Archinect - News

Perkins&Will opens Philadelphia studio in Northeastern expansion

2023-09-28T11:41:00-04:00

Perkins&Will has opened a new studio in Philadelphia as part of a mission to “extend its integrated design services to clients in Philadelphia and the surrounding region, including western and central Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey.”

The Philadelphia office, located at 2000 Market Street, is expected to integrate with the firm’s existing Northeast regional teams in New York, Boston, and Washington D.C. According to the firm, the establishment of a Philadelphia studio was motivated in part by the city’s growth in the commercial life sciences sector, particularly cell and gene therapy.

Perkins&Will-designed office tower for the University of Pennsylvania Health System. Image credit: Perkins&Will

“We’re thrilled to officially launch our Philadelphia practice, joining many of the nation’s leading businesses, medical centers, and higher-education institutions,” said Bill Harris, regional managing director at Perkins&Will, in a statement about the new office. “We already ...

From Blueprint to Breakdown: 5 Signs Your Architecture Firm’s Resource Management is Off the Rails

2023-07-13T09:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Birdview PSA

In the world of architecture, where every project is a confluence of art, science, and logistics, resource management practices and discipline stand as the pillars holding the structure together. Without solid resource management practices, even the most visionary architectural project risks collapsing like a house of cards. On the flip side, architecture firms with mature resource management practices not only avoid this pitfall but actually thrive, growing faster and enjoying higher profit margins.

In this article, we explore some of the signs that your resource management might be in need of fortification and how embracing a strategic approach can be the bedrock of your firm's growth and profitability.

Sign #1: Your Billable Utilization Is Low

Resource utilization report. Image courtesy of Birdview PSA.

In architecture firms, billable utilization is a critical metric. When it’s low, it means that employees are spending a significant amou...

A first look inside Heatherwick Studio’s new Shanghai office

2022-12-16T11:22:00-05:00

Heatherwick Studio has offered a first look inside their new Shanghai studio, the first overseas office to be opened by the London design firm. The office is located within 1000 Trees, a building designed by Heatherwick which opened in 2021.

Image credit: Qingyan Zhu for Heatherwick Studio

Located on the fourth floor of the 1000 Trees’ shopping center, among retail and hospitality units, the new studio is described as “a public space where passers-by will be able to engage with the studio’s designs.” The studio will also offer guided tours to visitors wishing to learn more about the firm’s work.

Image credit: Qingyan Zhu for Heatherwick Studio

The front of the workspace features multiple stacked cubes serving as display boxes for a collection of models from the studio’s Asian projects, including the Bund Finance Center, the Nanyang Learning Hub in Singapore, and the 1000 Trees development itself. Alongside its public function, the studio will accommodate a team of ten architects leadi...

Mental Health in Architecture

2022-10-10T16:28:00-04:00

Burnout. Fatigue. Anxiety. Mental health. These words have become integrated into the everyday lives of architects, especially since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, looming economic crises, and socio-political injustices taking place globally the state of mental health among individuals has suffered greatly.

Mental health impacts people in many different ways. While discussions of well-being have become more common among family and friends, workplaces and schools have made it a point to address the issues and struggles employees, teams, students, and faculty face.

It's clear that everyone isn't always "okay" and that the increased awareness of mental health support and resources has grown, for the better. While October 10 is recognized as World Mental Health Day, its observance shouldn't be restricted to a single moment.

In 2020, it was important for the Archinect te...

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners is setting up shop in New York this fall

2022-06-14T12:56:00-04:00

In anticipation of scaling up its recent slate of work within the country, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners is said to be opening an office in New York this fall –representing the firm’s first expansion into an American market in its illustrious 42-year history.

Associate partner Georgina Robleddo, who has been with Rogers Stirk Harbour since 2003, will head the new office. The firm, which has initiated projects in Philadelphia and Manhattan in the past few years, says it has thus far remained “cautious of overtrading in unfamiliar markets” but “expect that the percentage of turnover coming from outside of the UK will continue to grow.”

Previously on Archinect: Richard Rogers was a colorful character in a world of concrete and steel

Since 2020, the firm says it has received some 73% of its contracts from overseas. Only 12% of that total currently comes from the Americas. The firm also recently opened an office in Shenzhen for similar reasons. Robleddo says she hopes to be in the offic...

How BIM is Enabling Architects to Forge Better Career Paths in 2022

2022-05-24T12:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Oneistox

As was once the case with Computer-Aided Design (CAD) technology, so is now the case with Building Information Modelling (BIM) — a paradigm shift is underway. The AEC industry worldwide is witnessing a markable shift in the way projects are handled and delivered. The hard fact of the matter is that in order to stay relevant to the industry and maintain their value as professionals, architects will have to imperatively adopt BIM and digital workflows.

With digitization sweeping over, there has been an emergence of not only new ways of building but also new ways of thinking, imagining, and conceiving architectural design. As a result, more and more AEC firms are embracing digital practices, with a large majority of them also agreeing that they are nowhere close to exhausting their digital potential. This means that AEC firms worldwide are looking to build a future-forward and techno-efficient workforce that is well equipped to contribute to thei...

HP makes design engineering post-Covid easier with tools for flexible and efficient workflow

2021-07-31T15:25:00-04:00

This post is brought to you in partnership with HP

In some ways, the work world will never be the same. Here are the tools that make a flexible and efficient workflow possible.

The pandemic has accelerated the process of digital transformation across all industries including the product design and manufacturing sectors. As part of this transformation, design engineers are now creating products and systems that align with artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and advanced robotic process automation.

At the same time, the design process itself has also evolved. Workflows are now being automated to unprecedented levels. To stay competitive and allow for efficient workflows on every project, design engineers must ensure their physical processes are faster and more flexible than ever before. Chief among these physical processes is printing.

What’s needed now is a printer that seamlessly integrates with the design process. This is why HP recently released its new HP DesignJet...