IA Interior Architects: Refining and Underscoring Purpose

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS • LEADERSHIP PRESENTATION AND WORKSHOP • PURPOSE STATEMENT • CORE VALUES • KEY TRAITS • ACTIVATION IDEAS

IA Interior Architects is the one world’s foremost interior architecture and design firms and the founder of the field, with offices in major U.S. cities, Toronto, and London.
As the firm entered its 30th year, the next generation of leadership had taken its positions with plans to open new offices periodically.
It was important to the firm that current and future leadership be imbued with the firm’s ethos moving forward – to maintain what is unique about IA and what clients value.
IA engaged Arts Branding to formally articulate, refine, and document their firm’s mission, vision, and values with management and staff, for them to use as touchstones every day.

Use this mission/vision/values reevaluation project to further unify and engage nearly 400 staff across the US, Canada, and the UK.
Use IA’s refreshed key statements to focus IA and support its digital and print communications.
Ensure that key statements reflect IA and are infused with its unique position in commercial architecture and interior design around the world.
Capitalize on the firm’s 30th anniversary as a marker of time, and even more important – a pivot to communicate what’s next.
Integrate IA resources to ensure that the new mission/vision/values are understood, endorsed, embraced, and championed in strategic decisions.

Arts Branding developed a process and deliverables that matched the firm’s work ethic: thorough.
To start creating these foundational management and communications tools with IA, we utilized a combination of presentations, workshops, and in-person and video conferences.
Each of the methods was sequenced to build on the information learned from the previous one. We worked with the firm’s leadership and senior management from all offices on the creation, culling, refinement, and finalization of the firm’s overall purpose statement, core values, and key organizational traits.
We delivered an organizational purpose statement and core values, and key organizational traits. We also consulted on activation ideas for these management tools including on the company website and in staff recruitment communications.

David Mourning, the founder of IA Interior Architects, said about this project at its start, “I’m not sure we need this. I don’t think you’ll uncover anything we don’t already know or incorporate.” At the end of the project, David said, “This was so well worth it. You’ve articulated really well who we are as a firm. I can’t believe you’ve captured everything that makes us special.”
Executive management was equally pleased with the effort expended and the result, commenting that “Now we are all speaking from the same page, and have a shared view on what we believe and how we communicate ourselves.”
IA incorporated its new purpose statement and values immediately into the Who We Are section of its new website design (see images). Additionally, these communications tools and the firm’s character traits are used in staff recruitment materials, human resource materials, and in open position listings.