The evolution of a company allows internal structures to be modified and adapted according to the needs and opportunities encountered when change occurs. New generations are part of the team’s history to be written.
At the beginning of 2023, the new generation of directors made way for Miriam Modolell, Alex Guallar and Judit Pérez as the new members of Grup Idea’s management team.In this interview we have the opportunity to get to know them better and to talk to them about this new organisation chart. We will get to know first-hand how this team manages and organises its work and we will learn about the objectives they share for both the national and international areas.

 

About the company

• Where did you specialize, what were your first jobs as professionals, how did you start at Grup Idea and how have you evolved professionally in the organisation?

(MM) My training as an architect took place at the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB), where I graduated in 2000. After spending a year in England and another year in France, in 2002 I started working at Grup Idea as an architect on bank office refurbishment projects. My work evolved as project manager for retail projects, project coordinator and finally head of international projects.

(JP) I am a Technical Industrial Engineer from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC). I joined Grup Idea in 2007 as a member of the engineering team. My first two years in the company were combined with a Master’s Degree in Building Installations, also at the UPC. Since 2023 I am responsible for the organisation of the company.

(AG) My university education began with technical architecture and later architecture at La Salle (ETSALS) – URL. As a student, I worked on executive projects for single-family and multi-family houses. Subsequently, I worked in a surveyors’ office carrying out projects in the public and private sector, such as theatres, schools, residences and housing. Finally, in 2007 I joined the Grup Idea as part of the team that at that time we called “In Creation”. I worked in parallel on design and implementation projects for the office sector. Later on, I was responsible for healthcare projects such as dental clinics and medical centres, continuing as head of brand expansions for both retail and healthcare. Since 2023 I am project manager for the national area.

 

• How has the internal organisation of the company been restructured? What is the aim of this change?

(AG) The new structuring of the company is the result of the continuous changes in the sectors in which we develop projects. The evolution of clients and society means that we have to do the same.

We have opted for in-house people with extensive work experience. The company itself seeks the personal growth of its team, seeking greater control and organisation of personnel in order to improve profitability and work for clients.

 

• Looking at it from the inside, how do you assess the evolution of Grup Idea in these more than 25 years? How do you imagine your future and that of the company?

(MM) Grup Idea is a company in constant evolution, from its beginnings and throughout its history. Adaptability to change and versatility in responding to customer needs have always been its strong points in its evolution. At Grup Idea, each person finds the right position for their skills and strengths, and that is an achievement of the whole team, especially the company’s management.

(JP) As my colleague Miriam said, Grup Idea is a company that has been able to adapt to changes over the last 25 years, even moving ahead of them, as with the introduction of teleworking before the Pandemic. Thanks to this capacity for evolution, Grup Idea has become a solid company and a benchmark in the market with a long history and experience, capable of adapting at all times to the new needs of its clients.

(AG) In my case, I’ve “only” been in business for 17 years. The evolution when you live day to day doesn’t seem so much, but when you start to look back from what we used to do to what we do today, it is a gradual transformation and a huge change for the better. Even working at a global level and with increasingly important projects and brands, I believe that the original values of humility, hard work and perseverance have been maintained.

 

• From your point of view, what do clients value most about our company?

(MM) Clients value our professionalism and our ability to carry out the work efficiently, i.e. with optimum results in terms of quality, time and cost. Customer satisfaction is our goal.

(JP) They also value our experience and track record. Some of our clients have been with us almost from the beginning.

(AG) Apart from our professionalism and technical capacity, they also value the fact that we are always at their side, trying to adapt our knowledge and experience to their needs.

 

About Developed & Technical Design

The implementation phase (developed & technical design) is central to Grup Idea’s activity. The company was born offering these professional services mainly in the banking sector and later grew in other sectors. In this phase, Architecture and Engineering go hand in hand in search of the best solution. Other firms, on the other hand, specialise in one of the two areas.

 

• How would you explain to a stranger what our brand implementation work consists of and why we do it this way?

(AG) Our job is to ensure that the image and needs of the client’s brand can be applied at a technical and legal level in the desired premises. It should be noted that at Grup Idea we offer a design service for brands and their implementation in all types of premises, both on the street and in shopping centres.

(MM) Most of our clients already have an image design concept with its Style Manual. Implementation means adapting the image design to a commercial premises, so that the public identifies this space with the commercial brand that represents it. The space we conceive must reflect that image design, that is the aim of the implementation.

 

• What is the “DESIGN & BUILD” package for you?

