Archinect - News

Michael Graves Architecture acquires Tennessee's Studio Four Design, its sixth firm since 2022

2024-03-11T16:08:00-04:00

Princeton, New Jersey-based Michael Graves Architecture has announced that the firm is expanding once again with the acquisition of Studio Four Design, a successful 17-person operation working with over twenty years of experience on various project types in the Knoxville, Tennessee, market.

The expansion follows five other acquisitions completed between March 2022 and June of last year. The move will allow the firm to compete in a new region, where they say they have identified a need for design services. The two share a similar organizational mission that's geared towards creating a "human-centric" architecture. Michael Graves' CEO and President Joe Furey says the addition "[encourages] us to embrace new perspectives and experiences, furthering our mission to create impactful design nationally."

Stacy Cox, Principal at Studio Four Design, added: "This merger leverages the skillsets and experiences at Studio Four Design, allowing us to take our capabilities and offerings to a new le...

DLR Group acquires two Bay Area specialty firms

2024-01-25T14:16:00-05:00

The San Francisco office of DLR Group has announced its acquisition of two smaller local specialty design practices in a move that will expand services to clients in the areas of civic and public safety design as well as high-end hospitality and residential interiors.

Thirty-five-year-old BraytonHughes Design Studios and Sonoma-based RossDrulisCusenbery (RDC) were the two firms acquired in separate deals. Both are well-known in the Bay Area market, having developed nationally recognized designs in their respective practice areas for the last three decades.

The boutique interiors specialist BraytonHughes Design Studios will add their expertise in high-end hospitality, resort, corporate office design, and residential projects to the DLR portfolio. Its addition helps DLR to accelerate growth in these segments and is strengthened by the firm’s longtime clients like the Four Seasons, Waldorf Astoria, and Grand Hyatt hotel brands, according to DLR.

In a statement, BraytonHughes Presiden...

Page announces acquisition of Davis Brody Bond

2023-11-06T08:00:00-05:00

Page has announced its acquisition of New York-based studio Davis Brody Bond in a move that will consolidate two well-known firms with long track records of success in the regional market into one entity with more than twenty offices in the U.S. and abroad.

The move was announced on November 1 as Page looks towards its 52nd year of operation. Davis Brody Bond partners Steven Davis, Will Paxson, Carl Krebs, Christopher Grabé, and Mark Wagner will become principals at Page under the new organizational structure. All other employees at Davis Brody Bond will continue as Page staffers after the acquisition.

“Bringing Davis Brody Bond into the Page family is a significant step for our firm,” Page's CEO Thomas McCarthy said in a statement. “For several years, we’ve been thoughtfully assessing the best way to extend our presence into New York City, and given our past collaboration with Davis Brody Bond, we knew the firm shared our design ethos and client-first approach. We both understand ...

Michael Graves Architecture acquires Texas' Parallax Team as expansion continues

2023-06-21T16:58:00-04:00

Michael Graves Architecture has once again expanded its operation after announcing the acquisition of the Texas-based AEC technology consultants Parallax Team.

The firm’s fifth such expansion in the past 15 months follows the acquisitions of PGN Architects, Walter Robbs Callahan & Pierce, Waldon Studio, and Jose Carballo Architectural Group (each located in the mid-Atlantic market) and will buy the firm stakes in a new sector.

“We have been working closely with Parallax for some time, and have remained impressed with the way their team is able to seamlessly integrate these important technologies into day-to-day practice,” the firm’s President and CEO Joe Furey said. “When evaluating this acquisition, we were not only excited at the prospect of joining their team with ours but at the proposition of being involved with a company that has such unifying potential — both internally for our staff, and externally from an industry standpoint. Collaboration has been an essential part of our...

Michael Graves Architecture acquires PGN Architects — its fourth firm within one year

2023-03-30T15:12:00-04:00

Michael Graves Architecture has expanded once again with its newly-announced acquisition of Washington, D.C.’s PGN Architects (PGN). The addition marks their fourth such move in the past twelve months, following successive mergers with Mid-Atlantic firms Waldon Studio Architects, Jose Carballo Architectural Group, and Walter Robbs Callahan & Pierce Architects, respectively.

The Princeton-based MG announced the merger on Thursday as an attempt to bolster its expertise in the multifamily market and sectors. PGN Partners Jeff Goins and Sean Pichon will remain in leadership roles, while MG President and CEO Joe Furey will oversee the integration along lines related to the firm’s long-term strategic plan.

“When evaluating this acquisition, we immediately recognized the talent, forward-thinking design approach, and deep level of experience within the PGN team, especially in the multifamily sector with many mixed-use projects. As we learned more about each other, we realized our values al...

