New Delhi Office Opens New Market for IA

by Tracy Ostroff
Associate Editor

How do you . . . establish a new office branch halfway around the globe?

Summary: Heading the requests of clients who are expanding their businesses in Asia, Interior Architects (IA) opened a New Delhi office. Rather than outsourcing to local vendors, the firm saw an opportunity to provide their own level of technical expertise and quality assurance to their U.S. and multinational clients doing work in the Asia-Pacific region and to new clients acquired by the expansion. In New Delhi, they are still doing it the “IA way.”

The firm, which heralds itself as the “the only global architectural firm focused exclusively on interiors” had been in Asia before, explains David Bourke, chief marketing officer and managing principal of international operations. IA had an office in Hong Kong in the mid 1990s, and moved it to Shanghai after the transition to national rule. They ultimately pulled out of both areas in an effort to regroup, but remained committed to the global platform, he says.

In addition to client requests for a presence in the region, a few other elements synergized to drive their decision to open the New Delhi office. One was the simple logistics of the time difference. “It’s hard to be on the phone 24 hours a day. With all of Asia in a three-hour window of New Delhi, it was attractive to clients and to us,” Bourke says. They also had the “right person to head up the office,” according to Bourke, namely Ritu Vij, who was interested in the opportunity, educated in New Delhi, had experience running her own business there, and was doing a great job in IA’s New York City office.

Six people staff the office. They have also established relationships with India-based companies. With Vij’s experience and the local staffing, “it’s made the learning curve a lot less onerous,” Bourke says.

Market expansion
Like so many other firms, Bourke says, IA thought about outsourcing the work. “But we didn’t want to go down that path. It’s hard to attract the best talent setting up as a drafting service.” The firm was more attracted to setting up the office as a branch, so they could have people who have worked and trained with them. They found that it also ensures that clients get the same level of service and security they come to expect from working with IA and through its Global Alliance partners. “We decided to stick with what we know best and where the opportunities are,” Bourke says. “There was a lot of demand and not a lot of supply for good quality architects.”

The new office also extends IA’s “hub system,” which breaks the world down into three regions—the Americas; Asia/Australia; and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa—and aligns the practice with alliance partners that are located strategically around the world. “About three years ago, we branded a global approach to projects,” Bourke says. The firm has about 60 firms to help deliver projects in all the regions, representing more than 1,000 staff in a network that makes up the IA Global Alliance.

Billings abroad
The firm already is seeing the fruits of their labor in New Delhi. IA has established relationships with India-based companies. “There is a great demand for functional workplaces that reflect their images and brands,” says Bourke. Most recently, IA was selected to design one of India’s largest operating centers.

“It’s been a good year in general,” Bourke reports, and one of the bright spots has been the international practice, he says. Last year also represented a good deal of growth in that segment of the business, and “we don’t see that slowing down anytime soon.” Now it’s about 3-4 percent of the firm’s business; he sees it growing to 15 percent. They are taking the expansion seriously and are looking at establishing another Asian hub, possibly in Hong Kong, again, or Singapore.