Best of Business top vote-getter: M+A Architects

What will transform the look, feel, and requirements of our buildings in the future? At M+A Architects, that’s for Mark Bryan to figure out.

“On staff, we have a certified futurist,” says President Mark Daniels. “His job is to research and understand the trends.”

For one, Covid-19 is affecting everything. “How a person sequences through a health care facility is changing,” President Mark Daniels says. “It’s impacting every sector, from senior housing to office buildings.”

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The future aside, Daniels points to the culture as the main reason he joined M+A back in 1987. “The two people that started the firm; those people were awesome humans,” he says. “It starts with leadership, but you also have to have the right people who can bring integrity and humility to the work. We’ve made it a priority to find those right people.”

M+A’s portfolio includes award-winning projects that range from community and municipal buildings to workplace, retail, higher education, and more. They not only offer architectural services, but interior design and sustainability, too.

To stay ahead of the curve takes a commitment to research and innovation. The firm’s M+Ake It Innovative podcasts dig into industry trends, spatial changes of the future, and even topics of concern to the company, like mental health.

In 2018, the firm developed the “Respite Room,” a space designed to support the central nervous system by decreasing hyperarousal and even helping with migraine relief and sensory overload. “This room is used every day and has been so helpful for many people,” says Daniels. “Even a quick 15-minute break can do wonders for a person’s focus and mental health.”

Virginia Brown is a freelance writer.