Architecture firm reaps benefits in China

Springfield-based BRP is partnering with a Dallas-based interior design firm on a large hotel and casino project in Macau, a self-governing Chinese territory. Design also is under way for two hotels in Dongguan, China, and a third in Langfang.

The Springfield firm began its quest for business in China in April 2006 with the hiring of veteran architect, Tai Li, a China native. Now the company has a thriving partnership, dubbed China Square, with Chinese firm Walford Architects.

BRP partner Tim Rosenbury said the companies’ efforts are a true collaboration; BRP has two or three people at a time in Dongguan on a rotating basis, while Walford has 12 employees working in the China Square office.

A personal connection

The lynchpin of BRP’s efforts in China is Li, who previously spent nearly a decade with Springfield firm Pellham Phillips. Li’s connections in China allowed BRP to get a foot in the door in a business culture that relies heavily on personal relationships.

“Here, a lot of business is conducted over phone or by e-mail,” said Stephanie Shadwick, a BRP intern architect who was the first to run day-to-day operations for China Square. “There, if they can’t see your face, your chance of success is limited. They don’t trust people that they can’t talk to face-to-face and have dinner with.”

Li has multiple connections to the Chinese market, including one with Walford founder Chen Lixin, who, according to Rosenbury, was Li’s classmate at architecture school.

To maintain that personal connection, BRP will always have at least one employee in China, Rosenbury said.

Li is there now, along with architect Ben Craig. Architect Scott Oglesby will be in China by the end of the month, and when Craig returns in late July, his spot will be filled by interior designer Corey Sengstacken.

Different views

The need for personal connection, however, is just one of many differences BRP faces in China.

The culture gap also encompasses a difference in construction techniques. One of Shadwick’s first jobs with the firm was to instruct her Chinese counterparts on Western methods and materials used in construction.

Another issue, Rosenbury said, is the concept of real estate.

“The idea of commercial development is relatively new,” Rosenbury said, “and the idea of commercial real estate is even more new because China is a communist nation, and all property is owned by the state.”

With Li’s help, however, the company was aware of the cultural gulf between the two countries.

“The main challenges are related to culture, philosophy and the huge changes in recent history in China,” Li said via e-mail, noting the country’s shift in recent years toward a more open economy. “(BRP) did well by setting up a China study group and encouraging the staff to learn the difference.”

A world apart

Other companies are learning the need for international knowledge as well. Drury University’s Master of Business Administration program will require students to spend a week in China beginning this fall.

MBA Program Director Dawn Hiles said the decision was in keeping with the school’s mission statement: to prepare ethical leaders for the global business community.

“When we put the class together, we had to ask if we could adequately teach global business to MBA students and not expose them to it,” Hiles said. “For us, the answer was no.”

An informal poll of business leaders and contacts led the school to target China for the program. Drury puts together the coursework, and an agency in Beijing called China Sense helps set students up with appropriate executives.

Hiles, who has visited China, said she was amazed at the differences, specifically in human resources.

“We met with someone who moved to Beijing two years ago from the U.S., and he’s essentially on his own,” Hiles said. “It’s amazing how much they’ve progressed in technology, but how far they have to go in leadership training, managing people and fundamental HR components of a business.”

Despite all of those challenges, along with the logistics difficulties that go along with setting up any new office, Rosenbury said he’s pleased with the progress his firm is making in the Far East.

“We thought China would be a good business opportunity for us,” Rosenbury said. “But so far, it has far exceeded our expectations.”

Rotary Exchange

Corey Sengstacken, interior designer for Butler, Rosenbury & Partners, is a busy traveler.

The 26-year-old leaves for China in late July to work with the firm’s China Square office. That trip will come on the heels of her current world travels – she’s a member of the delegation from Rotary Club District 6080 that’s currently in Germany as part of the Rotary’s annual exchange program.

Sengstacken joins four other representatives on the Rotary trip: Mary McIntosh, vice president for institutional advancement at State Fair Community College in Sedalia; Richard Bruce, assistant professor of construction management at University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg; Breck Frerking, a private investor’s assistant in Columbia; and Shonna Tropf, assistant communications professor at University of Central Missouri. [[In-content Ad]]