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

BY NORA BURBA TRULSSON

DesignBuildBLUFF, the University of Utah College of Architecture's work-study program, has announced two new projects. The program, which gives architecture students the opportunity to design and build off-the-grid, low-cost housing on the Navajo Nation, will be building its own student-housing facility and bathhouse near the Navajo Nation projects. The new facility will utilize three discarded steel shipping containers as the structure. Additionally, the program is partnering with the Utah-based charitable Ssejinja Children's Foundation to design and build a medical center for AIDS-orphaned African children in Bira, Uganda.

DesignBuildBLUFF's recent residential work on the Navajo Nation.

Phoenix-based BAI Interiors, founded by interior designer Barbara Ekstrand, has recently completed interior design services for the City of Chandler's new Tumbleweed Recreation Center. The two-story, 62,000-square-foot facility includes an indoor jogging track, group exercise rooms, basketball courts, a fitness center, banquet facilities and other spaces. The design theme and finish palette were inspired by the area's agricultural history. The building was designed by Architekton, a Tempe, Arizona architectural firm.

BAI Interiors' Tumbleweed Recreation Center. Photograph by Jon Denker, CAPS Photography.

Ground has been broken on the Museum of Northern Arizona's new Easton Collection Center, designed by architect James Roberts, principal of Roberts/Jones Associates, Inc. of Phoenix. The 17,000-square-foot building will house a significant portion of the museum's extensive collections and will include green building strategies, including passive solar siting, natural daylighting, and a living roof planted with native grasses and wildflowers.

Roberts/Jones Associates' Easton Collection Center.

Schick Design Group of Scottsdale, Arizona recently completed interior design work for the Mundo Imperial Casa luxury hotel and the Mundo Imperal Expo convention center in Acapulco, Mexico. The project included public areas in the twin towers of the 800-room hotel, as well as public areas and ballrooms of the convention center. The design was inspired by ocean, sky and ships. Firm principal Janelle K. Schick, ASID, led the design team for the project.

In other Schick Design Group news, the firm has recently hired Lynette Willet as principal designer for commercial projects and Jeanne C. Crandall, ASID, as director of hospitality design. Additionally, Wyn Sutakul, Allied Member ASID, has been promoted to director of the firm's residential division.

Las Vegas and San Diego–based Graham Downes Architecture recently completed the renovation and expansion of 2121-Haus, a 12,000-square-foot commercial office complex in Las Vegas. The building, which once housed a floral business, is owned by Blokhaus, Inc., a development firm that is the parent company of Graham Downes Architecture. The architectural firm will occupy a portion of the newly completed building. Additionally, Graham Downes Architecture is renovating the Agave Inn in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The renovations for the hotel, to be renamed Heat Hotel, will include public areas, rooms and suites. A new open terrace, bar and lounge also will be included.

2121-Haus by Graham Downes Architecture.

The renovation and expansion of Northern Arizona University's College of Engineering and Natural Sciences building in Flagstaff has received a Gold LEED rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. The project, which includes an 18,300-square-foot expansion to the original 70,713-square-foot building, was designed by SmithGroup Phoenix and dedicated in 2006.

SmithGroup's Northern Arizona University College of Engineering and Natural Sciences building.

Smith Consulting Architects, with offices in San Diego and Palm Desert, California, recently completed a 139,000-square-foot office and warehouse facility for Hunter Industries, a manufacturer of landscape irrigation equipment, in San Marcos, California. The building, which is expected to receive LEED certification, includes two photovoltaic systems, daylight-harvesting units, a roof designed to reduce heat gain, eco-friendly interior finishes, and a "green wall" with vines planted on a metal grid to reduce heat gain on the exterior walls.

Smith Consulting Architects' Hunter Industries project.

HFR Mason, a Phoenix architecture and engineering firm, has been contracted by the Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center in Safford, Arizona to develop a campus master plan and to provide strategic and demographic consultation. The firm is also working with the medical center to develop a freestanding urgent-care center and other office facilities. The architectural firm, led by principal Rex E. Mason, specializes in healthcare, laboratory and senior-living projects.

Orcutt/Winslow, a Phoenix architectural firm, is teaming with a local Hawaiian firm to complete the facilitation of the design process for a new school slated to replace an existing structure on the campus of Kamehameha School in Honolulu, which serves native Hawaiian students. Design facilitators on the new school project are founding partner Paul Winslow, FAIA, and Caroline Lobo, AIA, director of the firm's education studio.

