Multidisciplinary diversity holds a strong meaning at Portland-based design firm Otak Inc. Examples include National Park Service facility rebuilds in Hawaii, hotels in Portland and culvert replacements in Washington. Otak’s expertise in a wide range of areas and subsequent increase in business has earned the firm recognition as ENR Northwest’s Design Firm of the Year.
“We offer a lot of different service lines for a firm of our size; it is quite unusual,” says Jim Hamann, Otak CEO. “We have a unique offering where [clients] can work with more of a regionally focused firm, but we provide a well-coordinated range from civil and sitework to buildings to project sites with one company instead of a series of companies. We are fairly unique in that way, and there is a sweet spot where that works really well for clients.”