ABOUT We BELIEVE
We need to be a fit for you and you need to be a fit for us, otherwise the project will never be as successful as it can be.
We respect our clients. We respect their time, their money and their trust.
Great service matters. We are known for our design ideas, responsiveness and our ability to quickly adapt to project needs.
Over designed projects are failed projects. We believe in the basics and we never overlook what really matters.
What we will NOT do
We will not “WOW” you with our big fancy office because we don’t have one.
We will not impress you with our long boiler plate proposal because we do not use one.
We will not show up to a meeting with you at the project or job site, wave our hands around and act like we have all the answers because we don't, nobody does.
We will not pass you off to an inexperienced intern or junior architect the minute after you agree to work with us. We are MAP, what you see is what you get.
Do you charge money to do things?
For most all of our design, and consulting, yes: We do charge a fee, plus expenses. And, candidly, we charge kind of a lot.
Being compensated for our professional design work is how we are able to feed and clothe our families.
As for how we decide what to charge? It’s not particularly complicated. We charge a lot to do things we are great at for people who know it’s a bargain. And, that’s it. Only way to fly. We don’t “do proposals” and we never “sell.”
We learned a long time ago to only work for or with people with whom you have mutual admiration and respect—and who already think you’re valuable and great at what you do. In our experience, the folks who expect you to make a case for your own value make for terrible clients. They may be good negotiators and nice people, but working for them is a gut-wrenching travesty. And we don’t do travesties.
With all that said, we do a fair amount of (private, unpublicized) work with non-profits and other deserving groups. And, no, we normally do not charge for this work. So, If you’re working for a good cause or represent an organization that’s trying to do something you know we care a lot about, please ask us. No promises, but we'll do what we can with what we have.
“Expensive” or “Free.” It’s a fee schedule that works.
METROPOLITAN ARCHITECTURE PRACTICE
Roger Berent, registered architect Kyle Hulewat
"MAP is a small firm, but do not be fooled by that. I have worked with many large and multi-national architecture firms in my time at the YMCA and MAP out delivered them all. Without knowing anything about them except seeing the work they produced for us; I figured this was a large multi-disciplinary firm. It was refreshing when I found out MAP was only Roger and Kyle. I was beyond surprised. They are nimble, extremely responsive, their designs were great, and their presentation style is second to none. I looked forward to working with them in the future."- Scott Landry, executive vice president for strategic development, Metropolitan Detroit YMCA
