VCBO Architecture: A People-First, Design-Forward Philosophy INTERVIEWED BY FRAN PRUYN, CPSM Valentiner Architects was founded in 1973 by Niels Valentiner on a wing and a prayer. He had just graduated from architecture school. This is how he remembered it in his Legends interview: “After graduation in 1973, I started the firm right out of school. I took the one-week exam and hung my shingle out on the door: Valentiner and Associates. I had to look important, so I put ‘Associates’ after Valentiner. That’s the problem when you start a firm. You have to look like you somehow know what you are doing. “I must admit I would not recommend starting out that way, right out of school. It would have been smarter if I had gotten more experience — five or 10 years. I had two or three years working for architects that qualified me to get my license, so I had some of that background. I would not recommend that, but that is what I did.” Turns out he was successful: “I had some connections with developers and some others. One of my first real jobs was with a builder in Ogden who was doing a design-build credit union at Hill Air Force Base. That became the first America First Credit Union, and the project turned into a relationship.” And now, over 50 years later, VCBO Architecture is even more successful. VCBO has grown from a small, entrepreneurial practice into a top-performing design firm in the Intermountain West and beyond, delivering impactful, award-winning work. The firm is currently ranked No. 1 in Utah Construction + Design’s Top Architectural Firms (2025) and No. 406 in Engineering News-Record’s Top 500 Design Firms (2025). In 2024, Engineering News-Record Mountain States named VCBO its Intermountain Design Firm of the Year, underscoring the firm’s continued impact across the region and beyond. In addition to its Salt Lake City headquarters, VCBO serves Utah and the broader region with its St. George office. In 2025, VCBO welcomed FSC Architects — a boutique hospitality planning and design firm — and established a Honolulu office to support its growing Hawaii team. While the firm’s scale, capabilities and geographic reach have expanded significantly over the past five decades, its core people-first, design-forward philosophy has remained consistent. I spoke with several employees about why VCBO survives and thrives, about the culture of the firm, and what the firm feels like in 2026. From sustainability to change and succession, Coreen Crouch, NCIDQ, Principal, Interior Design Leader; David Cox, AIA, NCARB, Principal, K-12 Education Design; Emma Kratz-Bailey, CPHD, LEED AP, WELL AP, Sustainability Coordinator; and Jesse Sherr, AIA, LEED AP, Senior Architect, Project Manager, Associate, address each question from their unique perspectives. Why do you think that VCBO is successful? Coreen Crouch: We are financially successful because our clients have confidence in the designs. And we treat them well. David Cox: We go to school thinking we are going to design cool buildings. Running a business and making it successful is something very different; Niels was a visionary. The firm recognizes that our value is in our people and not our product. David Cox Jesse Sherr Coreen Crouch Emma Kratz-Bailey McKay Complex at BYU-Hawaii 22 REFLEXION
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