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Michelle Salyer:                Welcome to Outside the Box with BRPH, where we discuss the most innovative, interesting, and outside-the-box solutions to some of the most exciting and challenging projects in the world of architecture, engineering, design, construction, and mission solutions. You’ll hear directly from the problem solvers at BRPH as we dive deep into the latest news, trends, and topics in aerospace, defense, manufacturing, and industrial, commercial, education, entertainment, and hospitality.

I’m your host, Michelle Salyer, and I’ll be your guide as we open the lid on these topics and more, and invite you for an insider’s look at one of the most successful, fastest-growing, employee-owned AEC firms in the United States. Welcome to Outside the Box with BRPH.

In today’s post-pandemic world, the lines between home, work, and play are blurred. Consumers want every space to feel more hospitable, more comfortable, more like home. Smart companies are striving to create spaces where consumers want to spend time, whether it’s a favorite vacation spot, an attraction, at school, and at the office. It takes a true expert to transcend the noise and create the craveable spaces and memorable experiences that consumers and guests are seeking, all while staying true to your brand and your mission.

With me today to talk more about that process is Cristi Moore, National Practice Leader for Interior Design and Chief Design and Creative Leader for BRPH. Welcome, Cristi.

Cristi Moore:                     Hi.

Michelle Salyer:                So you’ve been at BRPH for about a year and a half now.

Cristi Moore:                     Mm-hmm.

Michelle Salyer:                And you were previously with a very large firm that was very design-centered, and now you’ve come to BRPH, which is traditionally known more for its technical excellence. So that had to be a little bit of a leap of faith for you. Tell me about that.

Cristi Moore:                     It was. I was at a very large, very creative design firm of which I had the utmost respect for and am appreciative for that experience and growth. I had no idea what my next steps would be at the time. I just knew that I needed a new challenge, one that would keep me up at night. The good kind of keeping you up at night.

Michelle Salyer:                I was going to say, that doesn’t sound good.

Cristi Moore:                     During the interview process with BRPH, I was asked specifically what I was looking for, which caught me off guard as it’s typically about what you, as the interviewee, can bring to them, right?

Michelle Salyer:                Right.

Cristi Moore:                     And yet BRPH was essentially asking me what they could do for me. My gut response was freedom of expression.

Michelle Salyer:                Okay. What do you mean by that?

Cristi Moore:                     I’m not sure I had really thought through what that meant, but I did feel solid in that answer at the moment. I was then asked to present a vision for the interior design practice of which had just recently been established and was in need of leadership. They also gave me a really large sandbox, a pretend one. So for the next couple of weeks I was totally consumed in crafting a vision. Night after night, I was literally building sandcastles in my sleep. And at that point I knew in my heart that this needed to be the next step in my career.

Michelle Salyer:                Wonderful. Well, we’re certainly glad to have you here, and it does sound like an exciting opportunity to build something from the ground up. So as we said, BRPH was definitely known as more of a technical firm. So you along with Matthew Flores were brought in to help elevate that design side. And so how has that been going?

Cristi Moore:                     Well, Matthew and I joined BRPH within a few months of each other, and we are both from similar backgrounds but a little different. He’s an architect where his experience focused on healthcare and evidence-based design. And then me, as an interior designer, focused on hospitality and story-driven design. And yet together, we are extreme complements. When we met and began getting to know each other, we quickly realized that we spoke the same language. It’s a language that was a bit different from the engineers within BRPH. And historically, they have been known as a big E, a little A firm, technical excellence at the forefront. And so was there any reason that BRPH couldn’t be just as well known for design excellence? Absolutely not. That was the vision put forth, and Matthew and I were brought in to do just that, to elevate design across multiple disciplines and multiple market sectors. We do bring a different approach to design. It’s more than solving a problem or just coming up with a solution. It’s about achieving design excellence, bringing creative and human-centered strategy to the forefront.

Michelle Salyer:                Okay. So tell me a little bit more about what you mean by that. Not just solving a problem or providing a solution, but bringing in that human-centered element.

Cristi Moore:                     Matthew and I bring somewhat of a different approach to design. What we found working alongside engineers, that they’re here to solve problems. They immediately want to come up with a solution and Matthew and I are like, wait, we need to back up. There’s some things we need to do up front to achieve design excellence and the best solution. We want to bring a creative and human-centered strategy to the forefront, and then the solution will come.

Michelle Salyer:                Okay, wonderful. So one of the key initiatives since you first started in terms of elevating design has been a project called ThirdSpace. Tell me more about that.

