Meet Christopher Mercier of Inglewood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Mercier

Hi Christopher, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
(fer) studio or Form Environment Research, was started in 2002 when I left my nine-year architecture position at Gehry Partners and started my practice. Then in 2003, after working out of my house for a year and with one employee and a strong interest in studio expansion, we relocated to the City of Inglewood to become part of an artist complex along Hyde Park Blvd. Today (fer) studio is still in the great City of Inglewood and celebrating our 22nd year anniversary as a leading local design focused architecture studio, offering specialized environments for those looking for a unique and impactful way to change and improve their lives.

Back In 2002, while still working at Gehry Partners, was when I finally committed it was time to go out on my own. It was driven by and need to more fully explore my thoughts and ideas around how architecture can positively impact people’s lives. At that time, I had four potential new projects all set to begin and as such I was confident (in retrospect, excited yet very naïve) in my decision to sort of jump ship and move into the world or entrepreneurship. My exciting entrepreneurial journey quickly subsided into fear of the unemployed, when after about 6 months on my own, all four of the projects I was counting on had all dried up. I quickly found myself in hustle to drum up work or implode. Luckily, with the help of some great friends and colleagues, I was able to secure a couple of new small projects and keep things afloat. This leads to one of the most primary aspects of running any business, your going to constantly need to find new work / sales and you’re going to consistently need great help in doing that and then more great help in performing the work to sustain it! So job number one, find and build a great team both inhouse and out, if you want your business to succeed.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I can’t imagine running any business is a smooth road and I suspect if someone is telling you that they aren’t sharing the whole story. I will say there are parts of the journey that are smooth sailing and help to build your confidence that you’re doing alright, then like anyone traveling any lengthy distance, sooner or later you’re going to hit dirt roads, sidewinding trails, uphill climbs, unexpected delays and at times you might even need a four-wheel drive vehicle to get through. So be prepared! For me, this comes down more to how one deals with and ultimately transforms obstacles and challenges than anything else. No matter how much preparation you do, and you should, your still going to hit unexpected hurdles and getting over these is at the heart of running a business or for that matter running a life. The first, and I think most important aspect for doing this is based in ones attitude and I feel taking a good attitude in a very tough situation helps support ones vision. The way you see a problem, how you creatively interpret the future around it, literally sets the stage for your ability to resolve and or navigate it. To help get yourself in the right mindset first you need to calmly (remove emotions as much as possible), appropriately and accurately identify and articulate the situation as a problem and then determine what isn’t working and what still is (see John Dewey’s Pattern of Inquiry – its amazing). This sets the stage for you to start to consider what are the possible ways to navigate the condition, and ideally this includes ways to potentially use it as an opportunity for growth or change or some other avenue of value. Yes turning the obstacle into a value situation is the ultimate goal. This doesn’t mean the condition your facing will not cause damage and possible trigger other consequences you need to address, this is simply a way to try to get something of value out of a situation that initially appears completely negative. Over the years I have gotten better at trying to take this on and apply it but in all honesty sometimes my emotions send me astray. Buy no means is this easy but I think every time you gain some amount of knowledge or some small advantage, you and your business are growing, incrementally, but growing!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Business/Practice/Creative

What we offer and what our specific customers are looking for is a life change. Whenever someone is building a new home or moving into a new workplace or other type of facility what they are expecting is a change, a change from how things were in their lives to something new and better. This may involve repairing a rundown condition or adding more square footage, a better organization of space or even a completely new house, office of facility. Every new (or remodeled) building offers this idea of change to some level. However, most of the Buildings we see built in the world are created to provide this notion of change at a sort of minimal level, generally focused around efficiency, flexibility, cost and include the need for a applied market driven façade décor. Think of almost any strip shopping center or housing development and you can see what we mean.

What we have learned over the years is how the quality of the Architecture, or the way in which it supports new ideas and new actions, can have a substantially more impactful result on the level of personal change. This has led us to understand something unique about our specific customers. Although similarly they are looking for some level of efficiency, flexibility, and cost, what they are really after is a sort of reinvention of who they are. They are searching for a shift in their life/work style, a shift in how they move in the world, a shift that ultimately offers them a new personal / professional vision and identity. They are looking to grow and change, and they are looking for help with how to do this through the experience of living and working in a new Architectural Environment(s). And this is exactly what we offer!

Our work at (fer) studio or Form Environment Research, is the creation of unique and specialized works of Architecture. We offer environments that are specifically designed to change and improve the lives of our clients / users. Unique homes, creative offices, specialized mixed use residential and commercial projects and such. All individually designed and formulated through a collaborative team effort, working hand in hand with each client to ensure their project is as individual as they are. Through this close-knit method, we learn to better understand our clients and are then able to construct specialized environments that intricately fit and support their thinking and actions towards achieving their needs, goals and dreams. Specialized environments that are able to offer a new way of seeing and understanding the world through lived experience, instilling a refreshed level of wonder, excitement and action to their lives.
e. Our design philosophy is quite simple, we believe Architectures purpose is to change lives. What we mean by this is not only helping them functionally operate more efficiently & effectively because of better designed, organized, and sustainable spaces and places but much more importantly, and again the real intention of Architecture, to help them re envision, re-think and reinvent the connective experience in their lives. What Architecture offers that makes it more than mere Building(s), is that through its experience it can encourage thought and active interpretation around how the environment (world) is intertwined. How we creatively engage and need each other to live happy successful lives, in a linked form of experience (spatial ecology). And when it is on point (trans-relational), it creates inspirational experiences of unprecedented & unique relational conditions and exchanges (new spatial & user relational connections), that alter that way we act and perform in our lives. And because of this, we all get better at what we do, together. Architecture moves us!

Contemporary iconic Trans-relational ENVIRONMENTS for building ambitiously creative lives.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
I would say one of the most important things to learn, which I mentioned above, you can’t do it alone and you’re not good at everything. I know, ouch! The sooner you learn this and figure it out it will be business changing, and for some of us it takes a while for this to really to sink in, me included. The objective it to find others who are great at the things you aren’t and get them to join your team. This is how you build a company, by getting the right people, doing the things they do best and getting everyone to work as a team. For further ideas around this type of thinking I recommend researching The philosophy of Transactionalism, which has helped me immensely over the years.

Pricing:

• Please see www.ferstudio.com to obtain a list of our design services.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ferstudio.com
• Instagram: @ferstudio
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ferstudio/

Image Credits
Santa Monica Residence – Photography by John Gaylord
Fullerton Residence – Photography by Karen Patterson Mercier
Ridgeline Residence – Photography by Joshua White
Newman Residence Rendering – courtesy (fer) studio