At Campo Architects, we have some outstanding employees on our team. Throughout the year, we turn the spotlight on one of our team members responsible for bringing our designs to life. This month, get to know Architect, Kerry Soniat!
1. How has working at Campo Architects helped you in your career development?
I’ve been with Campo since I was a young intern, so the firm (especially John and Miriam) has played an critical role in my development. Being mentored by John on a design and also business level has really helped my understanding and relationship building with clients. Miriam is always challenging your thoughts on the design process, which has really helped me to strengthen my space planning abilities (which is one of my favorite tasks in our profession).
2. What advice would you give to people who hope to follow a career path similar to yours?
“No pain, no gain!” Often times we shy away from facing obstacles that make us uncomfortable, whether that be new risks with design decisions or even the hard conversations with colleagues, clients and consultants. I’ve learned over the years to actually embrace this uncomfortable feeling as much as possible. It’s the biggest catalyst for career growth.
3. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?
High-Dive Jumping into a pool, like the Olympic Summer Sport. I’d have to conquer my fear of heights first, but the sport itself is stunning to me. It’s such a mesmerizing art-form that these people create!
4. What are your hopes for the future of the design industry?
With the pandemic, we are (of course) seeing a much higher trend in designing spaces that account for social distance flexibility and the inclusion of more sterile (easily cleanable) materials/environments. As a design industry, I hope we’re able to incorporate these requirements while still focusing on providing occupants with a socially comfortable end result. (Using the Jetson’s community as precedence is probably a good place to start, ha!)
5. What is something you learned in the last month?
The intricacies of Acoustical Testing and how to construct proper mock-up guestrooms for testing.
6. Describe a typical day for you.
The only typical part of my day is breakfast with my son. That’s the great part about being an Architect/Project Manager and being able to wear several different hats at Campo. No day is ever the same. It’s hard to get bored in this field: from creating a space plan for a new project, discussing new design ideas with Owners, figuring out how to integrate an uncovered historic terrazzo floor into your restaurant space, coordinating a crazy structural transfer beam with consultants, resolving an unforeseen site condition with a General Contractor, to detailing a new canopy. There is no real “typical day.”
7. What are your thoughts on working from home?
I have a love hate relationship with it. I’d much rather talk and collaborate with people in person. It takes extra effort to pick up the phone or jump on a Zoom meeting. I miss just being able to walk over to someone else’s desk to get their input and opinion. However, it’s also provided me opportunities to do things in my personal life that I was not able to do with my commute to downtown. Being able to take my dog for a walk at lunch or pick up my son from school have been really big bonuses for me. The work-life balance that everyone is always hoping to achieve is better for me with this flexible scenario.