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Iconic Local Architectural Firms Merge

Two long-established San Diego architectural firms are joining forces with the goal of emerging from the current recession as a stronger and more versatile company.

Carrier Johnson + CULTURE, a San Diego-based architectural and interior design firm, is merging with architectural and urban planning firm Fehlman LaBarre, effective Monday, Feb. 1. The combined firm will operate under the Carrier Johnson + CULTURE name.

Chairman and Design Principal Gordon Carrier noted that many architectural operations have been deeply hurt by the lingering recession. The decision to merge the firms was an easy one, he added. The reshaped Carrier Johnson + CULTURE will reduce overhead and offer more services.

“Frankly both of our firms are smaller as a result of the things we have gone through, but it is not size we are interested in, it is substance,” Carrier said. “The firms are financially sound. The ability to combine our talents is really a nexus point for going forward.”

An economic downturn forces companies to cut costs and focus on what they do best, he added.

“A recession is a time to reflect on how you operate,” he explained. “We’ve been able to do that. In some cases it was willful. In some it was forced. We are both very client oriented. We are very involved with mixed-use urban development.”

Projects that have been produced by Carrier Johnson include the University of San Diego’s Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, the Donald P. Shipley Center for Science and Technology, and an apartment-style student housing development for UC San Diego.

Fehlman LaBarre is known for designing sustainable, mixed-use projects, such as the Uptown District, which was developed in the early 1990s. Other projects include the Thomas Jefferson School of Law and Diamond Terrace in San Diego’s Ballpark District.

Both architectural firms have played a strong role in the revitalization of downtown San Diego and the Gaslamp District. Fehlman LaBarre Principal Michael LaBarre said the prospect of performing a partnership with Carrier Johnson made too much sense to ignore.

“In these economic times, combining firms can offer more resources to our clients,” he said. “Together we really become the go-to firm for influential design, technical expertise and government-processing knowhow.”

Revenue in 2009 for Carrier Johnson was about $15 million, officials said. That was a drop of about 30 percent from the previous year. LaBarre said his company’s 2009 revenues were down about 40 percent to just under $3 million. The merged firm will employ about 65 people. Only four employees were lost.

Michael Stepner, a professor at the New School of Architecture in San Diego, said the merger was a sign of the present tough economic times.

“Things in the architectural profession and the building industry are very, very slow,” he said. “What this has done is allow two firms to take their core work and merge them. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It is bringing together two of the premier firms in San Diego. Out of it will come something even better.”

Tom Sudberry, chairman of Sudberry Properties, a San Diego-based development and asset management firm, said the marriage of the two companies may be one of the few good things to come out of the current recession.

“These companies are two of the brightest and most creative in San Diego,” he said. “To have them merge I think will be a real asset for the city and anyone who wants to work with them. Sometimes good things come out of tough times and this is one of them. Their strengths complement one another. ”

Michael Johnson, design principal at Carrier Johnson + CULTURE, said economic downturns often bring opportunity.

“We have been able to sustain through down markets,” he said. “The public sector has sustained us through this depression. The private sector will bring us out of this depression. By adding Fehlman LaBarre to our culture, the private sector will see … a firm with strong core people whom they trust.”

One of the challenges ahead for everyone in the building industry is dealing with the scarcity of developable land in Southern California. There will be a greater demand for infill construction as planning regulations limit the type of low-density development and urban sprawl that became common in the middle of the 20th century.

“We simply don’t have land capacity,” Carrier said. “Our ability to reuse land and not develop on greenfields in California is imperative. We want to create memorable places that are about experiencing life from many points of view.”

Jim Waring, chairman of CleanTECH San Diego, said he expected the new firm’s leaders to take an environmentally friendly approach to their work.

“Each of these people really does believe in urban design and they really do believe that a project can be economical and sustainable and fit into the urban fabric of the community,” he said.

Emmet Pierce is a freelance writer for the Business Journal.

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