(AG) Colloquially speaking, it would be a turnkey project. There are more and more brands looking for this type of commission, in which the brand has a single interlocutor who manages and coordinates the entire process, from the signing of the premises to the opening of the establishment.

 

• Conversely, how do you manage a project where Design & Build is not part of the services offered to the client? How do you coordinate and communicate with the client and other professionals who may be involved in a project?

(AG) There are different ways of carrying out works and projects. In those cases where we do not work on design and construction from the same “house”, there is usually a project manager on the client’s side who acts as a lynchpin between the two branches. It should be noted that this may seem simple, but there are multiple factors that make each client or project work in different ways, depending on the scope of each of the parties.

(MM) At Grup Idea we have been working with these premises for many years. Since it is common for some clients to already have a previous design of their image, our work focuses precisely on implementing that design. And it is also common that the construction company is not part of our team but is a company that has won the tender for the work. It is precisely in these cases when it is most necessary to carry out Project Management work for the client, which we usually do.

 

• SECTORS: Does your way of working vary a lot depending on the sector? Or is a different specialisation necessary for retail, workplace or, for example, a social-health space such as a dental surgery?

(AG) My experience in each of them is that the general management and organisation is the same or very similar, what differentiates them is the applicable regulations and the time taken to process licences. In general, in dental surgeries, as there is Rx equipment (Orthopantomograph), the procedures are longer than in Retail or Workplace.

 

• Our team is made up of engineers and architects alike. What is the main advantage of this feature?

(JP) The main advantage of bringing together architecture and engineering in the same team is that the projects are developed from a global point of view, minimising changes in the construction phase.

(MM) The work at Grup Idea is above all teamwork. Professionals from different technical fields work together and with a continuous exchange of knowledge, so that the projects incorporate solutions in all aspects: design, construction, environmental aspects, comfort, lighting, technology, etc. Our job as project managers is to make this integration between professionals and project teams possible.

(AG) The advantage is that by working together, we achieve greater control of the project as a whole.

 

• We start with the feasibility study. You have sometimes said that this is a very necessary task in which we become “the eyes of the client”. What does this mean and why is it so important to entrust this work to a professional company?

(MM) The feasibility study is not only the beginning of the project but should be understood as a commitment to the premises and to the client. The latter will acquire the former on the basis of it and for a long period of time, and our role as technicians is to indicate to the client whether it is viable or not. It is a responsibility that the architect must take on as his own.

(AG) It is the most important point for me in a project. A good feasibility study will avoid problems and help the whole process to be successful. It should be noted that not all premises are technically feasible, or may have needs that entail extra cost. We advise clients to carry out the feasibility study before signing the premises.

 

• The role of the project manager is crucial: he/she is the project owner, the team leader and the only interlocutor with the brand. You have also defined him as a “peace of mind facilitator”, can you explain this concept better?

(AG) The goal for everyone is to be as agile and practical as possible. This is the objective sought by all the parties involved, hence, a good job carried out by this PM backbone can guarantee the success of the whole project.

 

• What is the difference between Project Management and Project Management?

(JP) The mission of Project Management consists of verifying and ensuring that the execution of the works conforms to the Executive Project drawn up, and compliance with current regulations, in order to allow its subsequent legalisation. All this within the agreed planning and monitoring the costs of the work. Likewise, the Project Management is also in charge of resolving all doubts and unforeseen events that may arise during the work, swiftly executing all the changes that may be necessary to adapt the project to these unforeseen events.

The tasks of Project Management are more extensive, and apart from the above, also include the coordination of all the suppliers that must enter the site, placing orders, and coordinating with the operating staff of the establishment after the end of the work and the start of the activity.

 

• One of the challenges faced by the project manager is to present the client with a realistic but honest schedule, something you emphasise a lot. Why is honesty and transparency so important in the relationship with the client?

(MM) Providing the client at the start of a project with a plan that satisfies him but is not realistic is not only a risk for both parties, it is also a decision that can easily lead to the failure of the relationship between the two parties. Honesty is one of our values that our clients appreciate the most, and to achieve it requires professionalism, efficiency and experience.

 

• At the licensing level, we have a technician specialised in reviewing regulations and technical code. What benefit or impact does this specialisation have on the work of the rest of the team?

(JP) With the addition of our regulatory technician, we have improved the quality of our projects. It has also allowed the engineering team to focus on the technical aspects of the projects.

(AG) The fact that we have a specialised technician, who reviews all the projects, guarantees a very high level of quality at the regulatory level.