Ennead Architects joining CannonDesign to deepen design’s impact on society

Ennead Architects, recognized as one of the most influential and distinguished architectural firms practicing today, is joining CannonDesign.

The two firms are uniting to advance their shared commitment to bold design vision and to expand the possibilities and impact of design.

Together, Ennead and CannonDesign are building a practice with the ambition to approach design solutions differently — shaping the full arc of how places are imagined, built, activated and experienced, and carrying design thinking into contexts far beyond buildings.

"Some of my most vivid memories with my family are weekends at the American Museum of Natural History's Rose Center for Earth and Space, an Ennead project that captures exactly what purposeful design can do. It connects people and creates space where everyone belongs,” said CannonDesign CEO, Brad Lukanic, AIA. "Our firms share a deep commitment to enriching the public realm, and that common ground is what brought us together. Now we have a profound opportunity to improve civic life at a much greater scale, shaping not just buildings, but the way people experience the world."

This move brings together two firms that each, in their own way, refuse to accept design as a reactive discipline. CannonDesign, with its global network of nearly 1,600 designers, consultants, experience strategists and technology leaders, has long been recognized for expanding design’s impact on the world—it has been named to Fortune’s Change the World list and repeatedly recognized by Fast Company as one of the most innovative architecture firms. Ennead is a 160-person practice renowned throughout the profession for its uncompromising creative vision, technical sophistication and commitment to realizing a more robust and vital public realm.

Going forward, Ennead will be a distinct studio within CannonDesign, practicing as Ennead, a CannonDesign company. It will continue its work as an integrated design collective with teams in New York, Los Angeles and Shanghai. Its unique identity, design culture and leadership will be strengthened by CannonDesign’s broad capabilities and complementary portfolio.

“Ennead has been continuously evolving as a practice and reinventing itself over the past seven decades, and we recognized the potential for even more ambitious thinking and action,” said Richard Olcott, FAIA, Design Partner at Ennead Architects. “Joining CannonDesign allows us to radically grow our impact on the built environment and invest boldly alongside a firm that has long been leading the transformation of the industry. We are going to build the best design firm in the world.”

A new chapter for both firms, and the design industry

Driven by a shared belief that architecture, at its highest expression, is a civic act that creates connections between people, institutions and communities, Ennead and CannonDesign have delivered boundary-pushing projects across every scale and sector of our now shared portfolio:

• In healthcare, reimagining patient experiences: seen in the Kenneth C. Griffin Pavilion and David H. Koch Center at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Mayo Clinic’s transformation of its Rochester campus and the Alice L. Walton Foundation’s Bentonville Healthcare Campus.
• In education, reinventing how learning happens: like California Institute of Technology’s Resnick Sustainability Center, Princeton University’s Environmental Studies and School of Engineering and Applied Science Complex, Stanford University’s Denning House for the Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program and multiple projects for New York University (NYU) spanning decades.
• In the places where living, working and gathering intersect, reflected in The Standard on the High Line and LinkedIn’s Toronto HQ to workplaces for Square, CBOE and Showtime, and commercial projects across mixed-use, entertainment and sports.
• In culture, creating places that carry identity and meaning: such as the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, Richmond Olympic Oval, Edelman Fossil Park and Museum of Rowan University and multiple projects for the New York Public Libraries.
• In science, pushing the boundaries of discovery and understanding: evident in CHOP’s Morgan Center for Research and Innovation, the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact at the University of Oregon and Building 201 at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

The firms' combined influence extends across the global commercial and institutional landscape, encompassing a defining body of work throughout Asia where they have shaped a new generation of internationally oriented, civic-minded development. Projects range from the Shanghai Astronomy Museum and Blue Sail HQ Campus in Shanghai to the ByteDance Houhai Center in Shenzhen and CJ Blossom Park in Suwon, South Korea.

“The work across our portfolios speaks to shared goals for design excellence, but what really drew our firms together is how we think and create,” said David Polzin, AIA, CannonDesign’s Executive Director of Design. “We believe the design process is a means to positive change for people, and that the greatest value we can offer a client is not only the rigor of our capabilities, but our critical judgment, intelligence and intuition. Our mutual respect and shared sense of destiny have made this feel less like a business decision and more like a natural coming together.”

Both firms have spent the last decade pushing beyond traditional definitions of design and what it can do. CannonDesign has expanded into consulting, software, experience design and branding, bringing a design lens to challenges that weren’t previously considered design problems. Ennead is equally powerful in its focus on transforming institutions and shaping dynamic urban growth in rapidly expanding cities around the world.

This partnership also reflects an unrelenting commitment to shaping what comes next technologically. Each firm is already advancing the boundaries of computational and parametric design, exploring the implications of quantum computing for the built environment and shaping how AI is transforming architecture and client industries alike. Now with shared focus, the goal is not just to improve technologies entering the design marketplace, but to also invent them.

“One of the things that struck us about CannonDesign, even before we began talking seriously, was their culture of innovation,” said Molly McGowan, AIA, Managing Partner at Ennead Architects. “They move fast, think creatively, make smart investments and get things done. For a firm of their size, that’s rare. What’s really exciting to us is what happens when you layer that with our own deep investments in new design technologies and building systems. The combination unlocks something neither of us could have reached alone.”

Together, Ennead and CannonDesign reflect what a design practice looks like when it never stands still. The united team is positioned to partner with the most ambitious clients to take on high-stakes challenges of all types, using the full force of design to positively improve communities, the planet and our shared future.

More about CannonDesign
CannonDesign is a global, employee-owned design firm with 20 offices and an integrated community of practices united by a shared commitment to Living-Centered Design. In the last 15 years, the firm has been awarded more than 600 awards for design excellence. Alongside its leadership in architecture, engineering and interior design, the firm’s community includes smart building consultancy The Clarient Group, architectural experimentation laboratory Yazdani Studio, building transition and activation firm Yellow Brick, facility optimization firm FOS and experience, operations and strategy consulting firm Blue Cottage. This breadth of expertise fuels a more dynamic and expansive way of practicing design and is one of the reasons it’s been recognized by Fast Company, Fortune, TIME and others as one of the most innovative and influential companies of our time.

More about Ennead Architects
Ennead Architects is an internationally acclaimed 160+ person practice based in New York City with offices in Los Angeles and Shanghai, China. It is renowned for creating powerful and dynamic environments that advance new paradigms, transform institutions and contribute to vibrant and connected communities. The firm’s collaborative process is built on a deep investigation of its clients’ mission and context and a commitment to exploring emerging technologies and sustainable solutions. Ennead is the recipient of the National Firm Award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA), as well as 14 National AIA Honor Awards, the AIANY Medal of Honor and the Smithsonian Institution-Cooper Hewitt National Design Award.