Welcome to our Studio Director, Simon McGown!
Join us in welcoming Simon McGown, RA as the Studio Director at Runa Workshop. This is an incredibly exciting time for the Runa team and our future, as we see it unfolding. Simon comes to us with a portfolio of diverse experiences that we feel will enhance every part of the Runa process, from the inside out. With a Graduate degree from Columbia University, Simon began his career at world-renowned architecture firm, Morphosis. From there he went on to owning his own Architecture firm in Harlem, New York, where he prides himself on having a client-centric approach. Most recently, he was the VP of Design for an Austin based start-up that provided web-based, immersive virtual tours for workplace environments within the United States.
Aligned with our ethos, Simon believes in a highly collaborative approach to design and management where he leads with empathy and candor. In this role, Simon will build upon our framework to emerge strategies that promote innovation and growth, allowing us to expand our practice in Austin and beyond. To learn more about Simon, his goals and what he is most excited about in this role, follow link in bio.
Q: What made you want to join the Runa team?
A: The impressive body of local work made possible only by a great team of design professionals and client relationships. Runa is at a great moment in its firm history, poised to create lasting impact here in Austin and beyond and I can't wait to do my part to bring the next chapter of the firm to fruition.
Q: What is your favorite thing to do outside of work?
A: Experience new places, food, art, or cultures with my family or to reevaluate what I thought I knew through the eyes of my daughters. I have a voracious appetite for watching AustinFC and am currently getting back into long-distance running, hoping to run a half marathon before the end of the year.
Q: What is your biggest professional accomplishment to date?
A: Creating a customer-centric design firm in Harlem, NYC where our neighbors were our clients and clients were our neighbors. Planting roots here in Austin, I hope to replicate this model, by building design services not around the profession but around the fundamental problems and opportunities our clients experience.
Q: What is your favorite possession (design based)?
A: One of the 100 million ceramic sunflower seeds produced by Ai Wei Wei for "Kui Hua Zi (Sunflower Seeds)", which was given to me by a friend. The work is incredible in that each seed was mass produced by hand, seemingly vast and repetitive and yet each seed is unique.
Q: What are you most looking forward to in this role?
A: After three years working within the product/tech industries, I'm looking forward to coming back to architecture with a product mindset and further honed practice management style that brings the best out of designers, meets clients needs, and reevaluates how architects can impact the local built environment by taking a more proactive role in development and non-traditional services.