CREJ

DECEMBER 2017 \ BUILDING DIALOGUE \

or more than 50 years, award-winning firm OZ

Architecture has shaped, and been shaped by, its

home state of Colorado. With 165 employees in

offices in Denver and Boulder, OZ provides ar-

chitecture, master planning, interior design and,

more recently, brand experience design to clients

and projects across the U.S., and in Africa, Asia and Antarcti-

ca. Its portfolio includes a host of iconic “I didn’t know they

designed, that, too” work and a wide variety of project types,

from academic (University of Colorado's Center for Academ-

ic Success and Engagement, University of Colorado Colorado

Springs’ University Center) to retail (Punch Bowl Social, Plat-

form T) to corporate/office (SmartWool, Alteryx) and civic

(Van Cise-Simonet Detention Center, Silverthorne Perform-

ing Arts Center) – not to mention a bevy of well-known mul-

tifamily, hospitality, medical, assisted-living and mixed-use

campuses.

Ask nearly any OZ team member or alum what drew him

to the firm, and you’ll get a similar answer. It’s not the quality

of the work, so clearly evidenced by a consistently full dock-

et and an office full of awards and publications. It’s not the

terrific clients who challenge and trust the team with mean-

ingful projects, or the co-workers whose encouragement and

complementary talents bring about all the great projects. It’s

not even the firm’s strong support of professional and per-

sonal growth. But, in a way, it’s all of these. Inevitably, you will

hear how much each values the culture.

Principal Kelly Davis, who, like all of OZ’s leadership, is

involved in multiple project types, recalls, “When I moved

here [Boulder] in ’95, it was booming, and I had maybe a

dozen job offers, all in Boulder, which I didn’t expect. It

was down to two, OZ and another firm that was compet-

ing on a job. The other firm actually won the project, but I

liked the OZ culture – and their design – better. It was the

best decision I ever made.” Tracy Tafoya, a principal who

started as an intern and now heads the interior design

studio, adds, “I’ve grown up in this place. It’s like a second

WORDS:

Kimberly MacArthur Graham

OZ Architecture Spans Decades, Even the Globe