Design itself is not enough. CASUA celebrated 33 years and is preparing to pass it on to a new generation

Let's go back to the beginning of the "CASUA story". It was 1990, you were leaving the Project Institute for the Construction of the Capital City of Prague and entering completely new territory. Free architectural design and private studios were just emerging, it was a very turbulent time...
Oleg Haman: All experienced architects, such as Karel Prager, Martin Kotík, or Karel Koutský, were waiting for the privatization of state project institutes. We were young back then, just over thirty. And we said to ourselves: We won't wait, we’re going to do it ourselves.
Aleš Poděbrad: Of course, we had no contracts at the time, looking back it was a crazy risk. I remember telling my wife at home: It will be fine, we just need to hang in there. Financially, it was very tight, but we had the know-how from the project institute, where we saw how big things were done in architecture and design. And those are exactly the kinds of big projects we wanted to do.

Where did you start?
Oleg Haman: We started in the attic at Aleš's grandmother's house. Back then we wanted to establish a company, and colleagues from the project institute came to us with an offer: Guys, you can't exist without us, let's create a company with seven partners. We declined that and stayed just the two of us.
Aleš Poděbrad: At the beginning, personal contacts helped us. I got a contract for the first BMW showroom in the Czech Republic. Oleg got a project for designing an elementary school on Jitřní Street and was looking for a designer.
Oleg: My then-boss at the project institute told me: Take it quickly before I change my mind.
So we learned to be very active.

What were the first years like after the revolution in the newly established architectural and design office?
Oleg Haman: It was a wild time. Until then, experienced architects and designers who knew how to build big things sat in project institutes. However, thanks to the possibility of free entrepreneurship, the project institutes began to disintegrate and suddenly everything was done differently.
Aleš Poděbrad: And we were lucky to have seen how cooperation among different professions worked at the Project Institute. How it’s necessary to bring together architects, builders, structural engineers, and other professions for large projects... And that’s what we then built on at CASUA. We never tried to be just an “authorial” studio.

We are the heirs of the model of large project institutes, where architects like Karel Prager had structural engineers, designers, and all professions around them. This model is practically non-existent in the market today. We are unique precisely because of the combination of this model with the utilization of modern technologies.

Today, CASUA’s team includes over 70 people, and you belong to the larger architectural and design offices. How did you manage to grow like this?
Oleg Haman: Gradually. In the architectural part, we have about 20 people, the rest are designers and builders. It was crucial throughout the more than thirty-year journey of CASUA that we never turned down a contract.
Aleš Poděbrad: That’s true; we still cannot say no to "the God of contracts" (laughs). When multiple contracts come in at once, we start to worry about whether we can deliver the project on time and with high quality, but we always manage it somehow.

Pioneers of BIM

Your office was also one of the first to begin working in BIM (Building Information Modeling) in the Czech Republic. How have new technologies helped in the development of your office?
Aleš Poděbrad: In a fundamental way. In 2007, we were the first in our country to start implementing software and designing in BIM. Back then, we purchased seven licenses of Revit and got to work. Today, everyone who designs or projects in our office has a Revit license, and I can’t imagine executing the large projects we do without them. That has pushed us significantly forward.
Oleg Haman: Thanks to that, we have become one of the largest players in hospital design, for example. We are working on the Motol Oncology Centre and other hospitals, such as in Jihlava, Karlovy Vary… and on a large hospital in Trnava, Slovakia. Technologies have allowed us to handle multiple contracts at once.

You also design for other architectural studios. Isn’t it strange – to be both a competitor and a supplier in the Czech market?
Aleš Poděbrad: It is somewhat a specific position. For example, we designed the Bořislavka complex on Evropská Street in Prague for our client KKCG according to the design by the architectural studio Aulík Fišer architekti. Or now we are working on a residential complex Lihovar and multifunctional buildings in the newly emerging district of Smíchov. Designing for other studios is normal work for us.

But CASUA is not just a design office; your team of architects has several dozen people...
Oleg Haman: Exactly. We have a new slogan "CASUA. Architects and Designers". We are somewhat unique – as the only ones within the Obermeyer Group in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, we have both professions under one roof.
Aleš Poděbrad: It is our DNA. We are the heirs of the model of large project institutes, where architects like Koutský, Kotík, or Prager had designers, structural engineers, and all other professions around them. This model is practically non-existent in the architectural office market today. That’s what makes us unique.
Oleg Haman: With the advent of computers, everything changed. Architects became capable of producing a lot of images but often didn’t know if these ideas were even feasible. We have maintained that complexity – we can not only design a project but also see it through to the end.
Aleš Poděbrad: Now we want to strengthen our architectural team even more. CASUA’s strength lies precisely in the combination of creativity and a technical approach.

Passing on to the new generation

In 2021, you as the two founders sold the company. Why?
Aleš Poděbrad: We were addressing the future. Our children have different professional focuses. Therefore, we started looking for someone who would take good care of our company after we leave and develop it further. Out of four serious candidates, we eventually agreed with Helika, who was looking for further growth opportunities in the field of architecture and design in BIM for its owner, Obermeyer Group. This step resolved the future of the company and gave it an international dimension.

Since your sale of the architectural and design office to a foreign group is rather unusual in Czech conditions, let’s pause on this. How much autonomy do you have within the Obermeyer Group?
Oleg Haman: Practically complete. We have committed to consulting the parent company on larger contracts, sharing references mutually, and assisting each other with contracts where the other can significantly enhance the quality of delivery to the client.
Otherwise, we are completely independent in all architectural and design works.
Aleš Poděbrad: We are part of a large group; there are over 220 of us in Prague, Brno, and Slovakia. This gives us the opportunity to work on large projects that we would not have been able to realize before.

