BOULDER - OZ Architecture Inc., one of the Boulder and Denver area's largest architecture firms, has moved about 20 or 25 staff from its office in Boulder to its office in Denver.

OZ Architecture has a large portfolio of notable local projects, including the Pearl Street Mall, Boulder Community Hospital Foothills Campus and the University of Colorado-Boulder's Visual Arts Complex.

OZ Architecture will now have about 20 employees working at its studio in Boulder at 1805 29th St., Suite 2054. About 95 people work in Denver.

Kelly Davis, a partner with the firm, characterized it as "a shift of mass."

"Maybe 20 or 25 people have changed the addresses on their business cards," Davis said.

The move consolidates some units and services in Denver, and it should let those people work more efficiently and cooperatively, he said. Employees at OZ also shift around studios and work offsite, depending on projects.

The move is not part of a staff reduction or consolidation.

"We're all over the place. We work nationally, we work internationally, we work regionally, Davis said.

"It has a lot more to do with responding to a really changing and dynamic environment for both architecture and business," Davis said.

OZ Architecture employed about 235 people in 2007, Davis said. The profession was hit hard by the recession, and OZ cut its staff. It now employs about 120 people and has been able to rehire people let go a few years ago, he said.

The firm looks to have mostly recovered while becoming more efficient.

"We're almost back to the levels we were prior to the recession," Davis said.