Architects and Engineers shape our world, and being able to contribute to the success of firms is one of the reasons the entire BQE team is customer obsessed. To this end, we are launching a new series where we highlight some of our customers and the inspiring work they create for their communities.
To kick-off the Customer Spotlight series we'd like to introduce you to a long-time CORE customer, Jordan Parnass, and his firm, Circular.
Circular is a creative architecture and design firm based in Brooklyn, NY, with projects completed throughout the city, and around the world. The firm was founded over 25 years ago, and is committed to delivering sustainable architecture, interiors, and experiential design solutions for their clients ranging from small companies, to international brands, and public institutions.
Circular is also a long-time customer of BQE CORE, and we are excited to share their story and highlight some of their inspiring projects through our Customer Spotlight series. We asked Jordan a series of questions about his firm and their work and share the conversation below.
About the Firm
What is your firm’s origin story?
Our firm Circular was originally founded in 2000 as Jordan Parnass Digital Architecture (JPDA), with a focus on leveraging emerging technology to create interactive environments. We have worked on a mix of retail, brand experience, and public sector projects across the world, from Brooklyn to the UK and even Sri Lanka. Over the past 25 years our focus has evolved to prioritize sustainability and circularity as primary drivers of our design philosophy. This ultimately led to a rebrand - transforming our firm from JPDA to our new identity: Circular.
What are your firm values or mission?
The name Circular is derived from the principle of the Circular Economy, which involves eliminating linear waste and pollution from the outset and keeping products and materials in use at their highest value. We offer a cradle-to-cradle systems-based approach to all aspects of design, that leverages life cycle analysis, community engagement and environmental regeneration as forces for positive change.
Our approach provides our clients with resilient and adaptable buildings with superior energy efficiency for a wide range of budgets.
We design with empathy and integrity to create solutions that make the world a better place to live, capturing value for our clients, society and the environment. Our vision is to become a global leader in producing designs for innovative, resilient, human-centered spaces and systems that promote happiness, delight, healthfulness and community.
Who do you work with?
It isn't our goal to limit who we may work with, and over the years we have had clients from families renovating small apartments to large corporations. We do a mix of retail, brand experience, educational and passive house projects and enjoy the diversity of work and the challenges of learning about new project types.
Our largest clients are BMW and The City of New York, but we have worked on sustainable garment manufacturing buildings in Sri Lanka, to retail experiences for American Apparel and O2. Our current projects on the boards include working on education and public projects that have a large impact on our local community.
Tell us about the impact your firm has on the local community.
We are deeply committed to designing for equity, focusing on essential projects that uplift under-served communities. From sustainable educational spaces like the Corona 3K Center to public sector work at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse and Pamoja House Homeless Shelter, our projects prioritize public welfare and social equity alongside inspiring aesthetics and resilient sustainability.
Circular’s work is a testament to how thoughtful, equitable architecture can inspire positive change, creating inclusive and compassionate environments that respond to the needs of the communities we serve. As the firm owner I love seeing the passion of my team and their dedication to the outcomes we deliver for our projects and the users of the projects. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a school we designed filled with the energy of young learners while hearing how the sustainable design features are making the operations of the school more affordable for the school district.
Describe your favorite project that you have worked on?
In 2007 we were commissioned by UK telecom company O2 to direct the architectural re-branding of London’s Millennium Dome. This project involved coordinating multiple stakeholders, regulatory agencies, contractors, and unions on a $2 billion renovation site. It was quite the undertaking but a fun challenge to overcome the complexity to deliver unique user experiences.
The design created a visitor’s journey of exploration and delight through interactive installations, hospitality spaces, retail stores and unique interactive environments. Advanced materials and fabrication techniques were paired with cutting-edge technology to create a human-centered brand experience that encouraged participants to play and return for repeat visits with their friends. Having welcomed over 100 million visitors, The O2 is recognized as one of the world’s most popular entertainment venues.
Our proposal was chosen from a crop of international firms that competed to win the pitch and it was an honor to be selected.
What do you like most about being an architect and running your practice?
I enjoy tackling new challenges and learning about new industries, technologies and approaches for developing custom solutions to fit each client’s needs. As a small firm we are able to be nimble and take on a wide range of projects and work with inspiring clients. It is fun to be challenged with new problems, look for new ways of overcoming obstacles and providing value to our clients and the users of our spaces. Plus it is fun looking for creative opportunities to make all of our projects more sustainable. This variety is what makes architecture unique and why we take on so many project types. We are constantly learning and it makes us more creative.
