National architecture and interiors firm Dyer Brown announced that Paul Koch, AIA, NCARB, an admired and accomplished retail architect with national experience, has joined the firm. This key appointment affirms the growing reach that Dyer Brown brings nationally as well as the firm’s expansion into retail flagships and store rollouts, while it maintains a strong profile in the hospitality sector.
An accredited LEED Green Associate, Koch has built on his art school foundation and wide experience with successful retail companies to emerge as a leader in creating world-class customer experiences and memorable stores. Koch has worked in-house with such brands as Talbots, Cabela’s and J.Jill, giving him unique insights into the needs of the owners and brand managers with building locations from Philadelphia to Charleston, West Virginia, to Nanaimo, British Columbia.
“Our success depends on our insights into the companies and brands we serve, and Paul brings new depth and understanding in our key growth sectors,” said President Brent Zeigler, AIA, IIDA. “Paul will help us continue to consistently deliver results for our clients in design impact, return on investment [and] successful operations, as well as sustainability and wellness.”
Koch previously held posts as studio director for design firm Nelson and corporate architect and senior manager of construction and store planning at Massachusetts-based apparel retailer J.Jill. Koch also served as corporate architect for Nebraska-based outdoors purveyor Cabela’s and as project manager for Boston design firm Bergmeyer.
“I’m excited to help lead Dyer Brown’s next phase of growth in these key markets and delighted to have such a visionary, multidisciplinary team supporting the effort,” said Koch, who has four children ages six to 16. “Culture is a real harmonious thing, and Dyer Brown brings together all the different parts and pieces to get to the best possible solution — that means giving everyone a voice, understanding what each practitioner brings to the table and seeing their ideas inform new and radically superior solutions.”
With experience in site selection, enticing boutique storefront concepts and even technical specialties, such as incorporating massive aquariums and taxidermy displays in 300,000-square-foot Cabela’s destinations, Koch brings a broad understanding of the evolving retail scene. “One fascinating area of technology is how retailers track our every move as customers in their stores, which brings a new dataset on traffic and display effectiveness to inform future store modifications and redesigns,” added Koch, who studied architecture at Boston Architectural College and an immersive sustainability curriculum at Vermont’s legendary Yestermorrow Design/Build School.
Koch joins Dyer Brown as the 50-plus-year-old firm notes it is majority LGBTQ-owned and counts about 80 percent of employees as identifying as female, further diversifying the firm’s talent pool. “With Paul Koch joining us in 2023, Dyer Brown keeps with our tradition of establishing a ‘pipeline of leadership’ that builds on our local visibility and also our national presence, from Seattle to Atlanta to Boston, and our continued growth into the foreseeable future,” added Rachel Woodhouse, NCIDQ, Dyer Brown’s principal and director of operations.
