Firms Expand Western Presence
TEMPE, Ariz. — Three architectural firms are expanding with new offices in Arizona and California.
Cannon Design, an international architectural, engineering and planning firm with experience in the education facility market in Arizona, opened offices to expand its practice in the area.
The firm has planned 25 projects in Arizona during the past 20 years including student recreation centers at Arizona State University in Tempe and Tucson.
“The establishment of our office in Phoenix is a direct response to the growing demand for our design services in the market,” says Scott F. Reed, AIA, a principal at the firm and practice leader for the western region.
The new office is expected to accommodate 30 staff by 2009, according to the firm. Cannon is working on several projects in the state including a cancer center for Banner Health, in association with OWP/P, which includes an academic hospital and research facilities.
Harley Ellis Devereaux, a 500-person national architectural firm that works in the K-12 and higher education markets, relocated its Los Angeles office to a downtown class-A office tower in an effort to shift working habits among employees.
The space was designed to move designers away from drafting tables and into huddle spaces that encourage collaboration.
“The flexibility of the space, furniture and workstations promotes collaboration among our design studio and support staff,” says Enrique Suarez, AUA, principal and studio leader for the firm’s corporate/commercial design studio. “These design elements are becoming the norm in the corporate world, but many design firms are still centered on large desks and drafting tables. We needed to bring people together, and the new office provides a mechanism to communicate our culture to our staff.”
The 35,375-square-foot space is located on the fourth and fifth floors of a 50-story tower and can hold 125 people. Designed to achieve LEED Silver certification for commercial interiors, it includes energy-efficient lighting, daylighting and energy usage controls. Large monitors hang over flexible workstations, and pinup walls offer opportunities to display drawings in an open environment.
NTD Architecture, a 300-person education and healthcare design firm opened an office in Salinas, Calif. The office, the firm’s seventh, was established to better serve local clients, which include the Gonzales Unified School District, Salinas City Elementary School District and the Alisal Union School District.
NTD’s local projects include the Dr. Loya Elementary School Media Center, Gonzales High School transformation, Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital NICU master plan and O’Connor Hospital, which are all designed to preserve the character of the original facilities and surrounding community, according to the firm.
The firm, which is headquartered in Los Angeles, also has California offices in Visalia and Auburn, and Arizona offices in Phoenix and Tucson.
The new Los Angeles office of Harley Ellis Devereaux is designed to create a more flexible work environment for employees.