The Washington, D.C. architectural and planning practice Quinn Evans Architects will expand to five office locations on May 1 when its acquisition of Baltimore-based Cho Benn Holback + Associates becomes effective.
Quinn Evans, founded in 1984, also operates from offices in Detroit and Ann Arbor, Mich.; and Madison, Wis. The new addition brings Quinn Evans’ employee count to more than 140.
The 30-person Cho Benn Holback, which was established in 1979, will remain at its current location, and operate under its name with the addition “a Quinn Evans Company.” No changes to its management or staffing are anticipated.
The two firms have portfolios in cultural, educational, civic, and urban infill projects, with an expertise in historic preservation and adaptive reuse. Cho Benn Holback + Associates has been recognized with more than 200 design awards, and is regarded for its design and revitalization work in Baltimore.
“Quinn Evans Architects is well known for its resourcefulness in urban planning and design, and that focus is what has inspired our own work through the years as well,” says Diane Cho, AIA, one of the firm’s founding partners. “We are looking to help rebuild and reinvigorate communities. Working together, we’ll have an opportunity to take our experience to other cities, and bring Quinn Evans’ perspective to our work here in Baltimore as well.”
Larry Barr, AIA, President of Quinn Evans Architects, views Cho Benn Holback + Associates as an ideal fit for Quinn Evans Architects in terms of staff, expertise, and portfolio. “I have long admired the thoughtful and creative approach reflected in their work—the caliber of design is consistently visionary and transformative. Projects like the Lillian Jones Apartments; the National Postal Museum; and Open Works, the state-of-the-art new maker space in Baltimore, are standouts.”
Both firms have completed a number of theater projects: Quinn Evans is currently designing the modernization of the 500-seat, 36-year-old Terrace Theatre at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in D.C., and Cho Benn Holback recently completed the $28 million renovation of Center Stage in Baltimore. (Whiting-Turner Construction was the GC on that project.)
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Colonnade fixes setback problem in Brooklyn condo project
The New York firm Scarano Architects was brought in by the developers of Olive Park condominiums in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn to bring the facility up to code after frame out was completed. The architects designed colonnades along the building's perimeter to create the 15-foot setback required by the New York City Planning Commission.
| Aug 11, 2010
Wisconsin becomes the first state to require BIM on public projects
As of July 1, the Wisconsin Division of State Facilities will require all state projects with a total budget of $5 million or more and all new construction with a budget of $2.5 million or more to have their designs begin with a Building Information Model. The new guidelines and standards require A/E services in a design-bid-build project delivery format to use BIM and 3D software from initial ...
| Aug 11, 2010
Opening night close for Kent State performing arts center
The curtain opens on the Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center at Kent State University in early 2010, giving the New Philadelphia, Ohio, school a 1,100-seat multipurpose theater. The team of Legat & Kingscott of Columbus, Ohio, and Schorr Architects of Dublin, Ohio, designed the 50,000-sf facility with a curving metal and glass façade to create a sense of movement and activity.
| Aug 11, 2010
Residence hall designed specifically for freshman
Hardin Construction Company's Austin, Texas, office is serving as GC for the $50 million freshman housing complex at the University of Houston. Designed by HADP Architecture, Austin, the seven-story, 300,000-sf facility will be located on the university's central campus and have 1,172 beds, residential advisor offices, a social lounge, a computer lab, multipurpose rooms, a fitness center, and a...
| Aug 11, 2010
News Briefs: GBCI begins testing for new LEED professional credentials... Architects rank durability over 'green' in product attributes... ABI falls slightly in April, but shows market improvement
News Briefs: GBCI begins testing for new LEED professional credentials... Architects rank durability over 'green' in product attributes... ABI falls slightly in April, but shows market improvement
| Aug 11, 2010
Luxury Hotel required faceted design
Goettsch Partners, Chicago, designed a new five-star, 214-room hotel for the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The design-build project, with Saudi Oger Ltd. as contractor and Rayadah Investment Co. as developer, has a three-story podium supporting a 17-story glass tower with a nine-story opening that allows light to penetrate the mass of the building.
| Aug 11, 2010
Three Schools checking into L.A.'s Ambassador Hotel site
Pasadena-based Gonzalez Goodale Architects is designing three new schools for Los Angeles Unified School District's Central Wilshire District. The $400 million campus, located on the site of the former Ambassador Hotel, will house a K-5 elementary school, a middle school, a high school, a shared recreation facility (including soccer field, 25-meter swimming pool, two gymnasiums), and a new publ...
| Aug 11, 2010
New Jersey's high-tech landscaping facility
Designed to enhance the use of science and technology in Bergen County Special Services' landscaping programs, the new single-story facility at the technical school's Paramus campus will have 7,950 sf of classroom space, a 1,000-sf greenhouse (able to replicate different environments, such as rainforest, desert, forest, and tundra), and 5,000 sf of outside landscaping and gardening space.