In other Orcutt/Winslow news, the firm received the 2008 Educational Facility Design Award of Merit for the design of Phoenix Union High School District's Bioscience High School, located in downtown Phoenix.

Westlake Reed Leskosky has received a Chairman's Award from AIA Cleveland, the highest award recognition, for its design of the Peoria Center for the Performing Arts in Peoria, Arizona. The arts center, designed as a catalyst for the community's commercial center, features a sculptural roof and includes a 280-seat theater, an 80-seat black-box theater and other amenities. The architectural firm has offices in Cleveland, Phoenix and Washington, D.C.

Peoria Center for the Performing Arts by Westlake Reed Leskosky.

Davis, the Tempe, Arizona architectural firm formerly known as DFD Cornoyer Hedrick, recently designed two commercial projects for Dmytro Development of Scottsdale, Arizona. Glassrock, a new corporate center in Gilbert, Arizona, will feature medical offices, retail and commercial office space. Rockpointe Center in Chandler, Arizona will include office and retail space. Both projects will seek LEED certification.

Chase Associates, LLC, an interior design, procurement and project-management firm based in Salt Lake City, Utah, has recently completed interior design work on The Sky Lodge, a boutique hotel, group of restaurants and spa in the historic district of Park City, Utah. The firm was founded in 1978 by principal Nola Chase.

The Arizona Chapter of the American Concrete Institute honored several statewide projects during a recent awards banquet held in Phoenix. The award-winning projects, selected by a panel of Southern California jurors, included Northern Arizona University's Applied Research and Development Facility in Flagstaff, designed by Burns Wald-Hopkins Architects of Tucson, with Rinker Materials as concrete supplier and Kitchell Contractors, Inc. as concrete contractor. Both are located in Phoenix. The university facility received both the Architectural Merit and Sustainable Concrete Construction awards.

Northern Arizona University's Applied Research and Development Facility by Burns Wald-Hopkins Architects.

RNL, the Denver-based full-service architectural firm, has recently designed and moved into its new 44,000-square-foot, LEED Gold headquarters and announced several recent promotions. AnneMarie Dienstbach, Tania Salgado and Thomas M. Wuertz have been promoted to principals within the firm. Patric Dawe, Tim Flanagan and Ron Izzo have been promoted to associate principals. Shel Barry, Danny Darr, Lisa Hemmeter, Aaron Kelly, Chris Ledwith and Paul Ruffini have been promoted to senior associates. Bill Arens, Ann Baker, Christine Dueber, Sean Feeney, Russell Freesland, Marc Herndon, Tim Howell, Stacey Kranz, Nancy Kristof, Merlin Maley, Carol McClanahan and Stephen Slaughter were named associates.

Allen + Philp of Scottsdale has named Elizabeth Damore as director of interiors. Damore has more than 15 years' experience in interior design and serves as an adjunct faculty member at Arizona State University. Current and recent interiors projects for the architectural, planning and interiors firm include Trader Vic's restaurants in Scottsdale and Orlando, Florida; the U.S. Grant Hotel Spa in San Diego; and Canal Restaurant, also in Scottsdale.

The Scottsdale interiors firm Est Est, Inc. has announced the retirement of Jeanne Allen, director of administration, after more than 25 years of service. Allen began her career with the firm's original owners, interior designers William Benner and Patrick Maas, and continued on with the firm's growth and move to a north Scottsdale locale under the leadership of present owner, interior designer Tony Sutton.

Architect Jay Silverberg, AIA, has joined Gensler Phoenix as design director. Silverberg has more than 20 years' experience in award-winning design for higher-education and institutional facilities. The Phoenix office has also named interior designer Stacy Olms an associate and Timothy Keneipp, AIA, as senior project manager. Additional hires include Melissa Merriman as an interior designer, Richie Poole as architectural job captain and Michelle Kelly as marketing leader.

Pahl Architecture of Denver has announced that firm associate Bill Wood has become a licensed Colorado architect. Wood, who has been with the firm since 1996, is a senior project manager specializing in hospitality, renovation and historic preservation. He most recently worked on the new Ritz-Carlton hotel in Denver.

