Several years ago, Invision Architecture consolidated its offices in Iowa and the Midwest to two locations: Des Moines and Waterloo.

Now the company, which was launched about 110 years ago in Waterloo, is again expanding. It recently opened an office in Iowa City and is looking for cities in the Midwest in which to expand.  

“I think our expansion is driven a bit by the talent shortage,” said Mike Bechtel, a partner in the firm. “The [baby] boomers are largely making their way into retirement. …Because of that, it’s been a challenge for us to find architects and interior designers.”

Invision Architecture currently has clients in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin and is pursuing business in Kansas, Bechtel said. “Right now, that involves a lot of travel. Opening offices or have people working in those mid-market, high-growth areas would be a nice thing to be able to do.”

Invision has a staff of about 80 people, a 25% increase from its size three years ago, Bechtel said. One person works in Iowa City, where the firm is looking for office space. The goal is to add two to three people in the Iowa City by year’s end, he said.

Advances in technology and the increased acceptance of remote work has helped Invision retain employees instead of looking for replacements in a tough environment, Bechtel said.

“These are all people – whose spouses were transferred [to another city] – that walked into somebody’s office at Invision and thought they were turning in their resignation,” Bechtel said. “They were upset that they had to leave. … but were thrilled to find out that they could keep working with us, just in a remote capacity.”

Invision now has employees who work in Chicago, Sioux Falls, S.D., and Greensboro, N.C.
In the past year, Invision Architecture has relocated its Des Moines and Waterloo offices, both to adaptive reuse spaces. In Des Moines, the firm relocated from office space at 303 Watson Powell Jr. Way to 900 Mulberry St., the previous home of the Des Moines fire department’s station No. 1 and more recently, the Des Moines Social Club. Both moves were prompted by the need for more space for growing staffs, Bechtel said.

The expansion of Invision’s staff has been sparked by growth in the firm’s primary markets: health care, higher education and K-12 education.

Invision works with about 50% of the hospitals that are located in Iowa, said Becky Hansel, a partner with the firm. In addition, about 10% of Invision’s billings in 2018 were for K-12-related work. So far in 2024, 39% of its billings are for K-12-related projects.

“There’s a lot of aging [hospital] facilities, especially in rural areas,” Hansel said. “Like schools, they look at whether they should continue reusing the facility or build new. … Both of those are growth areas for us.”

The firm is also looking to do more work in the area of housing, particularly converting commercial space into residential uses, Hansel said.
Invision growth has also led to the promotion of several people at the firm.

Five people were promoted to principal positions:

• Angie Ness, a certified health care interior designer who will help to align Invision’s health care expertise with top systems for client care.
• Jason DeVries, who will focus on strategic initiatives for high-quality design, client satisfaction and project performance metrics.
• Justin Bailey, who will support design teams and lead project delivery, documentation, quality control and process development.
• Laura Peterson, an accredited learning environment planner who will help grow Invision’s pre-K-12 client base.
• Tim Turnis, who will lead the firm’s Waterloo office.

Four people were promoted to senior associates. They include Abbey Huppenbauer, Shannon Swift, Maggie Watkins and Heidi Willis.

Nine people were promoted to associate positions. They include Cally Niess, Hoang Tran, Kindra Christensen, Lisa Chamberlin, Miranda Budnik, Roland Ganter, Ryan Smart, Tina Gray and Zach Hansen.