Rob Haik is the founding principal of H Design Group, a local architecture firm. Haik graduated from the Drury University architecture program in 1992 and his company has been steadily growing since its inception in 2000. In a recent interview with The Scoop, Haik provided some insight into his career as an architect.

When did you decide you wanted to go into architecture?

I decided I wanted to go into architecture when I was probably fourteen years old.  I took a drafting class, and I was awarded the state honor of drafting.  Ironically, I think I was the only one my age that submitted anything, so that’s probably why I got the state award. *he chuckles*

What aspects of Drury’s architecture program were the most integral to shaping the architect you are today?

I think the biggest thing that Drury taught me was drawing.  It wasn’t necessarily about math courses; it wasn’t about the foreign language.  It wasn’t really even about the foreign study.  It was about drawing, drawing, and drawing.  And that’s something I carry through with all my projects, and I try to teach my younger staff.  It’s ironic that everybody’s so prone to using computers. Even my interns from Drury; they don’t know how to draw.  So what I do is when they start with me, is I give them a sketchbook, and they learn to go back to drawing because it’s that simple thought that you can put on a piece of paper, that you can then transform into something great.  And I think Drury taught me that one aspect.

Ironically, it wasn’t the…  What do you guys do at Drury?  I forgot; I’m so old.  You know, where they try to make you rounded in every aspect?

Liberal arts?

Yeah, that.  It wasn’t so much the liberal arts for me, it was just the drawing aspect.  I had some great professors with one-on-one, and I think that’s a lost trait that’s been hidden.  It’s been replaced by computers.

How did your original vision for H Design Group differ from what it is today?

I’ve grown up. My original vision for H Design Group was that, hey, I’m gonna draw buildings, and do banks.  I did a lot of banks growing up, but now we’re so broad.  What we’ve learned is I think H Design Group has become a community architect.  You see our signs everywhere.  I don’t know if that’s good or bad.  I think it’s good, but we’ve kind of separated ourselves from our competitors because we are that community architect.

Is the Springfield area a good fit for your business, or do you think it would be more successful in bigger cities?

I think the Springfield area is great for our business, because it’s where we started.  Our very first project as H Design Group was a livestock place off of [Interstate] 44.  Since then it’s gone from livestock to the Discovery Center, which was probably our biggest project that started getting us out there.  I guess what I wonder is that, our company has developed a reputation for multi-family, student, and senior housing.  That’s kind of what we’re based on, and if we were to go to a bigger town, I think we would lose that which we pride ourselves on, which is our relationships.

What makes H Design Group’s work culture unique?

What makes our work culture unique is because even though we have offices for the three partners, the partners still work out amongst the bullpen with the staff.  Our doors are always open, and we cultivate an environment that’s based off of family.

When we hire somebody, we have the entire staff interview all at once.  So when somebody comes and interviews with us, they interview with my partner first.  If it’s worthy, then I get to interview, then the last step is the staff interview.  And actually, what we’ve done, is we’ve not hired people because the staff doesn’t see it, or it challenges them even more to work harder.  It’s a team environment.

What is one project that you’re especially proud of?

I think the one that comes to mind is DiVentures.  Based out of Nebraska, two guys, probably two of the richest men I’ve ever met.  They came down and met me wearing flip flops and shorts; I didn’t know who the heck they were.  Basically they said, “We want to build a pool project, and you’re in charge.  You’re in charge of picking the contractor, in charge of picking the colors, everything.”  They let me set my own deadline, let me set my own budget, and they basically said, “If you make a mistake, you admit it. You apologize for it. You learn from it and you move on.”  And those four things, I’ve taken throughout my entire office.

Who is your biggest inspiration?

It would probably be my grandfather.  I feel like I’m in the same shoes as he was.  He had nothing, and he became a very successful businessman.  I had nothing when I started H Design Group, and I’m fortunate to have a lot now.  He was in the lumber business.  He didn’t have anything, and now he’s got one of the Forbes top 100 lumber companies in the nation.  He’s been extremely successful.

In my own upbringing, I kind of turned my back to the family business and started my own.  I started H Design Group with five thousand dollars.  Not to sound arrogant, and not to be bragging, but we’re over probably three and a half million now.  I think that’s pretty awesome.  In our environment, you just don’t see that anymore.  That was our fathers and our grandfathers.  It seems like now, inheritance is a big deal to a lot of people but you work hard and believe in God, and that’s the sort of things that can happen.