Randy Duzan, senior principal of Denver's Nuszer Kopatz Urban Design Associates, has received a Certified Active Adult Specialist in Housing (CAASH) designation from the National Association of Home Builders. The firm, which offers land planning, landscape architecture, architecture and community visioning services, also has other offices in Colorado and Arizona.

Davis Partnership Architects of Denver has named Cynthia Kemper as director of strategic development. Kemper, a graduate of the University of Minnesota's School of Design, is a published writer and strategic development, marketing, media relations and leadership development specialist. The architecture, landscape architecture, planning and interior design firm with a branch office in Edwards, Colorado, also launched a new logo.

Mo Stein, FAIA, FACHA, principal with HKS Architects in Phoenix, has been named president of the Associated Sciences Consortium, the first architect to be so named. The consortium is responsible for monitoring and interacting with 11 associations representing various disciplines functioning within a radiology department. Stein has been a member of the Radiological Society of North America since 1988, presenting lectures on incorporating medical technology with healing design.

In other HKS news, the Phoenix office has promoted Irene Clark, AIA, and Robert Sampson, AIA, ACHA, LEED AP, to vice presidents. Jennifer Andrews, AIA, was promoted to associate.

Denver-based Slaterpaull Architects has hired Sally Hasson and Dinah Layton as marketing managers. Hasson has 16 years' experience in the architecture, engineering and construction industries, while Layton has 17 years of industry experience. The architectural firm specializes in the design of educational, religious, civic and historic buildings.

Source Four, Inc., a Denver-based regional provider of commercial furniture, has hired Sara Buxmann as client support representative providing design and specification services. Buxmann brings 13 years of sales and customer service experience, as well as AutoCAD expertise, to her new position.

In other Source Four, Inc. news, the firm recently sponsored the fourth annual Design After Dark fundraising event, organized by the Design Council to benefit the department of architecture, design and graphics at the Denver Art Museum.

Mike Tayloe, president of Mile High Trim Company, recently received the Roger Reinhardt Volunteer of the Year Award for his contributions to the home-building industry. Reinhardt, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver, presented the award to Tayloe. Mile High Trim Company is a distributor of prehung doors and millwork with a showroom at the Denver Design District and a facility in Aurora, Colorado.

DLR Group has been ranked number one in the world in design practices for justice and education by BD World Architecture magazine, a United Kingdom–based architecture and design publication. The global rankings for firms are based on annual income of specific practice areas. The full-service design firm has an office in Phoenix as well as other cities nationwide.

Helser Brothers, Inc. of Chandler, Arizona, has won First Place, Best New Concept in Drapery Hardware from the Window Coverings Manufacturing Association for its "Jewels" product. Designed by Arizona interior designer Debra May Himes, the Jewels collection allows creation of customized drapery hardware with choices of crystal, metal and mosaic glass tile components.

Interior designer Sue Bickerdyke is expanding her Carefree, Arizona studio and showroom to accommodate her expanding furniture collection, as well as to showcase flooring and finish samples, accessories and art. Bickerdyke launched her design firm in 1984 and has been located in Carefree for the past 12 years.

Merzproject, a Phoenix architectural firm, is relocating to the 7,000-square-foot Link Building in downtown Phoenix. The firm is renovating the building and plans to be headquartered on the second level, with the first floor available for lease.

W.F. Carter & Associates has opened at the Arizona Design Center, at The Alter Group's Riverwalk Arizona business campus in Scottsdale. The new 2,564-square-foot showroom will feature high-end flooring products.

Hopper Finishes, a provider of custom plaster finishes since 1934, has relocated from its longtime Phoenix facility to a showroom in Scottsdale's Airpark district. The firm, which manufactures, imports and installs such products as Venetian and earth clay plasters, does both commercial and residential projects.

World Market Center Las Vegas is on track to offer more than 12 million square feet of home furnishings showrooms by 2013 with the announcement of plans for the next phase of its 57-acre campus. A 1.1 million-square-foot structure is scheduled to begin construction later this year, with a completion date of 2010.

Additionally, World Market Center Las Vegas has named Bob Maricich its new president and CEO.

The Los Angeles Chapter ASID and the Kiwanis Club of Torrance, California recently teamed to help renovate a home for a disabled, low-income senior. The "Aging in Place" makeover project will utilize the help of contractors, suppliers and volunteers to remodel the home with universal design elements.