Back on a Record Pace

Ware Malcomb Fights Through the Recession

By Paul Napolitano

Recently discussing his firm's performance, Ware Malcomb CEO Larry Armstrong, above, said, "In the past our revenue tended to grow and dip with the cycles of the development community and the economy. But, over the last several years, we have been able to sustain more consistent growth."

When Larry Armstrong and Jim Williams took over leadership of Ware Malcomb, the Irvine-based architecture firm was earning less than $4 million a year and had 30 employees.

What a difference a decade has made.

Ware Malcomb reached $19 million in revenue in 2001. After dipping to $15.2 million last year, the company is back on track to reach $19 million again this year. The firm now employs 110 people; 32 are licensed architects.

"We had five record years in a row," said Armstrong, 46, the firm's chief executive officer.

Williams, 50, is president of the company. He is currently on a year-long sabbatical.

"We took a little breather in 2002, but we're back on a record pace in 2003," Armstrong added. "In the past, our revenue tended to grow and dip with the cycles of the development community and the economy. But over the last several years we have been able to sustain more consistent growth."

Ware Malcomb, a perennial powerhouse in the industrial market in Southern California, began operations in 1972. The firm was founded by the now-retired pair of Bill Ware and Bill Malcomb. In addition to Irvine, the architecture firm now has offices in Woodland Hills and San Ramon.

Armstrong said that three projects stand out as being especially significant in the past decade.

"Intuit's south corporate headquarters in San Diego was a signature project that helped establish Ware Malcomb as an expert in corporate build-to-suit projects," he said.

Lakeshore Towers, a pair of mid-rise buildings, solidified Ware Malcomb's reputation as a major player in the Orange County office market, said Armstrong, an Ohio native who moved to California with his wife in 1981 and joined Ware Malcomb three years later.

Ware Malcomb provided master planning, shell, core and interior design services for the Evangelical Christian Credit Union project in Brea. A 104,163-sq.-ft. office building and a 21,452-sq.-ft. administration building was completed on the 17.4-acre site earlier this year. (photo courtesy of Ware Malcomb)

Pacific Commons in Fremont helped position Ware Malcomb, the CEO said, as experts in the design of industrial buildings in Northern California.

Armstrong and Williams consider Voit Development Co., Catellus Development Corp. and IDI as their top clients.

"They provide a crisp, clear design that tends not to date itself," said Alan Sharp, vice president of IDI's western region. "We complement each other very well."

National clients such as Catellus, IDI and Trammel Crow have enabled Ware Malcomb to expand into the Bay Area and, more recently, into the Sacramento market. Ware Malcomb has gained "some market share" in Sacramento and has picked up some specific retail-oriented projects in the East Bay, Armstrong said.

"They have done a great job of ignoring the recession, so to speak, and just going out and capturing work and doing a good job," he said of his San Ramon staff. "They are also on a record pace."