Company Name:
Opsis Architecture, LLP
Your Name: Jeri Tess, Associate Principal & Senior Designer
Number of years in business: 20 years

Company Description:
Opsis is a 56-person architecture / interiors / planning firm focused on serving private and public clients. Our staff includes 33 registered architects and seven interior designers serving clients across education, arts, recreation, civic and commercial markets. 

Opsis Architecture’s mission is to advance our client’s vision through inclusive and inspired design, elevating the human experience and nurturing our environment with the enduring art of design. We affirm our commitment to diversity, celebrate cultural and intellectual richness, and are unwavering in our advancement of inclusion and equity honoring all people. In pursuit of these goals, we embrace the challenges of sustainability, climate change, and the responsibility to improve our environment. 

Our studio culture embraces the values and activities that coalesce around exploring, giving and sustaining as a continuum that builds a sense of community within and outside the studio. Learn more at opsisarch.com.

What is your favorite IIDA event and why?
Next: An Annual Keynote Speakers Series and more specifically the recent event “The Myth of Empathy”.  This was an incredibly relevant subject matter that sparked a great deal of conversation and is very relevant to the work of Interior Design. The Next events have been very inspiring and I hope they will continue.

What aspect of your company are you most proud of and why?
The Opsis community and its commitment to the larger community and the high quality of design and commitment to sustainability.

What value do you see in being an IIDA Oregon Chapter Annual Sponsor?
IIDA is a strong voice for the interior design community and in particular the Oregon chapter provides excellent programming and events and a strong sense of community. 

What impact do you see the IIDA Oregon Chapter having on the A&D community in Oregon?
IIDA Oregon provides great educational programming around current design thinking, social responsibility and technical aspects of interior design. They provide a forum for advancing the profession of interior design.   

What are your firm’s core values?
We embrace our responsibility as designers to improve the environment through the well-considered intervention of our architecture. The interconnection of sustainable practices in our buildings and studio environment is a core value of the Opsis culture. 

What gets you excited about design?
The opportunity to work with clients to realize their project and create spaces that will inspire users while meeting all their needs. 

Favorite design magazine/blog?
Archdaily

Most inspirational project?
Pat Reser Center for Performing Arts, a 550 seat world–class multidisciplinary arts center in central Beaverton that will enhance the cultural and economic vitality of Beaverton, Washington County and the greater region by providing more access to arts, entertainment, and educational programming for residents and visitors.

What does interior design legislation mean to you and/or your company?
We are committed to supporting the efforts of IIDA Oregon Chapter to enact meaningful legislation that will elevate the entire profession of commercial interior design in the state of Oregon. We recognize our responsibilities on the public’s health, safety and welfare.