WHO WE ARE

VISION

VALUES

SERVICES

HISTORY

CULTURE

COMMUNITY

Who We Are

Perspectus is a full-service architecture firm committed to creating exceptional experiences. Founded in 2001, we design healthcare, campus + cultural, senior living, civic + government, commercial, historic architecture, laboratory, and clubs + hospitality spaces.

With a dedicated team of designers, we cultivate a culture of world-class talent, creativity, and passion. As an award-winning architecture firm, our team understands how to deliver custom solutions through communication and innovation.

The combination of unparalleled skill and customer service delivers enriching, exceptional results for our clients.

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Our Vision

Our reason for being goes beyond buildings. It’s about more than architecture. We exist to create a better-designed, more functional world through exceptional spaces that enhance healing, working, learning and living. We exist to achieve our clients’ greatest aspirations and improve the lives of those who encounter our designs. Within a framework of cooperation, respect and professionalism, we turn complicated problems into stunning solutions, architect tomorrow’s experiences while acting as protectors and rejuvenators of history, and we employ our earned expertise to rise to any challenge set before us.

Our Values

CREATIVE FOUNDATIONS
Ingenuity is in our DNA, and the best tool we have for designing bold solutions to our clients’ greatest challenges.

CONSTRUCTIVE COLLABORATION
Developing true partnerships with our clients creates enduring relationships rooted in trust. Within our walls, fostering an atmosphere of teamwork and belonging promotes professional growth and fulfillment.

BUILT-IN AMBITION
An inherent, persistent penchant for success drives all that we do — from the spaces we create to the history we preserve to the environment we strive to protect.

Services

Perspectus believes that constraints lead to compelling design solutions, approaching the design process as an opportunity to tackle challenges that will maximize value for our clients.

Problem-solving is where design happens. A modern approach to design and construction should be responsive to the project’s context and the demands of the program. In other words, no project is a clean slate; the context gives life to the design.

The Perspectus team is adept at blending creative solutions, emerging trends and construction technology into comprehensive solutions that directly respond to project site, program and user needs. Quality architecture utilizes simple, efficient design gestures that produce dynamic and highly functional spaces. These spaces are built with contemporary, durable materials and buoyed by technical competency. The result is a structure that is sustainable, efficient, and infused with timeless character and approachability.

Founded in 1963, our team has generations of knowledge in historic preservation and renovation, providing comprehensive historic architectural services.

  • Conditions/Defect Surveys
  • Cyclical Maintenance and Preservation Plans
  • Design Guidelines for Historic Districts
  • Federal and State Historic Tax Credits
  • Grant Research and Applications
  • Historic Materials, Conservation and Specifications
  • Historic Structures Report
  • Historically Compatible Design
  • Local Landmark Listings
  • National Register of Historic Places Nominations
  • Paint Analysis and Historic Color Identification
  • Restoration and Adaptive Reuse
  • Section 106 Compliance Review

We work with clients in a wide range of pre-design services to help lay the groundwork to bring a project to life. Our team embraces the challenge to see what possibilities are, given existing conditions with real-world constraints, subsequently determining the best use of site and facility resources.

Perspectus offers environmental graphic design services, bringing our clients’ brands to life through signage, wayfinding, branded environments, exhibits, and donor recognition. We envision opportunities for brand integration early in the design process and find inspiration at the intersection of space and brand experience.

Perspectus is committed to integrated interior and architectural design. Our embedded approach offers a full scope of planning and design services to ultimately affect the spaces in which people heal, work and learn.

The comprehensive solutions we bring to our clients enhance the users experience through comfort, aesthetics, and wayfinding – and add value with increased flexibility and performance.

We excel at planning responsive, responsible environments. Understanding that developing a cohesive vision often begins with identifying potential in existing frameworks and proposed solutions, we work to develop strategies that meet a client’s needs pragmatically, efficiently, and poetically.

Perspectus has committed to sustainable design and strives to apply new, environmentally-responsive innovations in all our work. By promoting a whole-building approach to sustainability, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) recognizes performance in project planning, sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, indoor environmental quality, innovative strategies, and attention to regional priority issues.

With an in-house team of LEED Accredited Professionals, our commitment is reflected in how we plan and design buildings that contribute to their context; that are of enduring quality and style; that provide healthy, inspiring and functional spaces for their occupants; and that use minimal energy and materials resources. Perspectus is proud to have worked on many LEED-certified projects, with other projects targeting certification on the boards and in construction.

History

Perspectus was established in 2001 by Bill Ayars, FAIA, FACHA and Larry Fischer, AIA, ACHA. Their vision: an architectural design firm recognized for service and design excellence. Bill and Larry fostered a culture of growth at Perspectus, building a design legacy that would outlast them through transparency and mutual trust.

In 2018, Salvatore Rini, AIA, ACHA and Michael Lipowski, AIA, ACHA assumed Managing Principal roles alongside Bill, as Larry transitioned into his new role as Chairman of the firm’s Board of Advisors. In 2022, Bill announced his retirement from Perspectus, while Mike and Sal continue to guide the firm’s ongoing mission of exceptional design and service.

 

MEET OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM

Our Culture

We believe that creating a culture of creativity starts with supporting workplace diversity. That’s why our employees come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, each bringing their own unique perspectives to projects.

Fostering creativity in the next generation of architects is another key part of what we do. Perspectus is an AIA Ohio Early Professional Friendly Firm, in recognition of our commitment to providing exceptional support and opportunities for early professionals.

For us, finding the right talent is just as important as encouraging the right work-life balance. We know that our employees’ well-being, health and overall happiness is the driving force behind creating exceptional work.

JOIN OUR TEAM

Community

Corporate Social Responsibility is an integral part of our culture at Perspectus. We encourage employees to use their skills, expertise and talents to give back to the Northeast Ohio community.

Our team makes significant contributions by participating on boards and committees, joining fundraising efforts and doing pro bono work. Volunteering our time and energy not only benefits the organizations themselves, but also creates a more positive, rewarding atmosphere for our team.

We have employees volunteering at Greater Cleveland Food Bank, Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity, City Dogs and various other local and national nonprofits. We are also proud to be a part of many prestigious professional organizations.