Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/479656
22 Celebrating 40 Years • MBH ArcHitecture i t's been a great 40 years for MBH ArcHitecture, but what can be anticipated in the next decade and beyond? Probably a combination of the same passion coupled with new opportunities. "We will grow as we have been," said Nicholas Michnevitz, iii, one of the firm's two principals. "i would hope that we will be growing with new clients and retaining our existing clients. Our sophistication and scale of projects will increase. We used to always be called the best-kept secret in the state, but that's changing. People are recognizing the firm and our qualities and experience." Michael B. Herlands, the firm's founding principal said, "ere's a part of me that doesn't want to get much bigger than this. is is a problem all firms face. ere's a point where if you grow from 20 to 30 people, the principals may lose their hands- on involvement. You probably can't be intimately involved in every project. right now, Nick and i are intimately involved in every project in the office. i think Nick and i would like to continue this even as we branch out into different directions," Herlands said. "Our next 10 years will be more of the same but that's not a mundane outlook," added Michnevitz. "We've always been proud and enjoyed what we're doing. e caliber and scale of our projects will be getting bigger and the firm will simply have to grow to handle all this." Something the firm prides itself in is not allowing history to repeat itself in its work, which suggests the future will always incorporate new design concepts. "We do interesting projects and we never do cookie cutters. ere is no project done in the past that is the same as the next. it's just great to say we're innovative, we're passionate and i think we're very talented," said Herlands. One of their most recent projects is the design of a medical marijuana productions facility in Watertown. As principal, Nicholas Michnevitz pointed out, "e project melds together a variety of past project experience, including research and development; light industrial manufacturing; as well as pharmacy and clean room designs for the medical field. it could be described as "Manufacturing Agriculture." Michnevitz said, "We have seen a considerable resurgence in light industrial design lately. Some are for repeat clientele we worked with back in the 1980s and they are looking to renovate the inside of their buildings to bring them up to new technologies or needed expansion." He continued, "ere are still major manufacturers here in connecticut and we're becoming more of a service industry in the state." Looking Ahead To The Future Above: Mary Wade Home, New Haven " There is no project done in the past that is the same as the next. It's just great to say we're innovative, we're passionate and I think we're very talented." – Michael B. Herlands, MBH ArCHiteCture, LLC