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

ASLA recently announced the 38 winning projects of its national 2007 Professional Awards. Western firms with nationally winning projects include Design Workshop of Denver, which won an Honor Award in the general design category for work on the Glacier Club, a golf course development in Durango, Colorado; Design Workshop of Aspen, which won an Honor Award in the residential design category for a garden in Pitkin County, Colorado; and DMH Design of Denver, which won an Honor Award in the category of analysis and planning for Wildhorse Ranch, a development in Steens Mountain, Oregon. Winners will be honored during the October ASLA Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Design Workshop of Aspen's Pitkin County garden.

Hurley & Gagné, Inc., a Boulder, Colorado architectural firm, and Lizabeth Jones Interior Design, also of Boulder, recently completed a medical renovation project for Radiology Imaging Associates of Englewood, Colorado. The project consolidated several existing imaging areas into one new suite, which features a vibrant color palette, concrete countertops and wood flooring.

Hurley & Gagné and Lizabeth Jones Interior Design's radiology project.

Gensler of Nevada is providing branding development, interior design, environmental graphics, signage and architectural design of key exterior elements for the Miracle Mile Shops, a 1.2-mile-long entertainment and retail center in Las Vegas that includes some 170 specialty shops. The center is undergoing a transition from a Moroccan-themed environment associated with the former Aladdin Hotel & Casino into a more contemporary center connected to the new Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Gensler is part of a team that includes Friedmutter Group Architecture & Design Studios of Las Vegas.

Scottsdale, Arizona–based Moran Architects has broken ground on a sustainable resort development in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. Villa Cortez Luxury Residences and Spa will include 319 energy-efficient, Mexican Colonial-style residential units, a destination spa, restaurants, meeting facilities and recreational amenities with views of the Sea of Cortez.

Architectural Resource Team, Inc. of Phoenix is designing the expansion of Bostrom Alternative Center, an alternative school within the Phoenix Union High School District. The firm recently hosted a career day at the school, headed by expansion project architect Sasha Llamas, AIA, during which site plans, renderings and sample boards for the expansion were displayed for students to see.

The science and technology facility at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado has received a Platinum LEED rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. Designed by SmithGroup of Phoenix, the 71,000-square-foot facility houses solar, science and hydrogen research, and achieved the eco-friendly rating via such strategies as daylighting, energy-saving underfloor air systems and automated lighting controls.

SmithGroup's DOE science and technology facility.

In other SmithGroup news, Greg Buchanan, AIA; Mark Kranz, AIA; Craig Passey, AIA; and Mark Roddy, AIA, were elevated to principals of the firm, while David Vernellis was named director of operations. SmithGroup was also named one of the best firms to work for by Building Design + Construction magazine.

RNL of Denver has named Thomas Hootman, AIA, LEED AP as director of sustainability. Hootman is also chapter president and chairman of the board of the U.S. Green Building Council, Colorado Chapter. RNL's recent sustainable project includes the East Valley bus maintenance facility in Tempe, Arizona, and the Colorado Springs utilities laboratory.

The Denver architectural firm D.H. Ruggles & Associates has added an interior design division, naming Andrea Lawrence Wood as director and Sara Westra as senior designer. Wood, whose specialty is hospitality design, was previously with 4240 Architecture, Inc. Westra has worked on civic, educational, healthcare and other interior projects for firms in Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.

Thomas Hootman

Andrea Lawrence Wood

Nuszer Kopatz, a Denver land planning, landscape architecture and architecture firm, has promoted James F. Ramos, ASLA, to partner. Ramos, principal-in-charge of the firm's landscape architecture studio, has 15 years' experience in community development, residential, resort, park and streetscape design and is a graduate of Iowa State University.

Haley Balzano has been named director of design for Exclaim Design, a Scottsdale commercial interior design firm founded in 1992 by Jeffrey Rausch. Balzano, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, has worked on several award-winning Exclaim Design projects, including Re:Source Flooring Consultants.

Architect Peggy Kinsey, AIA, of Slaterpaull Architects in Denver has been named the 2007 Mentor of the Year by AIA Colorado. Kinsey, who joined Slaterpaull Architects in 1995, has worked on more than 90 educational projects throughout her career and is currently chair of AIA Denver's Committee on the Environment.

James F. Ramos

Haley Balzano

Peggy Kinsey

RBF Consulting of Tucson, Arizona has named Scott M. Larson as head of the firm's water resource engineering department. Larson has more than 30 years of engineering and design experience in Arizona, with a focus on water resources.

NYLoft Kitchens & Home Interiors recently hired Julie Carns as account manager for the Phoenix showroom. Carns, who has a background in interior design, sales and project coordination, will be representing the showroom's kitchen and bath lines, closet systems, furnishings and more to design professionals in Arizona and surrounding states.

Scottsdale-based interior design firm Sesshu Design Associates has implemented a Web-based custom home management system that allows the interior designer, architect, builder and clients to view the status of a custom home project and share comments via a program operated by Sesshu, according to Tanya Shively, firm owner and principal designer. The program is used to post photos and project updates, coordinate schedules, maintain a list of preferred subcontractors and keep project participants up to speed.

Vanessa Joaquim, an ASID Industry Partner based in Scottsdale, has launched Twistique, a consulting firm that offers design professionals and builders insights into using technology and the Internet to advance their businesses. The firm specializes in developing Web sites for design professionals.

Enmar Hardwood Flooring of Mesa, Arizona has won two awards in the 2007 National Wood Flooring Association Wood Floor of the Year competition. The flooring company won in the categories of Best Entry/Foyer and Best Reclaimed. Awards were presented in Denver during the association's annual spring convention.

Rest Assured, Inc., a Phoenix firm that specializes in the transportation, warehousing and installation of fine furniture and art, was recently named one of the "Arizona Companies to Watch" by the Arizona Small Business Association, in collaboration with the Edward Lowe Foundation. Rest Assured was honored during a June ceremony at the Arizona Companies to Watch conference at the Phoenix Convention Center.