I also enjoy spreading the value of continued learning to my team. Fostering an environment that supports younger designers, giving them ample opportunities to express their design ideas, learn about different project types, and engage with the firm operations is rewarding. Everyone in a small firm has to wear many hats, and I believe this ultimately makes everyone a better architect.
Business development has been an ongoing challenge, especially as we have a broad and varied portfolio of work rather than a small niche. We have managed to develop good marketing practices and systems and engage the full team in business development activities which I think is a unique aspect of our firm. This has enabled us to expand our reach while also training younger professionals about the marketing and business development side of practice.
Like many firms, fluctuations in the economy, and especially the impact of the pandemic, has slowed down inquiries from some of our traditional project types. Over the past few years we have strategically expanded into new markets to diversify our portfolio and be more adaptable to market shifts.
Circular prioritizes education and training, and we pay for all of our full time staff to become Certified Passive House Designers. This helps to ensure all our staff understand the technical aspects of our designs and builds commitment towards successful execution. All of our team are now passive house certified and we integrate sustainable design best practices in all of our projects.
In addition to professional development support, we emphasize transparency in the administration of the firm. We openly share information about the firm's operations with the full team, and everyone is engaged in marketing, business development, proposal creation, and other aspects of managing the business. We also actively encourage research and all team members are able to pursue topics of interest and share knowledge with the team, and write about their areas of expertise on our website.
The goal is to be supportive of each person and encourage them to explore and share their interests. We believe this fosters a more interesting place to work and provides opportunities for self expression.
We have used BQE CORE since 2018, and initially adopted it as a way to modernize our firm operations and finances. As a tech forward firm, we are always looking for software tools that can save us time and give us data driven insights to improve our operations.
CORE has allowed us to better understand how we are spending our time, and compare our efficiency from project to project. The entire team uses it to track project progress and deliverables, and log time against their projects. It also has streamlined our project scheduling, resource management, and especially our invoicing process.
Definitely pursue some kind of business training, since they don’t teach you any of that in architecture school. Talk with your peers to learn about systems and strategies for effective management. Read business books and search out opportunities to learn about various aspects of running a successful small business, not just learn more about architecture.
When you become a firm owner you spend a lot less time on the design of projects and traditional tasks of being an architect. You are now responsible for a business and need to understand all of the administrative tasks to keep your firm healthy. Learn about marketing, business development, sales, leadership, and of course finances.
And look for tools that can help you do these things more efficiently. Invest in software that can save time, or take administrative tasks off your plate. Look for tools that make your team more efficient and balance the seemingly high cost of software subscriptions against the even higher cost of your team's time.
Being very tech-forward and an early adopter of new tools and software has really given us a competitive advantage over the years.
AI is obviously going to radically change our industry. Once it is capable of doing an error-free code and zoning analysis, it has the potential to dramatically speed up the permitting process. We are already using some basic AI tools and are constantly researching what is coming that may benefit our practice. Although many are concerned about AI replacing jobs, we look at it as an incredible opportunity to supplement our creativity. AI can make some of the menial, repetitive work much faster, allowing our team to think big picture, focus on our clients, and work on the higher value creative design work.
As big proponents of sustainable design, I am excited about how quickly the industry is embracing many of our core principles. Nevertheless, there is a huge opportunity to reshape the criteria we use to judge success in design and execution of buildings, based on circular principles. Sustainable design is only going to get more important over the coming years and we are excited to be part of the solution.
Our goal is to focus on fewer key sectors and try to expand our portfolio to become more recognized as leaders in those fields. We are a small team of passionate people who solve creative problems for our clients. The vision is to maintain this dedication to core principals, and grow our team with like-minded designers. If we could double the size of the firm while focusing more on sustainable design projects we would see that as success.
I enjoy cooking, traveling and snowboarding. My wife is an artist and I can often be found helping her with installations, or traveling the world to see her work.
Living in New York City has been a huge influence on my work. The city provides an unlimited array of unique environments and creative inspirations. I live in an historic Brooklyn brownstone that we renovated into a contemporary interior. This juxtaposition of old and new is something that I love and has impacted the design work of many of our projects. And our office is in the DUMBO neighborhood which also has a historically industrial past but has been undergoing a transformation into trendy mixed-use neighborhood with some fantastic design rehabbing old historic buildings into new uses, introductions of contemporary architecture, and especially some fantastic design of public space from new plazas to a beautiful waterfront park with incredible views of Manhattan.
Film, graphics and visual art and music are all important inspirations for my practice.