Cristi Moore:                     Well, most of us are familiar with the term third places. And this idea originated by Ray Oldenburg. He’s an urban sociologist who conducted research back in the ’80s, and he wrote a book coining this phrase. He essentially determined that your home was considered your first place where you spent the most of your time, and then where work was your second place. And that was essentially your second home. And third place was any social sphere outside of your home or work. It’s all those informal spaces that support relationships among community. And he studied these activities and patterns because he wanted to understand how architecture and design could support third place activities. It’s also been determined that the most effective third place design echoes many elements of hospitality. They take cues from hotels and lounges and restaurants. And that idea aligned perfectly with the vision of bringing a hospitality-driven approach across market sectors here at BRPH.

So a third place became ThirdSpace, and that was us giving a nod to BRPH’s origins, which began 60 years ago when we supported clients to reach the stars and we literally propelled humans into space. So we can honestly say that we know space and spaces. Third place is where people want to be, and we call that place ThirdSpace.

Michelle Salyer:                Okay. So we know space and spaces. And so this initiative is there for ThirdSpace. Okay. Tell me, how does that apply to BRPH’s business and BRPH’s various markets?

Cristi Moore:                     So ThirdSpace has become a creative design collective within, and it’s here to expand and leverage the firm’s multi-disciplined capabilities in providing a global caliber design service to our clients. And we’re targeting the opportunities where elevated design principles and a hospitality-driven approach are essential to achieving client goals because not all of our clients strive for that. And we’re doing this across aerospace and defense, manufacturing, hospitality, of course, entertainment, commercial spaces, and even education. Matthew and I, we are co-design and creative leaders, so we’re jointly responsible for cultivating this new initiative. And we have so many aspirations already.

Michelle Salyer:                I’m sure. So it’s interesting to think about pulling in these elements of hospitality into spaces like manufacturing facilities or payload processing facilities or any type of aerospace and defense. So that’s going to be really interesting to see.

Cristi Moore:                     Unfortunately, a lot of our projects in those sectors are highly confidential, and there are a few specific ones where we do have the opportunity to bring this hospitality essence into spaces that aren’t historically known for places people want to be for large amounts of time.

Michelle Salyer:                Okay. I gotcha. All right. Why do you think the timing is right for ThirdSpace?

Cristi Moore:                     Well, when I look back a few years prior to joining BRPH, I realized that myself as a design director and our leading hospitality designers, we were being utilized on a multitude of projects outside of hospitality. And those were projects spanning commercial spaces, workplace, senior living facilities, multifamily amenities, and even a museum that wanted design that was rich in story. And by all means, we were not museum experts, but we played a critical role in the projects and we brought in subject matter experts for the museum. So it was a really great partnership in those situations. The essence of hospitality, it’s desired across markets because it elevates the social connectivity. It’s about creating environments that draw people together for the casual interactions. And that’s what’s at the forefront of design no matter the project type. Other markets, they are now recognizing the benefits and even possibilities of those increased synergies when both the physical and social design are in alignment. And ThirdSpace embodies this approach.

Michelle Salyer:                I know it’s kind of difficult to explain some of these concepts in an audio podcast. So for those listeners who would like to see more and learn more about ThirdSpace, they can go to BRPH.com/ThirdSpace. But we are not through talking to Cristi yet. I want to hear a little bit more about where your inspiration comes from. I know you attend a lot of design conferences and shows around the country. How do you draw inspiration from those and how do you bring that inspiration back to BRPH and to your clients?

Cristi Moore:                     Yeah. We believe that it’s imperative that your designers from a range of experience are present at design conferences and trade shows. It’s about more than just what you see or what you hear or even what you touch. Staying on top of trends and the latest products is all important, but it’s more about it being an immersive experience. It’s about the people and the relationships that you’ve built over twenty-something years, in my case, or establishing those connections if you’re just beginning your career. And the products, which the eye candy, that’s what your surroundings are when you’re there. And that’s the magic that’s around the social affair. That’s what makes it a design experience.

And we always end up with tons of photos. And it’s not until you get back and you start to review what you snapped and the details start to speak, patterns and stories start to emerge beyond the products in the photo. And those insights vary from show to show. There are some trends that linger for quite a while and others that just take a peek and move on. We typically post our inspiration and takeaways on social media, so you should follow along.

Michelle Salyer:                Okay, wonderful. You said before that your superpower is in brand storytelling. Explain what you mean by that term, if you would.

Cristi Moore:                     At one time in my past, I was asked to explore how I approach design, what my unique perspective, what was individual to me, to think about how I am most influential, what is your superpower?