Michael Graves Architecture acquires Walter Robbs — its third firm in eleven months

2023-01-31T18:18:00-05:00

Michael Graves Architecture is once again expanding in the Mid-Atlantic market with the newly-announced acquisition of the well-known North Carolina-based firm Walter Robbs Callahan & Pierce Architects.

The move comes after successive acquisitions of Maryland's Waldon Studio Architects and the New Jersey-based Jose Carballo Architectural Group last year. The newly-formed company will retain its current Partners, while the trio of Wesley Curtis, Ken McDaniel, and Matt Messick will now serve as its three Principals.

“When evaluating this acquisition, we immediately recognized the talent and deep experience within the Walter Robbs team, particularly in the higher education, K-12, community, and sports sectors. As we learned more about each other, we realized our values were aligned, and that our collaboration would create instant synergy,” MG CEO Joe Furey explained in a press statement. “We were immediately impressed with Walter Robbs’ portfolio, its people, and the collaborative nat...

MASS Design Group announces acquisition of long-time Santa Fe collaborator Atkin Olshin Schade Architects

2022-11-16T12:03:00-05:00

MASS Design Group has announced its acquisition of Santa Fe, New Mexico-based Atkin Olshin Schade Architects (AOS) in a move they say will offer an enhancement of the relationship the two have built already through years of collaboration.

The merger makes the new combined entity Santa Fe’s largest architectural office, with further opportunity to leverage AOS’s Philadelphia operation in order to pursue “innovative approaches to preservation, adaptive reuse, and design for mission-focused organizations throughout the northeast and nationally.”

Previously on Archinect: MASS Design Group founder Michael Murphy announces he is stepping down, will join the faculty at Georgia Tech

It comes just under a month after MASS’s co-founder Michael Murphy left the firm to take a position on faculty at Georgia Tech University, handing over the reins to his former Senior Principal and Managing Director Christian Benimana and Patricia Gruits as well as the firm’s co-founder and current Chief Design O...

Never Alone: Video Games and Other Interactive Design finally gives MoMA the chance to showcase its growing video game collection

2022-11-04T11:54:00-04:00

MoMA’s acquisition of games is the responsibility of the Architecture and Design Department, which is focused on objects that are celebrated for their function. Paul Galloway, who has served as the point person for the museum’s video game acquisition efforts, says these multimedia objects are a natural fit for the most omnivorous section of the museum.

The show is open now and runs until July of next year in MoMA's first-floor gallery. Galloway and his co-organizers Paola Antonelli, Anna Burckhardt, and Amanda Forment say their department collects along four central criteria — esthetics, space, time, and behavior — though curatorial efforts to acquire "museum-ready" media are sometimes limited by intellectual property restraints concerning the game maker's original source code.

"It’s a show about interaction design, and video games are some of the purest, clearest examples of interaction design," Antonelli said in a preview. "Games are such complex acquisitions because when you acquire video games, you don’t just go ahead and buy them, you acquire a relationship because you want to make sure that… 50 years from now, curators will still be able to show these games without being bogged by intellec...

Perkins Eastman announces acquisition of Kliment Halsband Architects

2022-10-13T15:27:00-04:00

Perkins Eastman has announced the acquisition of New York’s Kliment Halsband Architects (KHA) in a move announced jointly by both firms on October 3rd.

The 50-year-old practice is Perkins Eastman’s second acquisition this year following a move in February to acquire BLT Architects (now known as BLTa—A Perkins Eastman Studio). The world’s seventh-largest architecture firm has now expanded three times since the beginning of 2021, including the mergers with BLTa, Pfeiffer Architects, and Kliment Halsband.

“Both firms believe in the power of design to improve people’s lives, and we’re looking forward to providing that benefit to a wider range of institutions,” Perkins Eastman co-founder and vice chair Mary-Jean Eastman said in a statement.

Previously on Archinect: Perkins Eastman acquires BLT Architects, its second merger in as many years

“We see things the same way, but we work in different ways to bring something new to the table,” Kliment Halsband’s co-founder Frances Halsband shared....

Sasaki is moving to NYC after acquiring Brooklyn's DLANDstudio

2022-05-03T13:44:00-04:00

Sasaki Associates will be branching out and adding a new component after an announcement this week that they are acquiring Brooklyn-based DLANDstudio and opening a new office in New York City for the first time.

The 70-year-old firm has traditionally operated out of offices in Denver, Shanghai, and Watertown, Massachusetts, where it is headquartered, and boasts an impressive and well-known international portfolio which includes the Chicago Riverwalk, Xuhui Runway Park, and soon-to-be remade Boston City Hall plaza.

Sasaki says the new addition will help bolster its ability to address core issues such as climate adaptation, biodiversity loss, environmental justice, and social equity in keeping with its founder’s visionary pursuit of ecologically-minded architecture and design.

