Atelier507 is an architecture studio founded by Bogdan Bănică, a young and enthusiastic architect who understood that, beyond creativity, an architect needs high management skills to turn a beautiful idea into a feasible design project. view of the budget, but especially of the time gained by the client.
This is how Atelier507 was born, 8 years ago, when Bogdan, Marius and Cosmina, three students in Architecture, in group 507, founded a studio specialized in interior design with “turnkey” design and project management services.
What sets you apart from interior design and architecture studios?
Our main differentiator is internal and external management, ie the way we manage the design process so as to provide what the customer expects to receive in a short and clear time, at a fair cost. External management is, in fact, project management or implementation management and is our complementary service to design, through which we take over the fulfillment of the implementation goal of the design project. Through this service, we take care of project budgeting, implementation planning, site monitoring and control and, finally, the delivery of the finished product – arrangement – to the customer.
All these processes are “drawn” based on several project management books and are ISO 9001: 2015 certified. For a second confirmation of the quality of project management services, I will take the PMP (Project Management Professional) exam, an international certification that will attest to my abilities and implicitly of Atelier507 to manage any kind of construction or arrangement project.
“Only when creativity meets the requirements and meets customer expectations can we talk about a quality project. Until then, it’s just a nice idea. “
Mercedes Benz 1 1024×768 – Arch. Bogdan Bănică, Atelier507: “Efficient management ensures the transposition of creativity into a quality design project, feasible in terms of budget and duration”
What was your first professional achievement?
I think the first professional achievement was also the first major project for Atelier507. This happened in the first year of existence, when, for a client from Constanța, we had to carry out three distinct projects at the same time: a multi-storey terrace, a restaurant and a club based on an American franchise. The fact that, in the absence of our experience from that period, we managed to complete all three projects according to the client’s expectations within the given deadlines and budgets, I consider it the first important professional achievement.
Apart from creativity and inspiration, what other qualities does an architect need?
First of all, to have the ability not only to listen to the client’s requirements, but also to understand his needs and expectations. Only when creativity meets the requirements and meets expectations, we can talk about a quality project. Until then, it’s just a nice idea. He also needs high management skills, both on his work and on others. A project can have many steps, many plans to be made and many collaborators with whom you will communicate: structurist, installer, technologist, various specialists, manufacturers, suppliers, etc. If you do not have the ability to manage all these steps, along with external communication, it will be very difficult to achieve a feasible project in terms of budget and, especially, time.
MGM0282 1024×683 – Arch. Bogdan Bănică, Atelier507: “Efficient management ensures the transposition of creativity into a quality design project, feasible in terms of budget and duration”
What are your sources of inspiration?
There are extremely many sources that inspire me, not only as an architect, but especially as a manager of an architecture office. I tried to change as much as possible the way the office works, from those crazy, bohemian architects, with their heads in the clouds, into an organized, optimized team, focused on the project objectives and the client. In vain we would be creative, attractive or pleasant as architects, if our work did not achieve the client’s objectives and expectations, and this requires a lot of discipline.
As a manager, I am inspired by project management books, specialized sites, business conferences, networking and, in principle, from anything or anyone related to entrepreneurship. You don’t even realize how much you can learn from people if you pay attention to them and listen to them, things you can use to provide the desired experience.
What are the most important projects you have worked on or are currently working on and what are you preparing?
Given that each project has its own story and we are still a small architectural office, each project, for us, is an important one. However, over time we have arranged spaces for various important brands, such as: Mercedes-Benz Romania, Hilton, Dr. Leahu Clinics, Ares Clinics, Cellini, Evolution Gaming and many others. We are currently preparing several office design projects for various multinational companies and a series of medical clinics of various specialties, in Bucharest and the rest of the country.
What is the strategy you approach your customers with?
First of all, we try to find out what they want from the arrangement and from the relationship with the architect. We talk, visit and analyze the space, prepare an initial brief and based on this information we present a personalized offer for both the project and the client. Not all clients want the complete package of services and, especially, not all projects need the complete package of services. We try to approach the sale rationally and not sentimentally – otherwise, it’s just a matter of time until the first conflict with the customer.
