Feb 15, 2023

Berger Partnership

Abbott

Leslie

McGuirt

O'Connell

Berger Partnership has promoted Anna O'Connell and Brad McGuirt to principal, Shannon Leslie to associate, and Christine Abbott to project manager.

O'Connell, PLA, ASLA, is a team leader for the firm's Microsoft Campus Modernization project and also holds leadership roles in mentoring and hiring. She manages large-scale projects and is a trusted advisor to clients of diverse project types. O'Connell served as a member of the University of Washington's Professional Advisory Committee.

McGuirt is also a leader for the Microsoft Campus Modernization project. He is recognized for modeling a balanced approach to management and leadership, guiding with clarity and a high level of technical efficiency.

Leslie is a leader with the firm's growing residential market. She supports the entire office with her extensive plant material expertise, ensuring Berger's ethos of ecologically responsive design resonates with all projects. Leslie joined the firm as an intern, producing a report exploring the fundamentals of integrated design and how Sustainable Sites Initiative and the Living Building Challenge apply to landscape architecture.

Prior to joining the firm, Abbott was a visiting Assistant Professor at the Sam Fox School of Arts and Visual Design at Washington University in St. Louis. She forwarded her passion as a professor teaching architecture and landscape architecture history to leading the firm in work on historic and Olmsted Brothers' designed parks. She leads the firm's Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion committee and launched the firm's limited series podcast, Clear Umbrella. Outside of the office, Abbott is a member of the University of Washington's Professional Advisory Committee and the Volunteer Park Trust Steering Committee.

MKA

Clifton

Sean P. Clifton, PE, SE, senior principal at MKA, has been named an Engineering News-Record Top 25 Newsmaker for 2022. ENR editors selected this group of change-makers for their leadership skills, industry advancements, and commitments to making their communities better places to live and work.

ENR recognized Clifton for his efforts to advance Performance-Based Wind Design (PBWD), which aims to enhance safety and reliability while reducing materials, costs, and embodied carbon in high-rise structures. He is the principal-in-charge for the structural design of 321 West 6th Street — a 671-foot-tall building in Austin, Texas, representing the first American skyscraper to incorporate PBWD into its design. Clifton was critical in developing a parallel, conventional design for the tower and sharing PBWD's advantages with developers, architects, and local building officials. He has presented on PBWD to the American Concrete Institute, Chicago Committee on High Rise Buildings, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, and the Los Angeles Tall Building Design Council.

Clifton oversees MKA's project portfolio in Southeast Asia and is a leader in the design of high-rise structures, especially Performance-Based Design towers. His design portfolio includes mixed-use, office, and residential projects worldwide, including many high-profile developments in the Philippines, such as the Bank of Philippine Islands headquarters, Empress, Glaston, Maven, One Legacy Grandsuites, and The Estate Makati. In addition, he was a project manager for the development of Hines' Embodied Carbon Reduction Guide.

Clifton graduated from the University of Texas, Austin, with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and a Master of Science in Structural Engineering. He joined MKA in 2008. At age 38, he is the youngest of MKA's 13 shareholders.

Olson Kundig

Grant

Kenton Grant has joined Olson Kundig as director of technology. In this role, Grant will oversee design and information technology across the firm's Seattle and New York offices. Working with owners, principals, and other firm leaders, he will develop and implement strategic technology plans in order to drive innovation, digital exploration, and experimentation in support of Olson Kundig's design practice.

Grant has 20 years of experience in the field, focused on delivering quality projects for every client. Prior to joining Olson Kundig, he was design technology manager at Gensler. Throughout his career, he has worked for several architecture and engineering firms across diverse segments of the AEC industry, including a Fortune 500 defense contractor.

TCA Architecture + Planning

Hooker

TCA Architecture + Planning has promoted Forest Hooker, NCARB, AIA LEED AP BD+C to principal. Hooker joined the TCA team in 2004 and has become a leader in the architectural design and management of municipal, federal, and fire facility projects over the past 20 years. He lectures and consults nationally and has published on approaches to municipal facility design. Among Hooker's recently completed projects, the city of Kirkland Fire Station 24 received the gold award in a national facility design competition in the fall of 2022.

WJE

Skondre

Frazier

Wong

Rebecca Wong, PMP, was promoted to senior associate. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Regis University and a Master of Arts in Historic Preservation from Savannah College of Art & Design, and has been with WJE since 2013. A leader in the practice of Historic Preservation and Material Conservation, Wong helps contractors, building owners, and architects preserve and repair existing structures, with an emphasis on materials science, both historic and contemporary. Her most recent contributions to the region's historic preservation community include serving as a 2022 chapter director of APTNW and as a Pro Tem instructor at the University of Oregon, Portland. She is also affiliated with the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works and the Project Management Institute, and is an architectural historian in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior's Professional Qualifications Standards.