Related Archinect Feature: Meet the Architects Designing Software to Fight Climate Change

Speaking in a press release, DLANDstudio founder and principal Susannah Drake, FASLA, FAIA said: “Environmental justice wa...

Michael Graves Architecture is expanding with the acquisition of Waldon Studio Architects

2022-03-08T13:35:00-05:00

A major ten-year strategic plan of one of the most high-profile firms on the East Coast is underway after Michael Graves Architecture & Design announced its acquisition of the smaller Waldon Studio Architects, which was founded in 2003.

The New York, Washington, and Princeton-based Graves is expanding its footprint further down the Northeast Corridor with the acquisition of the 39-member office, which has operations in Baltimore, DC, and in Howard County.

Waldon had previously acquired another smaller Baltimore-based practice called Kann Partners in 2018 and is currently one of the largest firms in the city with $5.42 million in architectural billings reported for the year 2020, according to Baltimore Business Journals. Waldon’s founder and current principal, Ravi Waldon, will retain his title and serve as head of any religious projects for the new combined entity after the transition.

Graves’ ...

Perkins Eastman acquires BLT Architects, its second merger in as many years

2022-02-11T16:54:00-05:00

One of the largest architecture firms in North America is expanding again as Perkins Eastman has announced a merger with BLT Architects (BLTa) effective February 1st.

The new entity will be known as BLTa—A Perkins Eastman Studio and operate out of Philadelphia, a traditional stronghold of Perkins.

“We are very pleased that BLTa has joined us, and we now have a strong partner in Philadelphia. We have had the opportunity to get to know BLTa over the last several years and believe they bring significant skills and experience to our national practice,” Perkins Eastman chairman and co-founded Brad Perkins said in a statement. “Moreover, we have always had important clients in Philadelphia, eastern Pennsylvania, and the adjacent states, and with BLTa we can now better serve those that want a combination of our national expertise combined with experienced local delivery and service.”

The in-state move is the latest in a list of successive acquisitions the firm has made dating back to the ...

99% Invisible gets acquired by SiriusXM

2021-04-26T16:26:00-04:00

One of the first architecture-centric podcasts that got onto the radar of the general population, 99% Invisible, has been sold to SiriusXM. Roman Mars, the founder and host of the podcast, broke the news on Twitter stating, "You’ll never notice the sound of anything different, except I get to be involved more in the stories. So much of my job had become running a business and not making a podcast. I desperately needed that to change."

And more about my amazing colleagues at Radiotopia/PRXhttps://t.co/m8cRhfg2QK
— Roman Mars (@romanmars) April 26, 2021

While terms of the deal are not getting disclosed, it would be safe to say the purchase price was hefty as Roman has committed to donating $1M to PRX/Radiotopia, Roman's network of podcasts and a non-profit media company specializing in audio journalism and storytelling.

NBBJ has acquired ESI Design, an innovative experience design studio

2020-02-06T14:09:00-05:00

International architecture and design firm NBBJ announced today that it has acquired experience design studio ESI Design. In joining one another, NBBJ and ESI Design will be able to capitalize on their multidisciplinary team to introduce digital experiences earlier in the design process, giving clients a more streamlined service offering.

"By integrating the design of architecture and dynamic digital experiences, we will create boundless opportunities to energize the places we live, work, and play to stimulate our senses and inspire discovery, learning, and impact," said Steve McConnell, FAIA, Managing Partner of NBBJ in a statement. "The acquisition of ESI Design brings this vision to life and increases NBBJ’s ability to serve our clients as they activate their brands, create community, inspire wellbeing, and thrive."

Founder and Principal Designer at ESI Design Edwin Schlossberg also said: "We are at an exciting moment in time where the diverse skillsets of digital designers, med...

Katerra acquires two general contractors to bolster nationwide presence

2019-09-13T16:50:00-04:00

US prefab specialist Katerra has added two contractors to its stable of companies: UEB Builders and Fortune-Johnson General Contractors. The acquisitions allow the Silicon Valley company to expand its coverage of the US market. UEB Builders is a general contractor in Arizona that constructs commercial and residential projects. Georgia-based Fortune-Johnson specialises in multi-family residential projects. Both companies will adopt the Katerra brand.

According to Bim+, the acquisition will add 320 employees to Katerra's payroll, pushing the company's workforce to 8,500 individuals. In January 2019, the end-to-end building services provider also received an infusion of investment from Japan's SoftBank that raised Katerra's valuation to over $4 billion.

Getty Research Institute acquires massive Frank Gehry archives

2017-03-29T17:50:00-04:00

The Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles acquired a seriously massive archive directly from the studio of Frank O. Gehry today. Dubbed The Frank Gehry Papers, the archives — which were granted as part gift and part purchase — reveal a comprehensive overview of the first 30 years of the architect's career, from his early graduate studies to his milestone 1988 competition entry for the Walt Disney Concert Hall that launched him into global fame.

