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

BY NORA BURBA TRULSSON

Gensler of Las Vegas has completed the interior design for the new 36,000-square-foot office of Snell & Wilmer, located on two floors of the Hughes Center, just east of the Strip. Project designer Michael Muskewitz spearheaded the design for the full-service regional law firm, which features an open and contemporary ambiance highlighted by a warm color palette, cherry wood architectural features and etched glass. The floorplan includes a centralized conference space and several informal meeting areas designed to encourage collaboration and interaction.

Gensler's Snell & Willmer Las Vegas office.

Allen + Philp Architects/Interiors has relocated its offices to SouthBridge, a mixed-use development that the firm designed for Spring Creek Development in downtown Scottsdale, Arizona. The design firm, known for its work on projects such as Scottsdale's Hotel Valley Ho and Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, is occupying 8,000 square feet on the fourth floor of one of SouthBridge's four buildings, each designed to be architecturally distinct. The development, located on the canal bank, includes restaurants, boutiques and galleries.

Allen + Philp's Southbridge, Scottsdale.

Moran Architects, P.C. of Scottsdale is designing Sol Imperial, a spa and Chinese wellness center in Acapulco, Mexico. Teaming with Swinscoe Spa Consultants, also of Scottsdale, the architectural firm will design the center as an addition to the Mundo Imperial Casa Hotel to include 16 suites with spa amenities, such as a Chinese clinic and pharmacy, a boutique, a mineral pool, outdoor mediation spaces and a dining pavilion. Additional Moran projects include the interior design of the Expo Imperial, a 700,000-square-foot convention center, and the public spaces of Casa Imperial, an 800-room hotel.

In other Moran Architects news, architect John W. Bellian has been named a principal of the firm.

Scottsdale-based Circle West Architects has completed the renovation of Arizona State University's Center for Off-Campus and Commuter Student Services. The 3,200-square-foot building in Tempe serves as a study area and lounge for commuter students waiting for the new light-rail service. It also includes offices, a reception area and conference room. Circle West was also selected to design Amaranth Village Center, part of a 690-acre master-planned community in Goodyear, Arizona. The project, developed by Montage Holdings of Scottsdale, includes 160,000 square feet of retail space and 400,00 square feet of mixed-use commercial space.

In other Circle West news, the firm has been honored with three 2007 AIA design awards. LandSource, an unbuilt 22-story live/work condominium project in Tempe, won the firm a Citation Award from the AIA Western Mountain Region design competition. A small, sustainable house in Phoenix was awarded an Honor Award from AIA Arizona's recent design competition, and an unbuilt office building won a Citation Award, also from AIA Arizona.

Circle West Architects' unbuilt LandSource.

SmithGroup Phoenix has been named the AIA Arizona 2007 Firm of the Year. The firm also received two AIA Arizona design awards, winning a Merit Award for the University of Arizona College of Medicine's Phoenix facility, and a 2007 SRP Sustainable Award for the design of the Science and Technology Facility at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. SmithGroup also received two awards from the 2007 AIA Western Mountain Region design competition, winning a Citation Award for the 85,000-square-foot Arizona Biomedical Collaborative in Phoenix, and a Citation Award for the unbuilt One Central Park East, a 26-floor office tower, also in Phoenix.

SmithGroup's University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix.

In other SmithGroup news, Stacie Thornton has been named the new human resources manager. Thornton, who earned an MSA in human resources administration from Central Michigan University, was previously the human resources representative for SmithGroup's Detroit office.

Stacie Thornton

Davis Partnership Architects of Denver has been named AIA Denver's 2007 Firm of the Year. The firm, which also has an office in Edwards, Colorado, is celebrating its 40th anniversary under the moniker of architect Rodney S . Davis, but its history can be traced to William A . Fisher's downtown Denver architectural practice, which opened in 1892. Davis Partnership's most recent notable projects include the Denver Art Museum's Frederic C. Hamilton Building, done in partnership with Daniel Libeskind; the University of Denver's Daniel L. Ritchie Center, and LoDo's Ballpark Lofts.

Maggie Tandysh, ASID, and the design team from Associates III of Denver, have won three Honorable Mention Awards for their work in Colorado from the recent ASID Colorado Chapter design competition. Winning projects were a residence in Aspen and two in Bachelor Gulch, which won in respective Single Space categories.

The Denver-based architectural firm RNL has won a 2007 International Illumination Design Award of Merit for the lighting design of the Susan M. Duncan YMCA in Arvada, Colorado. The project called for a major renovation of the existing 57,500-square-foot facility and the reuse of many existing luminaires. Project designers were Rachel Petro and Chad Coxsey.

Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute on the Tempe campus has earned a platinum LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, becoming the first building in Arizona to receive the highest designation for environmentally friendly design and construction. The institute's Building B, completed in 2006, was designed by Gould Evans Phoenix and Atlanta's Lord Aeck & Sargent, and was built by Sundt Construction of Tempe and DPR Construction of Phoenix.

Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute.

DMJM Design of Phoenix has won AIA Arizona's 2007 Imagination Cube Award for its design of "The Art of Place Making," a public sculpture that mimics the free-flowing form of a viscous liquid. The award, cosponsored by the Construction Specifications Institute Phoenix Chapter, is now in its eighth year and encourages students and professional architects to explore imaginative designs of a featured building material to be used within a 48-cubic-foot space. The projects are then presented digitally. This year's competition featured Pilkington Profilit channel glass by Technical Glass Products (TGP).

In other DMJM Design news, the architectural and interiors firm has promoted Brion Boucher, director of operations, to associate vice president, and David Hobart, an interior designer, to associate. Boucher is currently project manager on the Arizona State University SkySong project in Scottsdale, while Hobart's current projects include Wells Fargo branch banks.

Brion Boucher.

David Hobart.

Douglas B. Sydnor, AIA , has been inducted into the Scottsdale History Hall of Fame. Sydnor, a Scottsdale architect, has been active in city organizations. His notable projects include Scottsdale's Loloma Transportation Center, the Scottsdale Artists School renovation and the Yen-Li Chen Ballet School in Chandler, Arizona. The Hall of Fame project is presented by the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce.

Douglas B. Sydnor.

Architect Donna Barry and designer Jose Pombo have formed Substance Design Consortium, LLC in Phoenix, which was recently joined by architect Barbara Hendricks as a partner. All three had previously been with Gould Evans Phoenix. The new firm has been hired in partnership with Meyer Scherer & Rockcastle, Ltd. of Minneapolis, Minnesota to design a new development for the historic Hayden Flour Mill in Tempe.

DFD CornoyerHedrick, a Phoenix architectural firm, has appointed Eric Zobrist to the position of president/director of design. Zobrist, who has bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture from the University of Texas–Austin, has been with the firm for 12 years. DFDia Interior Architecture, the firm's interior component that is based in Tempe, has hired Jennifer Brooks as a senior designer. Brooks has a master's in architecture from Arizona State University.

Eric Zobrist.

PSI, a consulting engineering and engineering testing firm, has promoted Suzanne Berry to administrative project manager of the Tempe office. Berry has been with the company since 2004. Additionally, Yovanna Cortes di Lena has been hired as environmental services department manager. She has bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Missouri–Rolla in geological engineering.

Nuszer Kopatz Urban Design Associates has promoted Greg Lockridge, AIA , LEED AP, to senior associate of the firm's newly formed architecture studio at its Denver location. The architecture studio has also added Stacey Brady and Lisa Frahm as project managers. Andrew Harrah has been promoted to associate in the firm's landscape architecture studio, while Justin Clark, who heads the IT department, was promoted to associate.

Additionally, Nuszer Kopatz has opened a Phoenix office, headed by John Fahning, ASLA, as director of business development for the Southwest region. Fahning holds a degree in landscape architecture and land planning from Iowa State University.

Greg Lockridge.

John Fahning.

BAI Interiors has opened a studio in Phoenix. The firm, founded by Barb Ekstrand, specializes in commercial, religious, educational and hospitality projects. Amy Oditt, IIDA, LEED AP, has also joined the studio as a project designer.

Architectural Resource Team (ART) has moved into new quarters in downtown Phoenix. The firm has renovated an existing building, recycling existing furnishings, glass, lighting and millwork from its previous Phoenix office.

Additionally, ART founder Patrick Rehse, FAIA, has joined the advisory panel of Local Initiatives Support Corporation Phoenix, an organization that builds homes and community spaces in low-income neighborhoods.

The Denver office of 4240 Architecture, Inc. is relocating to the city's RiNo district. The new 14,200-square-foot office space is located in a former brick and steel foundry. The 70-member Denver office also has counterparts in Chicago and Vail.

The former 68th Street Design Center in Scottsdale has been acquired by Fenway Properties, LLC and renamed the Scottsdale Design District. The new owner plans a renovation of the 109,000-square-foot center. John Brooks, Inc., the district's major tenant, plans to expand into 36,000 square feet. The showroom carries furniture, fabric and lighting lines.

Arizona Design Center West at Pima Center has announced the opening of a new showroom. Gregory/Matthew carries Colibri Furniture, Casa Marron, custom pieces and accessories.

Arizona Design Center on North Dobson Road is displaying sculpture throughout the facility. The pieces, designed by various sculptors, range in style from abstract and architectural to representational, and are available through A2OF in Scottsdale.

Arizona Design Center's sculpture offerings.

The University of Idaho Integrated Design Lab has received a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop climate- and building-type-specific design strategy resources for designers. The lab, located in Boise, currently provides project-based education services to designers in the disciplines of daylighting, electric lighting, HVAC and other high-performance, sustainable practices. Under the grant, lab researchers will analyze climates and microclimates in Idaho and the Pacific Northwest to match design techniques with climate differences for maximum energy efficiency.