Robert M. Frazier, P.E., was also promoted to senior associate. Frazier joined WJE in 2019 and holds bachelor's and master's degrees in civil and structural engineering, respectively, from Oklahoma State University. His practice focuses on the evaluation and repair of concrete structures and inspection and load testing of facade access equipment. His professional affiliations include ACI, ICRI, and SEAW.

Becky Skondre, P.E., was promoted to associate III, and has been with WJE since 2018. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Washington and a Master of Science in Structural Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Skondre's practice focuses on structural assessment and repair of existing buildings, including concrete, steel, timber, and masonry materials. She serves as the WJE Seattle safety officer, and is a member of SEA. She also participates in the ACE mentor program in Seattle.

Feb 08, 2023

BuildingWork

Weiland

Kate Weiland has been promoted to partner at BuildingWork. Weiland's promotion marks a significant milestone as she is the first employee to join founder and principal Matt Aalfs in an ownership position at the seven years old firm.

As Aalfs' first hire in 2016, Weiland brings specific expertise in the design of libraries and adaptive reuse of existing buildings as well as a resume of community and civic projects of various scopes and scales. Weiland is an architect and project manager on BuildingWork's most complex projects including the Metropole Building, the award winning Skyway Library, and Town Hall Seattle, and is currently serving as the Senior Project Manager for The Seattle Public Library Green Lake Branch. Weiland regularly shares her expertise on everything from library design to retrofits and has served as a guest critic at the University of Washington Architecture Department since 2014.

FSi Engineers

Moyer

FSi Engineers announced the promotion of Jessica Moyer to the position of senior associate. Moyer brings a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Seattle University and 13 years of experience. Since joining FSi in 2014, she has excelled in creating complex mechanical designs and is an integral part of the Boeing team.

Cary Kopczynski & Company

Leaverenz

Peng

Tu

Shim

Lassalle

Cary Kopczynski & Company (CKC) hired Hector Lasalle and Mary Shim as senior design engineers, promoted Andy Tu to senior project manager, and promoted Elaine Peng and Al Leaverenz to senior associate.

Lasalle, PE, SE, joined CKC with extensive experience in structural design and analysis for steel and concrete buildings. His current projects include the design of 410 E. Fifth St. in Austin which will become the tallest building in Texas at 1,035' in height.

Shim, PE, LEED AP, has over 16 years of domestic and international experience in structural design, analysis, and management for concrete and steel buildings. Her current projects include a three tower residential and retail development in Bellevue, and the 9th & Howell hotel tower in Seattle.

Tu, PE, SE, LEED AP, has more than twenty years of structural engineering experience, including the design and project management of residential towers, mixed-use facilities, and parking structures. His current projects include 222 Fifth Ave. N. and the Belltown 36 Tower, both in Seattle.

Peng, PE, SE, is a senior design engineer and has led the structural design of residential towers, office buildings and parking structures. She is highly experienced with concrete and steel design and is currently working on the Snoqualmie Casino expansion and multifamily residential projects in Denver.

Leaverenz is a major projects BIM specialist and has significant experience in project planning, coordination and BIM modeling for concrete, steel, and timber structures. His current projects include 410 E. Fifth St. in Austin, 1900 Broadway Tower in Oakland, and the Laguna parking structure in Los Angeles.

GGLO

Decker

Brockway

Slazinik

Templeton

GGLO announced the promotion of four staff. Jessie Templeton, Tim Slazinik, Rachel Brockway, and Phillip Decker have all been promoted to senior associate.

Templeton, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, LFA, approaches architectural design from a background in environmental studies and urban planning. She is the firm's embodied carbon specialist and part of the design equity initiative, which focuses on intelligent material and system solutions and building relationships with the people who will ultimately inhabit the space's the firm designs. Templeton graduated with a Masters in Architecture from the University of Oregon and has worked on single and multi-family residential projects, hospitality, mixed-use developments, and as a planning consultant.

Slazinik, PLA, ASLA, LEED green associate, brings a strong background of public engagement and civic design experience. His work includes landscapes of all scales and programs. Slazinik's experience runs the gamut of scales and project types, from health centers and middle schools to rooftop farms and trail systems. Outside of his project work, he serves in a national and local roles with the American Society of Landscape Architects, and has been a featured speaker at the ASLA Annual Conferences.

Brockway, senior associate NCIDQ, brings over 20 years of industry experience to GGLO with a strong background in hospitality and workplace design. She possesses a profound love of art, materials and finishes, and believes they are the most essential element in creating a highly sought-after “authentic experience”.

Decker, senior associate PLA, ASLA, has a deep appreciation for integrated, site-specific design that is both ecologically responsible and authentic to each and every site. Prior to joining GGLO, Decker worked on a diverse set of private, public and institutional projects throughout the northwest, northeast and Asia. He has broad experience in project types that include residential, master planning communities, public plazas, stream restoration, retail lifestyle center and public and private schools.