In 2013, Larson Binkley, a local Kansas City engineering firm, was nominated for an EDC Cornerstone Award for Business Expansion so we decided it was time to check in and see how much progress has been made over the past two years.
At 9:15 a.m. Michael Combest, COO of Larson Binkley, offered us a beer. Immediately we knew that we weren’t dealing with a typical engineering firm. In fact, they are so atypical that they are attempting to change the way the entire industry thinks. It appears to be working.
Larson Binkley, a leader in LEED certified and Experience Engineering, moved into their new headquarters facility in Kansas City, MO in November 2012. The company was drawn to Kansas City’s urban core by its vibrant creative scene and culture of innovation.
A visit to the Larson Binkley office looks more like a startup software company rather than an engineering firm. The open, collaborative work environment includes furniture handmade by Larson Binkley staff and walls covered in LEED certifications and awards. Larson Binkley was an early adopter of sustainable engineering and has more than 430 LEED certified projects completed to date. In 2013, they had 250 LEED certified projects. This extreme growth in just two years is likely due to Larson Binkley’s unique engineering process.
Larson Binkley’s visionary process creates optimal consumer environments for offices, restaurants and retail chains, and many other building types. They are essentially creating construction documents as if they were software, using a method which allows for rapid, collaborative and creative changes with little time or resources wasted.
“The architecture and engineering world hasn’t changed much since the 1900’s,” Combest is quick to point out. “The use of this software method in a 150-year-old industry… everyone thinks we’re nuts!” says Combest. “But we believe we are a design firm that speaks the language of engineering.”
The company manages and executes projects through a continual process of discovery using many sketches along the way as the designs continues to develop.
“Active and mindful development is key. We use a design process that originated in the Silicon Valley. Our methods are open source. Agile is at the heart of Larson Binkley’s methodology. The software industry has been evolving this for 30 years and now it’s our turn,” says Combest.
Differentiating Larson Binkley from other engineering firms starts with the people they hire. The CEO, Christopher Larson, was a Fine Arts major early on himself, and many of their engineers appreciate art and may also be musicians. They hire for an unexplainable X-factor: a sort of symmetry between that right and left side of the brain, which could be the exact reason why Larson Binkley is not only interested in changing the engineering industry’s thinking, but in taking active steps to make the change through its people.
Who stands out most at the firm? Women. Larson Binkley currently boasts an average of 30% female workers while the nation average is only around 19%. The company has hired roughly 20 new employees since moving into the new space, 9 in 2015 alone.
“There are few, to no women in engineering. It’s top-down. If the industry were run better, there would be more gender equality,” says Combest.
Larson Binkley occupies 11,580 square feet at 310 W. 20th Street and is currently making plans to expand into the lower floor of the building. Their project required an initial investment of $1.25 million in personal property investment, and the State of Missouri provided nearly $1.55 million in assistance through Quality Jobs withholding retention and tax credits, and employee recruitment programs. With 44 employees (and looking to hire more), and clients ranging from coast to coast (US and Canada)…it’s clear that Larson Binkley’s growth story is really just beginning.
View full project here
View Combest’s TEDxLawrence talk on the development of a revolutionary approach to management methods: