Los Angeles-based RIOS, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series to New York City this week, where we meet multi-disciplinary studio Marvel.

From their studios in New York City, Richmond, Virginia, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, the firm has produced several projects previously featured on our editorial. Last month, we covered Marvel's $26 million renovation project at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, while in September, we reported on the firm's housing prototypes for hurricane resilience. 2022 has also seen Marvel offer an update on their new Brooklyn Public Library, which was designed in collaboration with Gensler.

Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently hiring for several positions in their New York City office. For candidates interested in applying for a position, or anybody interested in learning more about life at an architecture studio, we spoke with Marvel associate in urban planning Ishita Gaur for a behind-the-scenes look at the firm.

How did Marvel get started?

Marvel was founded in 2013, and, in 2015, began collaborating with Marvel y Marchand Architects in San Juan. As the firm’s practice expanded beyond architecture, Marvel was rebranded as Marvel Architects, Landscape Architects, Urban Designers, PLLC, or just Marvel, in 2020 to reflect its interdisciplinary creative approach and deep bench of talent, calibrated to provide design everywhere, for everyone. ⁠

How big is your team?

With offices in New York City, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and our newest locale in Richmond, Virginia, Marvel maintains about 145 employees in total.

Describe the area of New York your office is located in.

Our New York office is located in Tribeca, an iconic neighborhood in Lower Manhattan right by the entrance to the Holland Tunnel. The area is celebrated for its historic architecture and cobblestoned streets and our building used to house a printing press. While we’re near the subway, many team members ride bikes to the office.

What is your favorite thing about working in New York?

Being surrounded by smart, diverse designers, as well as some of the most inclusive and forward-thinking buildings and tons of accessible public spaces and parks.

What is the relationship between your three offices (NY, VA, PR). Independence or collaboration?

Even though we have three locations, we function as one large office. It is very common to be on project teams comprised of members from different offices. We also have cross-office opportunities that allow us to collaborate with our colleagues through Working Groups such as the Sustainability group, the QA/QC Group, the Design Review Group, and the IDEAL Group (which seeks to create a more inclusive, diverse and equitable practice). We have the flexibility to travel and work from any of our office locations offices as needed. 

Is your office one open-plan space, or subdivided?

Except for a few conference rooms, our office is completely open. We all tend to work together in one large space, often looking over each other’s shoulders and providing input.

What does your office ‘sound’ like? Do you listen to music or radio at work, can you hear the city life outside, or is it a place of quiet work?

Our office can be described as a collaborative and communicative environment— one can often hear teams discussing their work and there is a hum of activity throughout the space. With Marvel’s hybrid approach, we’re all connecting on our computers via Zoom and speaking about projects and next steps. The sound of our New York office also changes through the day, especially on Fridays. We are right next to the entrance to Holland Tunnel and are often reminded of the start of the weekend by horns and loud music from the cars trying to get into the tunnel.

Where is the most popular lunch spot in or around the office?

Marvel just opened a new storefront space, 7 Lispenard, where we host office lunches on Wednesdays. A chef prepares a meal each week and we get the opportunity to get to spend time together, learn more about each other and eat as a group.  

7 Lispenard is used as a locale to host events, discussions, and conversations about design and is open to the community and neighborhood. In fact, next week, ON Sight, an exhibition of paintings by artists from Puerto Rico is being presented. With work by Puerto Rican artists -- Rogelio Báez Vega, Nora Nieves, Livia Ortíz, and Efrén Candelaria, ON Sight premieres work inspired by architecture and abstraction that provides a collective response to aftermath of poverty, climate change, the impact of hurricanes, socio- and geopolitical issues across the island.

What is the most popular design tool in the office?

We rely heavily on process. Thus, model making and sketching are two very valued and prominent design tools used at Marvel.

What position(s) are you currently hiring for?

We are always looking for talented and passionate designers to join our team at all levels. Currently, we are expanding our architecture, landscape architecture and interior design teams.

What project(s) are the new team members likely to be working on?

We have a lot of exciting new work in the office right now, including cultural and visual arts centers, theaters, museums, affordable housing, public parks, adaptive reuse projects, hospitality, etc. 

In three words, how would you describe Marvel’s design ethos?

Iterative, functional, inclusive. Also, we very much embrace our firm motto: Design for everyone, everywhere.

As an urban planner, it’s really inspiring to see this idea at work, as a key part of our role is engaging with the community and designing spaces that resonate with citizens and respond to their needs. In the last two years, there has been a dramatic shift in how we use our spaces, both public and private. One way to ensure inclusion and equity in planning is continuing to revisit this definition of community and allowing groups to have their voices heard.⁠

Meet Your Next Employer is one of a number of ongoing weekly series showcasing the opportunities available on our industry-leading job board. Our Job Highlights series looks at intriguing and topical employment opportunities currently available on Archinect Jobs, while our weekly roundups curate job opportunities by location, career level, and job description.