Small Business Awards 2020

A small and focussed design studio, working inside of Mexico but serving the world at large, has made it their mission to eschew trends in favour of creating beautiful interior designs that improve the world, one project at a time. Headed by Jorge Saucedo, Vulca Studio is a breath of fresh air when it comes to redesigning commercial sites. Vulca Studio hold strongly to the belief that design is a powerful tool. The studio uses the tool to create commercial spaces that resonate with the brand and elevate the customers’ experiences. Although based in Mexico, the flexible business model of the studio lets it grow and adapt when necessary, making it possible to develop projects regardless of where they are in the world. Vulca Studio have worked with a wide variety of global and local brands of all sizes. From small local repair shops and convenience stores to supermarkets, hotels and many other businesses of varying commercial size and nature. Jorge Saucedo of Vulca Studio has made it the firm’s purpose to make the world better, one design at a time. He always approaches a project by questioning what has already been established and rethinking each new concept or idea each and every time. Jorge said “We create interior and architectural concepts that engage emotionally with users and are congruent with the expression of the unique values and philosophy of each brand. That is why Vulca Studio has adopted a design process that helps the brand become more profitable in different ways through a ‘commercial consciousness’ approach. “Our success relies on three key components that we primarily focus on: the quality of the creative team involved, the powerful discourse found in the created design itself, and the special attention placed on congruency and originality, rather than on main trends.” Through all stages of the process, Jorge and his team work closely with their clients. It is important that the clients see their own hand in the finished project. Firstly, Vulca Studio work with the client to help them decide what their success parameters are. With a grounded base and a clear target of expectations, Vulca Studio can then set about achieving, and exceeding, them. Overall, Jorge sees five main pillars of their successful process. These are the values of the brand they are working with, the main issues that the clients are experiencing, the future of the brand, the business model, and the situational awareness of the market sector. One of the ways that Jorge ensures the success of his designs is by reframing the challenges. Often, the client comes to them with a series of symptoms and don’t have a clear image of the solution. It is his and his team’s job to identify the root cause of the situation and develop a solution that truly gets to the heart of the problem. Only after doing this, can they start creating a discourse from which the shapes, colours and materials of the project will be defined. Each project is different. Each client is individual. Because of this, Vulca Studio eschew current trends as a creative basis and work to find the design that perfectly suits the client’s needs. Concept comes first. To that end, Jorge builds a team of high-performance freelancers for each project, or forms collaborations with specialised studios. It brings in different ideas and expertise to each design. Most Innovative Architecture Studio – Mexico Sep20216 “I like working with freelancers because they tend to be more responsible, and I think they have a unique mindset,” Jorge said. “Rather than measuring performance by working time or attendance, I prefer to evaluate the team by results.” All of this lends itself to the adaptable and expert business model Jorge has built for Vulca Studio. He said “The beauty of the way the studio is structured is that it can grow on-demand according to the size of the projects I get involved in. The size of the office or the number of staff I have working at Vulca Studio is irrelevant to me. Instead, I focus on getting bigger, better, more challenging projects, and adapt the team around me to meet the challenges. For example, right now we are working in a metropolitan park and a new housing design for Mexico that will hopefully bring to life a concept that allows a better quality of living for a lot of people. I am eager to share these kinds of ideas with the rest of the world. “I am looking forward to exporting more of our designs to the world at large. We believe we can make a good contribution anywhere since the studio is focused on finding ways to solve problems, and not in a specific style of design or trend.” Contact: Jorge Saucedo Company: Vulca Studio Website: www.vulcastudio.com Instagram: @vulcastudio Email: [email protected]