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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....

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 ...

These are the 10 most successful NYC architects of the past year according to TRD

2022-02-01T12:07:00-05:00

CRE publication The Real Deal has released its annual list of the ten most commercially successful firms in New York City’s high-profile building market. Most of our readers will recognize these firms as regulars in Archinect Jobs.

As the architects of record, these firms appeared in permitting documents for developments that totaled more than 13.5 million square feet in total area. TDR ranked the firms by the aggregated square footage of their business output.

SLCE took the top billing with 10 projects worth a total of 3.1 million square feet followed by Handel Architects, which had a total of five projects and 2.5 million square feet combined. The top two were followed by Perkins Eastman, which had six totaling 2 million square feet, including a planned 74-story development in Long Island City. Beyer Blinder Belle took the fourth slot with 1.4 million square feet and four developments, followed by Gene Kaufman Architects, which registered five with a total of 1.3 million square ...

Tallest skyscraper in New Jersey nears completion

2019-08-30T15:30:00-04:00

99 Hudson Street, a 900-foot tower residential tower designed by architects Perkins Eastman for developers China Overseas America in Jersey City, New Jersey, is nearing completion.

The tower topped out as New Jersey's tallest skyscraper in late 2018. In recent weeks, according to New York YIMBY, Plaza Construction, the builders for the project, and Vidaris, exterior envelope consultants, have made extensive progress installing the tower's glass and Jura limestone facades.

Rendering of 99 Hudson Street and the surrounding towers. Image courtesy of Perkins Eastman.

The 79-story tower's facades are marked by alternating vertical bands of stone and glass panels, while the extruded tower's sheer exposures culminate in a stepped glass and stone crown.

The hexagonal tower is set to include 781-apartments and 16,000 square feet of commercial spaces. The tower-and-podium-style complex is marked by a series of plazas and an eight-story base containing 609 parking stalls. According to a pro...

Perkins Eastman reimagines NYC grid for increased pedestrian and shared space

2018-08-31T13:29:00-04:00

The city grid, which once served to organize the development of private real estate by providing access to land parcels, now has a more pressing role to play in making cities livable. Our reimagining of the grid starts from the premise that how we use public rights of way no longer meets the city’s needs, so we should transform the streets radically, dedicating them to pedestrians.

Jonathan Cohn and Yunyue Chen propose a new pedestrian plan for Manhattan's grid grouping blocks into larger neighborhoods and organizing streets into either thoroughfares or local streets. Cohn leads the transportation and public infrastructure studio of Perkins Eastman, while Chen received the 2017 Perkins Eastman’s Architectural Fellowship for the Public Realm.

Manhattan grid divided into thoroughfare and local streets. Image: Perkins Eastman.

Their plan is a combination of the Dutch shared street idea of woonerf and the Barcelona “superblocks”. Shared, local streets would include continuous, curbless, and textured surfaces with cues that conform drivers to speeds of about 6 miles per hour.

Example of a shared street with less vehicle access and more pedestrian space. Image: Perkins Eastman.

"Superblocks" are limited to local traffic inside and would be sectioned off by thoroughfare streets with local streets in between. Local streets would always be within a 5 minute walk of any...

Opening of New York Wheel now delayed until 2018

2016-08-22T14:30:00-04:00

The first spin around the giant New York Wheel has been pushed back by a year. The 630-foot Ferris wheel coming to the Staten Island waterfront was scheduled to open in late 2017. But its developers announced that has been delayed until April 2018 to give more time to test the structure's safety. [...] Construction of the $580 million project is still expected to finish next year.

The New York Wheel previously on Archinect:

What if: Perkins Eastman's "Green Line" proposal turns Broadway into a 40-block park in the heart of Manhattan

2015-12-15T14:39:00-05:00

Perkins Eastman is taking two of the best-loved urban land-use stories of the Bloomberg era—the High Line and Times Square—and combining them into one. The Green Line extends the logic of changes that have already taken root along the limited stretch of Broadway running through Times Square. [...] proposal builds on the work of Jan Gehl and Snøhetta, the architects who pedestrianized Times Square. Yet it also echoes the High Line by James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

My, what a big firm you have: New York's largest architecture firms see a growing girth

2011-04-18T18:10:00-04:00

Out of the city's 20 largest firms, 12 added architects during 2010, while only four cut their staff of architects. Hiring has been across the board, from entry-level posts all the way up to the most experienced.

Paul Katz, of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, said his firm hired 9 new architects at its New York office raising the number at the start of 2009 of 154 to 163 in 2010-- primary factors have included the West Side's Hudson Yards and the redevelopment of Goldman Sachs' Embassy Suites. Perkins Eastman added an astounding 31 architects raising their 2009 figures of 127 to 158 in 2010-- crediting a resurgence of institutional projects spurring new growth despite lagging residential work. The Top 5 ranked firms in the Crain's list all are reported to have at least 100 licensed architects.

Mr. Perkins, of Perkins and Eastman, said to Crain's that his practice by necessity is becoming global with at least 30% of the firm's business coming from overseas.