Human-centered Design Thinking in Action at IDEO’s Boston Office
HDR Settles in ‘Seat of Chicago Architecture’
HDR is moving its Chicago base into the Inland Steel Building, one of the most iconic office buildings ever created, providing the perfect base for the company’s expanding influence in office interiors.
Read the article in The Business of Furniture - bof.press >
Workplace Design: Where Creativity and Business Drivers Collide
Wellness is a key component of the modern workplace that has inspired a number of unexpected office design features. Do you really need the interstitial slide to take you from the second floor to the ground floor? Well, yes, one could argue. The endorphins of that exhilarating transport can spark the energy your staff member needs to power through that data analysis report. And the retro vending machine with free snacks? Absolutely essential. A healthy mind is a function of a healthy body, and fueling that body will optimize productivity among your staff.
#pw2wrigley Part I: Relocating to a Historic Chicago Landmark
Tucked into the bend of the Chicago River along its north bank, the building that our firm’s founding office will call home this month is Chicago’s famed Wrigley Building – a City of Chicago Landmark listed on the National Register of Historical Places. Housed in Wrigley’s North Tower, the new workplace will mark a significant moment for the office by honoring the city it’s called home for 80+ years, while laying the groundwork for its future.
January Architecture Billings Index Dips into Negative Territory
The monthly Architecture Billings Index (ABI) from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has dipped back into negative terrain for the first month of 2016, following a primarily positive performance in 2015.
Social Tables DC | Video
Social Tables CEO Dan Berger talks about the company, its culture and new headquarters on G St NW in Washington, DC, designed by VOA's workplace group.
Watch the video here or visit the website at www.voa.com >
2016 Top 100 Interior Giants Research: Firms and Fees
Flash back five years, when fees stood at $2.2 billion (remember, they are now at $3.5 billion). Since then, business on a pure dollar basis has expanded 59 percent—a heck of a run in any industry. Another interesting stat: Firms are getting more out of their designers than ever before, as fees per employee topped $300,000 for the first time, up 15 percent. (Staffers report that 80 percent of their time was billed to clients.) Sweet numbers, indeed.
CannonDesign's office is workplace, laboratory and showroom
CannonDesign’s Illinois Center office isn’t just a workspace — it’s where the firm tests new workplace strategies before it rolls them out to clients. Tim Swanson, Chicago office practice leader; Mark Hirons, design principal for the company's corporate/commercial practice; and Meg Osman, executive director for the corporate/commercial practice, took Blue Sky for a tour.
Architecture firm VOA to be acquired
Chicago architecture firm VOA Associates is in a deal to be acquired by a bigger Canadian firm. Edmonton, Alberta-based Stantec has a letter of intent to acquire the firm in a deal expected to close in late March, according to a statement this morning. Financial terms were not disclosed. VOA has 280 employees, with more than 140 in Chicago. Stantec has more than 15,000 employees, including a 50-person Chicago office.
Eva Maddox, The Pioneer Of "Branded Environments," Is Retiring
You know those enviable offices that use design to perfectly communicate what the company inside is all about, without saying a word? You have one woman to thank for that practice: Eva Maddox, the interior designer who developed and coined the concept of branded environments. On February 1, she announced her retirement from Perkins+Will, where she was a design principal.
IDEO sells minority stake and joins Japan’s kyu collective
Design giant IDEO has joined the kyu collective – a diverse group of creative businesses which is a strategic operating unit of Tokyo-based Hakuhodo DY Holdings. As part of the move, kyu is taking a minority stake in IDEO, but the consultancy will continue to be owned and independently managed by its partners.
10 Questions With... Fauzia Khanani
Lots of people fantasize about dropping everything and moving to the Big Apple to make their dreams come true, but Fauzia Khanani actually did it. After earning a Master of Architecture degree from the University of California, Berkeley, she dropped everything and moved across the country to start her practice, Foz Design—based on a single commission. Four years later, the company she confidently named after the Arabic word for "success" is living up to its title, with public and private spaces cropping up around the country.
COFFEE SHOP MEETS DESIGN STUDIO IN MINNEAPOLIS
At HDR, we’re energized by creating environments where people truly appreciate spending time. We always encourage our clients to think about the importance of providing memorable and inspiring spaces; creating a diversity of opportunities for collaboration, interaction and concentration; and telling the story of their brand through the design solution.
Why We Forecast
Gensler launched its Design Forecast in 2013 to highlight how business, social, and other trends are transforming our design solutions. The Design Forecast speaks to Gensler’s core belief that great design can power our clients’ success in a rapidly changing world.
Barception: Why your reception desk is getting bigger in 2016
In a world where the office is an expression of brand, everywhere is front-of-house. What we consider the “front-of-house” in the workplace (as well as the location for public areas and what we find in them) is increasingly evolving in a communal way. Creative and TAMI (technology, advertising, media and information technology) companies along with start-ups have taken the lead in this transformation.
2016 Interiors Awards Winners Announced
Contract magazine's 37th Annual Interiors Awards winners were announced January 29th at the Interiors Awards Breakfast at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York. The event honors the winners of the Interiors Awards, which recognize international projects across 14 categories, as well as the Designer of the Year and the Legend Award winner.
Art Gensler Receives Lifetime Achievement Award from the Design Futures Council
The Design Futures Council (DFC) presented Art Gensler with a lifetime achievement award on January 14, 2016, at the organization's Leadership Summit on Design Innovation & Technology. The award was presented by James P. Cramer, cofounder and chairman of the Design Futures Council, and Doug Parker, managing principal of Greenway Group and an honorary senior fellow of the DFC.
Gensler says new Birmingham office could be '200 strong'
International giant Gensler has opened a new outpost in Birmingham as part of longer-term plans to create a huge 200-strong office in the city. The office will become the headquarters for Gensler’s regional work and the company said that its ambitions were to grow the studio "to be as big as the London office, which is home to 200 people."
Jakob Lange on Founding BIG Ideas and the Diverse Future of Architectural Practice
In an age when companies of all types are seeking diverse and creative ways to achieve their goals, the traditional model of architectural practice appears to be increasingly old-fashioned. Last year, one of the most dramatic changes in the make-up of architectural practice was the foundation of product design firm BIG Ideas, an off-shoot of Bjarke Ingels Group, which is tasked with solving problems that are usually outside the scope of an architect's work. In this interview, originally published by Archipreneur in their "Archipreneur Insights" series as "Making BIG Ideas Happen Through Design With Jakob Lange," the head of BIG Ideas speaks to Tobias Maescher about the foundation of this entrepreneurial company and the value of keeping such close connections between a product design company and its parent architecture firm.
The AIA Announces the 2016 Institute Honor Awards for Interior Architecture
Five projects were recognized for interiors that inspire.
The AIA announced the recipients of its 2016 Institute Honor Awards for Interior Architecture, which recognize outstanding interiors designed by U.S.-based architects, on Friday. This year's five winners include two education projects, a theater, a center for contemplation, and a 400-square-foot studio apartment.