Architecture Trio Designs Space For the Long Term

Steve Miller actually helped teach his partners, Richard Boskus and Audy Lack, when they were students at the University of Arkansas.

Miller, himself a UA graduate, taught there from 1978 until he retired from teaching in 1999.

In 1996, the trio formed a partnership, aptly named Miller Boskus Lack Architects P.A., and moved into Miller’s studio, which is adjacent to his house in the woods near the Clear Creek addition in Johnson.

Drive up to Miller’s house now on any given weekday, and about 20 cars will probably be parked around the glass and wood structure and its two outbuildings, each crammed with desks and computers.

Ask Miller what year the firm turned the corner and he jokes, “next year.”

But Boskus said the firm now employs 21 people with six licensed architects, and that it has enjoyed an average 10 percent increase in billings per year over the last decade. Its growth has been steady, controlled and based on the growth in the area, they said.

The group said they have no specific niche, but that they have had the luxury of being selective about the projects they assume, meaning they don’t have to take on industrial projects unless they really want to.

Boskus said the firm designed more than 1 million SF of office space in 2004 alone, but office space isn’t their only forte.

They’ve done work for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in Bentonville, including the company’s employee fitness center, and J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. of Lowell, for which they designed the new Tower Two, as well as the Fountain Plaza in Bentonville, the yet-to-be-completed Bordino’s restaurant and the Lander’s Auto Park, both in Fayetteville.

Boskus tends to design schools, restaurants and nursing homes, of which he’s done several for Beverly Enterprises Inc. of Fort Smith, he said.

Miller leans toward designing retail and vendor office space, while Lack has more experience with car dealerships, churches, schools and data centers, they said.

Lack said their eclectic mix as a firm is one of the reasons they’ve stayed competitive and been able to ride the tide of growth in Northwest Arkansas even as the area’s needs have shifted.

Another reason, the three agree, is that they try to steer away from “trendy” materials and design. Their philosophy is to create buildings that will last and continue to serve beyond a few years.

Brick and glass, for example, are proven materials, Boskus said, so there is no reason to use materials that look good in the short term, but may not have a long life.

Miller said the firm actually likes the increase in competition that has swarmed Northwest Arkansas from out-of-state and Little Rock, though they don’t really consider it “competition.”

“There’s plenty of work for everybody,” he said, adding that other firms simply raise the bar for good architecture and design. Every architect wants to do good work and see an improvement in the overall design environment, he said.

Boskus said in the past few years, he’s seen a change in the types of jobs the firm can design. The increase in people has brought in larger, more regional contractors who are capable of building more complicated projects than the norm 10 years ago, he said.

They all agree that the influx of people from out-of-area has brought a desire for a different type of architecture than there was before “Vendorville.”