“I’m honored by the attention of the Getty Research Institute delving into the history of my work, my beginnings, and other things that I never thought anybody would be interested in,” Frank Gehry said in a statement. “I’m very moved that this great institution, with its resources to search for the best examples of creativity in our world, has found me an interesting party.”

Frank Gehry, Greber Studio, Sketch1967, unbuilt, Beverly Glen, California, Frank Gehry Papers at the Getty Research Institute, © Frank O. Gehry.

Frank Gehry, Sirmai-Peters...

HOK's acquisition of 360 Architecture now complete

2015-01-13T14:22:00-05:00

HOK celebrated its return to Kansas City Tuesday, revealing new signage at what has been the offices of 360 Architecture at 300 W. 22nd St. The event marked completion of 360 Architecture’s acquisition by HOK, a global architecture, engineering and design company with 1,800 employees. The purchase, announced in August, made Kansas City HOK’s 24th office globally. The practice is marketed as HOK Sports + Recreation + Entertainment.

Previously: HOK will acquire 360, restart sports architecture practice

What's A Software Company Doing Buying An Architecture Firm?

2014-09-10T13:29:00-04:00

Software companies don’t usually go around buying architecture and design firms, but The Living isn’t your typical beards-and-Blue-Bottle band of architects. The 7-person shop in the Brooklyn Navy Yard was acquired earlier this year for a small, undisclosed price by design and engineering software maker Autodesk. The reason: The Living’s expertise in blending all that’s new in materials, 3-D printing and more arcane new fields such as biological manufacturing and algorithmic design.

First SketchUp, now Gehry Technologies - Trimble makes another big acquisition

2014-09-08T12:37:00-04:00

In what is being described as "a strategic alliance to collaborate to transform the construction industry" software company Trimble has acquired Gehry Technologies. The alliance will offer other architects and designers use of the technology to collaborate on projects more efficiently.

Press release:

Trimble and Frank Gehry Announce Strategic Alliance to
Transform the Way the Construction Industry Works

SUNNYVALE and LOS ANGELES, Calif., Sept. 8, 2014—Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) and Frank Gehry announced today that they have entered into a strategic alliance to collaborate to transform the construction industry by further connecting the office to on-site construction technologies. As part of the alliance, Trimble has acquired Gehry Technologies, the software and consulting services business that has been instrumental in delivering Frank Gehry’s visionary designs while keeping cost and schedule in line for his clients.

The alliance combines deep Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC)...

ARCADIS to buy Callison

2014-08-21T19:40:00-04:00

Global architecture and design firm Callison announced today that it will be acquired by ARCADIS (Euronext: ARCAD), the leading global natural and built asset design and consultancy firm. Callison plans to join ARCADIS, which also owns the built asset consultancy firm EC HARRIS, architectural design firm RTKL, and Asia's leading construction program planning and value management consultancy Langdon & Seah, in the third quarter of 2014.

HOK will acquire 360, restart sports architecture practice

2014-08-19T14:39:00-04:00

Global architecture and engineering firm HOK will acquire Kansas City's 360 Architecture. On Tuesday, the St. Louis-based firm announced that it will acquire the sports architecture-focused firm for an undisclosed price. The merger, expected to close by the end of October, will allow HOK to set up a new sports and entertainment practice staffed with experienced and established talent.

UPDATE: HOK's acquisition of 360 Architecture now complete

Herman Miller Buys DWR for $154 Million. What Does That Mean for Chairs?

2014-07-21T12:41:00-04:00

Herman Miller, the manufacturer of classic midcentury designs, will buy the contemporary retailer Design Within Reach (DWR) for $154 million in a bid to establish itself as a “premier lifestyle brand.”

Kengo Kuma, Herzog & de Meuron, Álvaro Siza in MoMA’s “Conceptions of Space”, opening July 4

2014-07-03T17:13:00-04:00

If you're on the hunt for some Fourth of July plans, the Museum of Modern Art in New York will celebrate the opening of its "Conceptions of Space: Recent Acquisitions in Contemporary Architecture" exhibition tomorrow. Featuring recently acquired projects from international and emerging architects and artists, the exhibition highlights the evolving role of space through the context of architecture as an art form, and how it serves as a response to broader cultural issues.

Find out more on Bustler.

Freelon Group bought by Perkins + Will

2014-03-05T11:21:00-05:00

“With Phil Freelon, his experienced team of 40 designers, and other professionals who intend to join Perkins+Will, we look forward to offering clients a deeper level of cultural design expertise,”

This one just hurts. Even though we'd run across the Freelon Group on project RFP's occasionally, I've long admired how he's built up his firm and was able to compete against the bigger companies, especially in the cultural arena. So, to see them sell off to P+W...is there anyone left who they haven't acquired?