Our slogan ‘CASUA. Architects and Designers.' reflects our uniqueness. As the only ones within the Obermeyer Group in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, we have both professions under one roof. We can not only design a project, but also see it through to the end.

You are currently addressing the succession of the two founders, looking for who will lead CASUA after your departure at the end of 2026. How do you choose your successors?
Oleg Haman: We have selected a group of seven people who are undergoing various training and tasks. We are working with an external consultant who has designed and accompanies the entire succession process, not only for the successors but also for us. A professional coach takes care of developing the best in those seven. Thanks to this, by the end of 2024, we were able to propose two candidates for managing director to the owner. And we will work with them throughout 2025 and 2026, until our final departure.
Aleš Poděbrad: But of course, such a process is complex. There are no procedures or studies on how to properly hand over such a large office after 33 years of leadership. When looking for successors, you just have a feeling that there is something in someone. And then you have to try to develop "that something" in them. It’s like letting a child go to their first party – you know that something unfortunate could happen, but they have to go through it.
And that’s why we have an external consultant to help us with the selection.

What do you think has changed the most compared to the beginnings of CASUA?
Oleg Haman: Back then, when we made a mistake, it was our money and our responsibility. Now our successors will manage something where they are responsible to the owner of the company for their decisions. The company already has a name, we work on large contracts, and we have many employees. That is a big difference. I wouldn’t want to have such a great responsibility anymore. (laughs)
Aleš Poděbrad: That's why we have introduced systematic work with people. When the company grew, and we suddenly had 15 or 20 contracts, people started leaving us – some were overworked, and some were angry. We had to learn to work on their satisfaction.

Maintaining such a large team and growing is difficult in Czech conditions, where there is a chronic shortage of labor. How do you take care of your employees?
Oleg Haman: Caring for people is extremely important to us because people are the key to our success. Besides a well-equipped workplace, we strive to create a friendly and pleasant working environment. To that end, we have common Monday breakfasts that kick off the work week, and we imported afternoon Fika (a coffee break) from our Swedish partners at Equator Stockholm.
Aleš Poděbrad: We also organize an annual professional foreign excursion for our people. We were in Hamburg, last year we were in Copenhagen, at C.F. Møller, which designed the extension of the Danish medical faculty. Among other things, they have been designing hospitals and healthcare buildings made of wood for a hundred years. It’s important for young architects to see top-notch projects and meet their authors.

The Future

When you look back: How has architecture changed over the last 33 years?
Oleg Haman: Technologically completely. We have moved from rotaring pens (Rotring is an iconic German brand of technical drawing pens used by architects since 1928 - note by the editor), T-squares, and triangles to computers, 3D models, and BIM. And now we have artificial intelligence with us. Recently, I was on a panel discussion about AI in architecture, and one of the things that was presented there was photorealistic visualization of a house. It was completed in a certain quality in three seconds. That would have taken about three days in the past.
Aleš Poděbrad: But the fundamentals of our profession remain the same. That’s why we insist that architects at CASUA know how to draw by hand. When you draw by hand, you think differently. That process is important.

What are the key topics in architecture today?
Oleg Haman: Sustainability, carbon footprint, and new materials. For example, our parent company Obermeyer designed the first official building with a zero carbon footprint in Dubai, the main headquarters of DEWA (Dubai Electricity Water Authority). Even though they did not make a profit on the project, it is a great reference.
Aleš Poděbrad: Client demands are also changing. Some developers are concerned about the percentage of glazing on the facade due to costs, while others want to be visionary and allow the project time to mature. It varies.

Do you participate in architectural competitions?
Oleg Haman: Yes, we are currently working on the invited architectural competition for Nová Slavia, a hockey stadium for six thousand spectators and residential buildings with 270 apartments. We also recently competed for the VRT station building in Jihlava. That was our first joint design with the company Obermeyer. For some competitions, we collaborate with partners – such as architects who have experience from abroad.
Aleš Poděbrad: Besides architectural competitions, we also participate in competitions for the position of general designer for clients from the municipal and development sphere, where architectural solutions are also processed by other architects.

We will never be a purely authorial studio – CASUA’s strength lies precisely in the combination of creativity and implementability.

Do you plan to expand abroad?
Oleg Haman: For expansion abroad, you need to be of a size around a hundred people or more. We have a stable size of around 70 people. Right now, we are focusing mainly on the Czech market and on the successful handover of the company. Foreign expansion will come later.
Aleš Poděbrad: Thanks to the Obermeyer Group, we have access to interesting opportunities. Besides Germany, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, they have branches in Greece, Abu Dhabi, and China, so the path for CASUA to foreign markets may be opened. However, we must proceed step by step; we do not want to build castles in the air. Luck favors the prepared.

What do you consider your greatest success?
Aleš Poděbrad: That we built a stable company that has survived all crises. And that we have never compromised on quality. Good design is fundamental, but sometimes that is not enough. You must be able to see the project through to completion.
Oleg Haman: For me, it is important that we have remained independent in what we do. And that we are succeeding in educating a new generation. As one colleague says – every generation of architects wants to create better buildings than their fathers. That is the future.

What advice would you give to young architects who come to you?
Oleg Haman: Learn the craft. Technologies are great, but you must understand what you are doing. And above all, do not be afraid of challenges. We also didn't know what we were actually getting into.
Aleš Poděbrad: And keep a broader perspective. It’s not just about beautiful visualizations. It’s about collaboration, understanding clients, and being able to manage the entire process. And also about patience – good things take time.

---

CASUA is an architectural studio founded in 1991 by architect Oleg Haman and engineer Aleš Poděbrad. Their goal was to build a studio where architects 
and engineers would collaborate and provide comprehensive services to their clients. The CASUA team consists of over 70 experienced, young, and ambitious architects and engineers who work on significant projects.
www.casua.cz