Swatches

BY NORA BURBA TRULSSON

>>> who's doing what, where in the design industry

Humphries Poli Architects of Denver has reaped numerous local and state AIA awards in recent months. The firm, founded in 1994 by Dennis Humphries, AIA, and Joseph Poli, AIA, won a Merit Award from the AIA Denver Chapter for its design of the 10,800-square-foot Granby Library in Granby, Colorado, a structure marked by tall, shed-like forms and abundant daylighting. Another Merit Award from the AIA Denver Chapter was given to the firm for the design of a four-level single-family home sited on a narrow urban lot. Humphries Poli was also named the 2006 Firm of the Year by the AIA Colorado Chapter, and Humphries was named 2006 Architect of the Year by the AIA Denver Chapter.

Ed LaCasse
Above: Dennis Humphries. Right and above: Humphries Poli's single-family home and the Granby Library.

AIA Arizona has named Swaim Associates, Ltd. of Tucson as the 2006 Firm of the Year. The architectural firm's recent projects include planning for the restoration of Mt. Lemmon, outside Tucson, after a devastating wildfire; the Reid Park Zoo Conservation Learning Center, also in Tucson; and several local high schools.

SmithGroup of Phoenix was honored with two Citation awards from the recent AIA Arizona design competition. The architectural, engineering, planning and interiors firm won for the unbuilt 71,000-square-foot University of Arizona College of Medicine complex on the site of the historic Phoenix Union High School grounds in downtown Phoenix. Also winning was the design of the U.S. Arid-Land Agricultural Research Center in Maricopa, Arizona. (For more on that project, see this issue's "Project Walk-Through" as well as "The West's Best: AIA Western Mountain Region Design Awards.") In other firm news, Glenn E. Hurd, AIA, LEED, AP, has been named associate and project manager for SmithGroup's workplace studio. Hurd previously was with architectural firms in Phoenix and Minneapolis before joining SmithGroup.

Above: Glenn E. Hurd. Left: SmithGroup's University of Arizona College of Medicine complex.

The Tucson, Arizona lighting design firm UltraLights Architectural Lighting, Inc. recently sponsored its 2006 design competition, open to students at the University of Arizona's College of Architecture. Winning first place was student Cameron Miller for an edgy, industrial sconce. Runner-up was a sleek, winged sconce designed by Brandon Schans. Coordinated by Jim Restin of UltraLights and U of A faculty members Larry Medlin and Rich Michal, the competition was juried by a panel of design, architecture and lighting professionals.

Denver-headquartered RNL Design has been ranked number eight on a national survey of the best architecture firms to work for in the United States in a survey conducted by Zweig White, a management consulting, information and education organization serving the design and construction industry. RNL, which also has offices in Los Angeles and Phoenix, is the only Colorado firm to make the top 20 listing. The firm is also opening a new office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Dekker/Perich/Sabatini has moved to its new corporate headquarters in Albuquerque. The architectural firm will be a primary occupant of Jefferson Green, a three-story, 85,000-square-foot office building of their design. The building, which features recessed, shaded windows with a sleek curtain wall system, is the first building to be LEED-CS pre-certified in New Mexico. It utilizes numerous recycled and regional materials, plus strategies for water and energy savings.

Dekker/Perich/Sabatini's Jefferson Green.

Fort Collins, Colorado–based Associates in Building & Design (ABD) recently completed the renovation of a single-family lakeside home, also in Colorado. Using a palette of stone, alder wood and hickory, the project included updating the entry area and changing an existing bedroom into a home office with its own entry. ABD was founded by principals Rita Peterson, ASID, and Bob Peterson, a builder.

		Residential before (left) and after (below) by Associates in Building & Design.

In Las Vegas, Carpenter Sellers Architects will be doing interior design services on the new Revage Medical Spa, also in Las Vegas. The spa, which is scheduled to open in late spring and offer patrons skin health and maintenance services, will feature natural stone, mosaic tile, high-tech lighting and water features in each treatment room.

Denver-based Norris Design, a planning and landscape architecture firm with other offices in Chicago and Phoenix, has secured contracts for several new projects. The new work includes Parterre, a master-planned community in Thornton, Colorado; Prairie Center, a mixed-use community in Brighton, Colorado; and the redevelopment of Buckingham Square Mall in Aurora, Colorado. In other firm news, staff members Joanna Waldenmeyer, Bonnie Nizolek and Sam Kessel have received LEED accreditation.

Danoski Clutts Building Group, a Las Vegas general contracting firm, has been awarded several new projects at McCarran International Airport. The projects include News Travels South, the remodeling of a 1,500-square-foot retail space; News Travels North, the remodeling of a 700-square-foot retail space; and Duty Free Retail, the remodeling of a 1,900-square-foot space, all designed by Alan Stromberg, AIA, of Boulder City, Nevada. The three retail projects are in addition to the Budget Rent-A-Car facility, currently under construction at the airport's new rental car facility, and the Sullivan Real Estate offices in Las Vegas, a tenant-improvement project nearing completion.

The Phoenix office of Langdon Wilson has promoted Artin Knadjian, AIA, LEED, AP, to senior associate partner; Glen Wollenhaupt, AIA, LEED, AP, to associate partner; and Robert Lufkin to associate. Knadjian replaces Michael C. Schroeder, AIA, who retired last year, as head of the Phoenix office. Additionally, the architecture, planning and interiors firm has hired Aleks Webster as project manager and Oscar Castillo as job captain.

DFD CornoyerHedrick of Phoenix has promoted and added several employees to its multidisciplinary architectural staff. Mike Krentz has been promoted to managing director of the firm's residential design division, while Denis Moncion, AIA, has been hired to be managing director of the retail design division. Additionally, new hires include Artie Vigil as designer and technical support specialist, Dina Ross as operations manager, Mitch Armstrong as graphic designer, and Fabiola Gamboa, Paul Heikens and Wayne Valrey-Jung as junior designers.

Lisa Gallun, Connie Burton, Margie Snow and Sara Parsons of the Denver interior design and space-planning firm Gallun Snow Associates have recently passed the American Academy of Healthcare Interior Designers certification examination. The advanced certification reflects knowledge of the highest standards of healthcare design. Gallun Snow Associates specializes in healthcare, education and hospitality projects.

Interior designers Luis Corona, Allied Member ASID, and Michael Barron, Allied Member ASID, have revamped their Scottsdale, Arizona business Casa del Encanto into a retail home accessories store and a separate interior design studio. The store remains in its original Mexican Colonial–style building in downtown Scottsdale, while the studio has moved to 8140 E . McDowell Road, also in Scottsdale. Corona and Barron specialize in residential, clubhouse and law-office design.

Above: Luis Corona and Michael Barron. Left: Casa del Encanto.

Norma Escandon Michaels, ASID, principal of NM Interiors Group, Inc., has relocated her office to 202 E . McDowell Road, Suite 171 in Phoenix. Michaels, who founded her firm in 2003, specializes in commercial projects. Recent works include offices for the Phoenix Institute of Cardiology, two landscaping companies and Globe Net Properties.

Design industry author, coach and speaker Fred Berns of Louisville, Colorado has launched InteriorDesignBusiness.net, a new blog that focuses on how design professionals and manufacturers can increase sales and profits. The blog provides sales and marketing insights for the design professional.