Checking Out: Matthew Walsh

What gave you the architecture bug?
Growing up in Rochester, N.Y., my father was a contractor, so I was always around his projects. I interned at architectural and construction firms during high school and while in college at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.

And the retailing bug?
After college, I went to work for Little Diversified Architecture in its retail practice. I found I liked figuring out with clients how consumers shopped, what made them go into stores, what made them buy more than they planned to buy.

Who were some of your early clients?
Nike. The Body Shop. Lucky Brand Jeans. We did a “Lucky Kids” store prototype for Lucky Brand Jeans. The apparel was for kids, but the store design was aimed at the parents. They were the ones who had to agree to spend a premium on their kid’s clothes.

And Nike is still a client.
Yes. In 2010, my three partners – Josh Cool, Geoff Lim and Dallas Barker – and I began Innovation and Design in Architecture (IDA). We sent an announcement to some of our former clients. The first day, we got calls from Nike and Benihana, and we were off and running. You could say Nike built IDA.

And you, in turn, developed with Nike the first LEED platinum store in the world.
Yes, and also several LEED gold Factory Stores for Nike (see page 28) as well as its Converse subsidiary, which we’re currently working to open.

Does every client these days want a LEED building?
Actually, no. Many of our clients tell us they don’t need the LEED certification, or say that the investment of going through the certification process is not worth it. But they do want to be sustainable, whether it is for the cost savings or simply a moral decision by their leadership. And, in fact, even if you don’t go LEED, there are lots of ways to be sustainable. Just a relamping program can save 20-30 percent on energy costs.

So you can develop a green program for almost any budget?
Yes, costs for sustainable materials and products continue to become more affordable. We’re also beginning to isolate the time it takes to get back any level of investment, in lower operating costs and other efficiencies.

Staying on top of your game. That must appeal to Nike.
I’ll say. My favorite maxim of Nike’s is, “Evolve. Immediately!”

Upstate New York to North Carolina to California. How did that happen?
I started my career in Charlotte. But when Little opened a West Coast retail studio, I applied for a job there. I’d always wanted to go to California.

Because of the weather? The movies? The surfing?
No, because of the music. Sublime, Tha Dogg Pound, the Long Beach sound.