I found the exercise extremely hard to tackle because every one of us “designs’ and don’t we all use the same methods because we’re learning from and we’re inspired by each other. And then that person shared with me that a space for them starts as a white box. And that was an aha moment for me. I realized that I did have a unique system of creative madness. I don’t see a white box even when it literally is just a white box in the beginning. For me, even before spatial elements evolve, there is already an evident soul or vibe developing from the moment I begin researching and immersing myself into the challenge. There’s like this intuitive emotion. I start to feel things and there are already layers of texture and visuals whirling in my mind.

Each journey and a story, it begins with these carefully curated images and inspiration and materials. It becomes this collection of details and moments. And then I realized that the process of designing itself is a journey and a story, and that became my story. And so I’ve been told many times that I’m a storyteller and it wasn’t anything I aspire to be. It wasn’t a career goal. It just sort of happened.

So the next time I was asked what my superpower is, I now own that and I believe it. And so my official superpower statement is, my strength and superpower is the ability to identify the storyline that inspires the project design, giving purpose and meaning to the design experience. And brand is brought into the mix because of the multitude of branded projects that we must align our design narrative with. You think about each hotel has its own brand story, so it becomes second nature to the way I think about design. And regardless, we as a team apply a branded approach to storytelling, to all the projects we work on. And I believe this is a distinction that BRPH’s ID practice brings to any project.

Michelle Salyer:                That sounds fascinating and it’s amazing to see it come to life visually as well. So walk me through a project, if you can. Tell me how you developed a visual brand story for a client.

Cristi Moore:                     I can’t share that out loud. Our team, I’m constantly mentoring across sectors on the process. I do love sharing how I think, how to approach something a little bit differently from the next person and inspiring talent to be part of the process and bring their individuality to design and ideation.

I think the big change in my career, I did get a master’s in design management and strategy from SCAD, and it was all about design thinking. And for somebody like myself who was really strong in mathematics, young, and answers wanted to be black and white, and in design, that’s not how it is. It’s really subjective. And what this design thinking taught me was the ability to tell story through visuals and have these visuals have purpose. And when you build this story, narrative design solutions, they’re obvious.

Michelle Salyer:                It takes some of the subjectivity out of it.

Cristi Moore:                     Yes, it does. So I don’t know, it’s been really exciting and that’s what… Just something snapped in my career. I think that’s when the whole storytelling superpower came about because I’m a very visual thinker.

Michelle Salyer:                Okay. I know quite a bit of research goes into each project as well. I know you don’t want to reveal too much about your process, but I know that you do take the time to really understand the clients, understand their history.

Cristi Moore:                     Yes, absolutely.

Michelle Salyer:                The history of the areas where they do business and that kind of thing. Okay. I won’t share any more of your secrets.

Cristi Moore:                     Thank you.

Michelle Salyer:                So tell me, what’s next? What are you looking forward to? Can you tell us anything that you’re working on?

Cristi Moore:                     As the national practice leader for interior design, I continue to be focused on growing the practice to support all of our market sectors. And we now have a robust team in both Orlando and Atlanta, as well as a few interior designers sprinkled across our national footprint. I’m looking forward to our team feeling that delight of bringing elevated design to our clients and growing into agile designers that cross market sectors with ease.

Michelle Salyer:                Okay.

Cristi Moore:                     And it’s also all about ThirdSpace. Matthew and I have set a number of aspirations for ourselves. We won’t possibly accomplish them all this year. It’s one step at a time. But the possibilities are thrilling to us both.

And what am I working on? Let me think. Well, in addition to a number of hospitality projects and pursuits, I’m really excited about an opportunity. I can’t share details, but what is most fulfilling is bringing that hospitality mindset to a different arena. It’s spinning heads for sure.

Michelle Salyer:                Okay. Very interesting. Intriguing. All right. Well, thank you so much, Cristi, for sharing a little bit more about your personal journey, why you came to BRPH, the process of ThirdSpace and how that evolved, and also your superpower, brand storytelling. So thank you so much.

Cristi Moore:                     You’re welcome.

Michelle Salyer:                I guess if clients want to learn more, or prospective clients, then they need to give you a call.

Cristi Moore:                     Yes, please do.

Michelle Salyer:                Thanks for joining us today for Outside the Box with BRPH. We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s episode as we explored some of the most innovative and challenging projects and the most pressing issues and trends in the AEC world. Learn more about us at BRPH.com. Email us at [email protected]. And follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X. You’ll find this podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. Be sure to subscribe so you’ll be notified when new episodes are posted. See you next time on Outside the Box with BRPH.