What kind of people turn to you and what is their level of expectations?
Individuals who use our services are Romanians or foreigners, with above average incomes, are employed in the top management of large companies or entrepreneurs, with a fairly high culture of tourism, design and good taste. This type of people want a home of high aesthetic, functional and product quality, and their requirements are quite well defined. Usually, we provide “turnkey” design and project management services, so that, in the end, the client enjoys the space fully arranged and ready to use. The main reason for choosing this service is the lack of time they face, but also the lack of technical knowledge to choose or supervise the manufacturer.
Legal entities are also Romanian or multinational companies that want to arrange their office spaces or spaces specific to their business: restaurants, hotels, showrooms, etc. Usually, the main purpose of this type of project is to meet a very strict deadline and budget, a goal that we then try to dress in a design as attractive as possible. And in this case, most of the services offered are complete, design + project management, because in these cases, the timeline is made taking into account the deadline by which the space must be ready, and not the deadline by which the design project must be realized.
The expectations of our clients can differ quite a lot, depending on the personality of each one or depending on the type of project, from the desire to have a “wow” design, to the desire to fit in time or budget. Even on the implementation side, there are cases when the client tells us to call him only when everything is ready as planned and there are customers who come with us every time we visit the site. But if at the beginning of the project these expectations are best clarified, we can manage them so that, in the end, customer satisfaction is maximum.
MGM7600 1024×683 – Arch. Bogdan Bănică, Atelier507: “Efficient management ensures the transposition of creativity in a quality design project, feasible in terms of budget and duration”
MGM7826 1024×721 – Arch. Bogdan Bănică, Atelier507: “Efficient management ensures the transposition of creativity in a quality design project, feasible in terms of budget and duration”
“Man and space dictate the direction of arrangement”
What does interior design mean in Romania in 2018-2019?
The level of quality in interior design has greatly increased in Bucharest and in the big cities in Romania. Unfortunately, it remains a service that is usually used by legal entities or individuals with at least an average financial level. There are still extremely many commercial or residential spaces arranged in “own direction”, which can mean a low visual quality, but especially a low construction quality. A public space arranged without an architectural project, specialized projects and the necessary verifications can be dangerous for people from the point of view of exploitation (see glossy floors on the outside without non-slip properties) or from a technical point of view (falling ceilings).
We have a lot to recover both internally – organizations, but also externally – educating the population. Lately there are various organizations, such as #better, of which we are part, which try to educate the population through various materials and actions and, especially, through the guild of architects. There are many aspects to discuss, but in principle everything starts with us, the architects.
Is there a change in the attitude of Romanians towards the way they relate to the space in their immediate vicinity? What do you hope will happen in the coming years?
Clearly, things have evolved and this is felt by the level of requirements with which customers come to us. The field evolves through architects who specialize, clients who raise the bar and importers and suppliers of materials that challenge you with new products and techniques.
From now on, things will only get better, I hope. Customers to be more and more “demanding” in terms of expectations, suppliers to bombard us with more and more materials, and in this situation, the architect has no choice but to rise above expectations through the proposed design and how he completes his project.
MGM0087 e1544441269615 682×1024 – Arch. Bogdan Bănică, Atelier507: “Efficient management ensures the transposition of creativity in a quality design project, feasible in terms of budget and duration”
What do you think will be the trends, respectively the preferences of Romanians, in the next years, in the field of arrangements?
Trends should exist strictly from a technical point of view – the choice of eco-friendly materials, the implementation of various technologies specific to interiors, etc. Trends should not be on the visual side. The choice of the architectural style does not depend on the trend, it depends on the needs, on the expectations and last but not least on the space, and if we refer to the civil architecture, it depends on the context and the vision of the architect. Even if it is not impossible, it is not preferable to change an arrangement as you change a garment that is no longer in trend. Man and space actually dictate the direction of arrangement.