Member & Partner Updates
John Evans, AIA Appointed to the Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Board
John Evans, AIA, Associate at LGA Partners, was appointed to the Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Board, a primarily professional body that provides professional advice on historic preservation matters.
Garfield-based mossArchitects Promotes Architect to Associate
mossArchitects, one of the premier collaborative architecture and interior design firms in Pittsburgh, announces the promotion of Architect, Katie Seftas, to Associate. Katie brings extensive design and leadership experience to her new role.
Over the past five years with mossArchitects, Katie has shown exceptional leadership and has excelled at balancing design integrity with client needs and project schedule. She has shown tremendous growth as a project architect while also proactively refining and developing many critical processes within the firm. Katie’s role has been key to the success of projects such as local and national Argo AI Offices, mixed-use commercial buildings, and several private residences.
Perkins Eastman’s Pittsburgh Studio Recognizes Top Talent with 2021 Promotions
Top architecture and design firm Perkins Eastman is pleased to announce the elevation of six members of its Pittsburgh studio. The hard work, exceptional skill, and innovative thinking of these individuals—leaders not only within the firm, but in the industry at large—is deeply felt and duly recognized.
Perkins Eastman celebrates the following six individuals who have been promoted within the Pittsburgh studio:
Associate Principal Samantha Belfoure, NCIDQ, LEED AP BD+C, IIDA
Senior Associate Jenny Budka, RA, WELL AP
Senior Associate Jessie Catenacci, AIA, LEED GA
Senior Associate Tony Caicco, AIA, LEED AP
Senior Associate Shannon Kobistek, NCIDQ
Associate Bryan Kamin, LEED GA, NCARB
AE Works welcomes several new hires
AE Works is excited to welcome recent new hires to their team:
Tracey Case-Dodds joins AE Works as a Senior Project Manager. With 20+ years of architectural and construction management experience, Tracey has worked in all phases of facility development, from planning and pre-design to construction administration. She has led projects for a range of spaces, including healthcare, higher education, airport / transportation, and commercial.
Charmaigne Haley joins AE Works as an Interior Designer. Her career spans planning and design of commercial, education, and government projects.
Taylor Henderson joins AE Works as an Interior Designer. Taylor’s experience spans design through project installation on a range of commercial and healthcare projects, including hospitality, office, and assisted living.
mossArchitects’ Detective Building Awarded a 2021 Docomomo US Modernism in America Award
The Docomomo US jury awarded a Design Citation of Merit for the restoration of the Detective Building by mossArchitects, a prominent example of New Formalist architecture in Pittsburgh, PA, designed by Larson & Ludwig for the American Automobile Association in 1972. Sited within the East Liberty neighborhood, where a failed urban renewal project of the 1960s displaced residents and disconnected the street grid, the project team focused on creating a pedestrian-friendly plaza with green space, increased tree cover, a raingarden, bike parking, and precast concrete planters original to the building. For the building itself, much of the original materials and finishes were salvaged through reuse and repair. The existing steel frame was maintained, and exposed, precast façade panels were cleaned and repaired, existing concrete floors were polished and sealed, and envelope and energy efficiency improvements were incorporated. Once on the cusp of demolition, this 37,000 sq. ft. building is now an anchor of the neighborhood block.
Historic Ohringer Building Gets National Recognition
The Ohringer Arts Building by Rothschild Doyno Collaborative was recently added to the National Registry of Historic Places. The Ohringer Building received an Honor Award and a Social Impact Honor Award at AIA Pittsburgh’s 2021 Design Awards.
“These types of projects mean that anything can happen, especially if you’re willing to work hard and you believe in it and build consensus around it,” architect Robert Tuñón, AIA said. “There aren’t many buildings like this, and there aren’t many projects that focus on building community, especially around the arts. For the community, this is a huge accomplishment based on many years of work that went in before any construction started.”
AE Works makes the Architecture 300
For the second consecutive year, AE Works has been named to Architectural Record’s list of top 300 Architecture firms in the country.
The Architecture 300 lists the 300 largest Architecture firms in the country. AE Works is one of only three Pittsburgh headquartered firms on the prestigious annual list. Among the country’s over 68,000 architecture firms in the country, the firm is listed in the 236 slot.
Firms on the Move!
