HOW WE BEGAN
Bud Miles began his architecture career as a campus architect at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) following time spent in the army and completing his education at the University of Oklahoma. His experience working on a major building program at the Health Sciences Center gave him the desire in 1980 to form Miles Associates– an opportunity to begin his own work and to move away from a coordinating role.

For a little over a year, Bud ran a one-man office working out of his home, where his family members could often be found answering the phone and providing ‘administrative’ support. He eventually rented space from another local architect and ultimately formed an office at Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF), one of his primary clients at the time and even today. Working with OMRF and Ross University, based in Dominica and St. Kitts in the Caribbean, required Bud to travel and gave him confidence that he could have an impact on Oklahoma City area communities and beyond.

THE SHIFT
A shift in the direction of the firm occurred in the mid-1990’s. Through referrals for projects at a scale beyond the firm’s workload at that time, Miles Associates had justification for growth. Growth has been paced, but deliberate. The opportunity has presented itself due to a clean track record - no debt or insurance claims in the history of the firm.

Miles Associates growth began, and is sustained still, through referrals (90% of work is referral-based). As the firm took on more work, more staff was added to strengthen the Miles Team. Miles Associates began on the reputation of Bud Miles, but has been reinforced through the firm’s history by the team supporting him. Those who know Bud would refer to him as a ‘good guy’ and a guy that can get work done – a trusted participant in a client’s work. Successfully completing a project, i.e., ‘getting the work done’, is the key to cultivating a lasting relationship with clients – and Miles Associates has done this very well.

A NEW BEGINNNING
In the last 15 years Miles Associates has been in a posture of gaining more work every year and that growth took a big step in 2004 with the acquisition of the Miles Associates Tulsa office. Miles is currently working towards acquiring or assembling a Dallas office – a piece Bud believes will provide the firm with invaluable opportunities because of location. Any additional acquisitions will make Miles Associates outreach even broader. These additional studios offer Miles Associates clients’ advantages that speak to their geographical location, but also to each studio’s inherent specialties, strengths, experiences and resumes – providing clients’ with a broader knowledge base to their benefit.

Since 1980, Miles Associates has provided services more valuable than just architecture – Bud and the firm freely offers counseling, advice, expertise on projects (both existing and new development) and has supported many low or no budget projects with resources typically unavailable to them (pro bono or reduced fee programming or other pre-design services).

Miles Associates primary area of practice – advanced technology – has historically been a mainstay of work and will continue to be a focus even while the firm concentrates growth in the areas of corporate, healthcare, commercial, higher education and hospitality architecture. By selective growth in the Miles Team, hiring individuals’ conscious of clients needs – Miles Associates is growing in the right way and at the right pace.