LGA Partners is on the Move: Downtown and Beyond
LGA Partners, a Pittsburgh-based architecture firm, is expanding – both regionally and nationally. With +70-employees, LGA is relocating to Downtown while also opening a new office in Denver.
Represented by Donahue Real Estate Advisors, LGA has signed an LOI with The Davis Companies (Davis) for nearly 15,000 SF of unique duplex “Quad” office space on the 10th and 11th floors of the Union Trust Building (UTB), a historic landmark in downtown Pittsburgh. This 1917 architectural gem has recently undergone a $100m+ renovation, making it the city’s only true Class-A historic property.
“The Central Business District is the heart of any city; without a strong heart, the recent development in the urban fringe and suburbs cannot be sustained,” said Scott Bofinger, AIA and Partner.
LGA has doubled down on its investment in in-person work. “Zoom is a great tool to achieve a Work/Life balance for our staff, but it cannot replace real collaboration,” noted Jonathan Glance, AIA and Partner. “We must be in the office to cultivate our culture; this is critical for both recruitment and retention,” said Glance. “Our new space is a commitment not only to the urban core but also the in-person workplace.”
Founded in 1993 as a woman-owned business, LGA Partners is a full-service architecture and interior design firm with offices in Pittsburgh, PA, and Denver, CO. LGA is organized around six core markets, including Aviation, Education, Healthcare, Housing, Retail, and Workplace design. Our mission is to create exceptional project outcomes, supported by our commitment to a diversity of Process, People, and Projects.
Projects
Adaptive Reuse Project by Midland Architects: Lawrenceville Market House
A collective retail hub that will include nine new shops, Lawrenceville Market House along Butler Street is scheduled to open later this fall.
Working with Midland Architects, Brian and Irwin Mendelssohn of Pittsburgh-based Botero Development — which also developed co-working space Fulton Commons on the North Side — are redeveloping the former bank building along Butler Street into a co-working retail environment.
The space is being divided into nine business stations of varying sizes, including one located in the former bank vault. Companies will be able to rent a station on a month-to-month basis and customize their section. Each space also will have its own lockable storefront.
New Sun Rising and evolveEA Receive Environmental Excellence Award for Triboro Ecodistrict Air Quality Projects
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) honored the Breathe Easy project, a collaboration between New Sun Rising, evolveEA, and community partners, with a 2021 Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence.
The Breathe Easy project, developed in Millvale, Pennsylvania, enables communities to improve the air quality in their home, workplace and neighborhood. The Breathe Easy Plan summarizes a six-month process that engaged residents in citizen science experiments, education, and advocacy. Several projects from the Plan have since been implemented to give the public access to air quality data and tools to take action. Monitors were installed in several locations, and a program in Millvale also helps residents monitor and improve their indoor air quality. An online Air Quality Dashboard was created to display real-time outdoor air quality data, and most recently each borough installed a uniquely designed Monitoring Station that doubles as a public space and social media selfie spot to help promote a regional Breathe Easy campaign. A Community Air Toolkit was created to help other communities learn about air quality and jump-start air quality planning processes in their own neighborhoods. The planning process and implementation projects have activated many residents across the Triboro Ecodistrict.
“Poor air quality is an invisible challenge that cannot be solved within a single municipality,” said evolveEA’s Principal, Christine Mondor. “The Breathe Easy program leverages regional change by enabling individuals to take action in their neighborhood and to contribute to the growing coalition of communities advocating for clean air.”
The Triboro Ecodistrict in Southwestern Pennsylvania was formed in 2017 by the Allegheny River boroughs, Millvale, Etna, and Sharpsburg to collaborate on social equity and environmental sustainability initiatives. The three Certified EcoDistrict communities have been attracting regional and national attention for their award-winning plans and projects since partnering on the Triboro Ecodistrict, and now their collaboration on a series of projects targeting the region’s air quality is being celebrated by the state government. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) honored New Sun Rising and evolveEA, who developed the Breathe Easy Plan, as well as several air quality projects including an air quality dashboard and interactive air quality monitoring stations for the Millvale, Etna, and Sharpsburg Ecodistricts, with a 2021 Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence.
Southern Beltway Maintenance Facility Opens
Decades in the making, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Southern Beltway is officially open and so is the new Maintenance Complex designed by AE Works. Read on in the latest issue of BreakingGround to learn more about the facility and its impact on PA’s newest highway.