March 3, 2004

Design Detailings: Kundig named AIA Fellow

Tom Kundig

Tom Kundig of Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects was given the title of American Institute of Architects Fellow this week. His firm earlier this year won two 2004 AIA Honor Awards, for Chicken Point Cabin in Hayden Lake, Idaho, and The Brain, a glass and concrete box in Seattle that serves as a filmmaker's laboratory.

Kundig's projects range from residences to large-scale work, such as the 200,000-square-foot campus for the Mission Hill Family Estate Winery in British Columbia and the recently completed Seattle Art Museum Rental Gallery. Current work includes a new facility for the Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle, which is entering schematic design, a retreat center and a number of residences in the U.S. and in Canada.

NW firms vie for Vietnam project

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund announced Tuesday that two Northwest design firms have been shortlisted for the Education Center at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Portland's Allied Works Architecture and Seattle landscape architecture firm Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd. are among nine teams that include Michael Graves & Associates, Polshek Partnership Architects and Ann Beha Architects. Thirty-nine teams submitted entries for the $25 million project.

On Thursday, representatives from the teams will visit the Vietnam Memorial, and on March 26 each team will participate in a one-hour team interview conducted by a jury of community leaders and design experts. On that day, the jury will select teams to participate in the competition's final phase this summer.

The Education Center will feature photographs of those who were killed or remain missing, some of the more than 60,000 items that have been left at the Vietnam Memorial wall and other displays that will be developed over the next year.

NW Design Expo March 18-19

Seattle Design Center hosts the annual Northwest Design Expo on March 18 and 19. This year's theme explores how high fashion influences interior design.

The expo will provide opportunities for design professionals to view new colors, textures and products. Presentations from designers, showroom demonstrations and seminars are also on the program. Presenters include New York designers Greg Jordan and Jeffrey Billhuber. The event is free for design professionals, but registration is required. For information, visit seattledesigncenter.com or call (800) 497-7997.

Naval architect leads studies

Art Anderson Associates' chief naval architect Andrew K. Bennett is a team leader providing water transportation expertise on studies being conducted in Southeast Alaska, Vancouver and Marina Del Rey. These studies look at alternate modes of transportation and ways to improve residents' access to work, services and recreational activities.

Art Anderson is working with the prime contractor, Walsh Planning and Development, to prepare the marine portion of the updated Southeast Alaska Transportation Plan.

For the Vancouver Harbour Passenger Ferry Study, Art Anderson is teamed with Transportation Management & Design of San Diego, to determine the feasibility of expanded passenger ferry service from communities west, north, and east of Vancouver. Art Anderson Associates teamed with Transportation Management & Design for the Marina CoastLink Evaluation in Marina Del Rey.

Forum on Columbia City landmarks

The Seattle City Council and the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board designated the Columbia City Historic District 25 years ago. But a revised landmark nomination may help property owners qualify for Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits and federal incentives, which encourage preservation and re-use of historic buildings.

A public presentation on the issue will be held at 3 p.m. March 12, at the Sound Transit Community Link Office, 4900 Rainier Ave. S, Suite 102. For more information, contact Holly Taylor at holly@pastforwardnw.com or (206) 463-3168.

St. Martin's awards MCE scholarships

St. Martin's College Engineering Advisory Committee awarded MCE scholarships to master's program students Royanna Solis-Garcia and Ryan Cuoio.

Solis-Garcia earned a bachelor of science in civil engineering from Texas A & M University. Cuoio earned a B.S. in manufacturing engineering from Western Washington University.

Chambers Creek plan wins award

The American Planning Association awarded Pierce County's Chambers Creek Properties master site plan a 2004 Current Topic Award for Parks and Public Land. The county plans to turn a working gravel mine with a wastewater treatment plant and urban canyon into a public recreation area. It calls for native plant restoration and sustainable development practices,

Chambers Creek Properties is a 935-acre site with a 150-year history of logging and mining. Planned development includes 10 miles of trails, beach access, two public piers, a boat launch, ball fields, a golf course, arboretum, production nursery and open space.

The golf course and nursery are in development phases, and additional trails will be added in the next two years.

Two Portland firms merge

The Portland architecture firms Clark/Kjos Architects and Mills, John & Rigdon recently merged. The firms had been running their practices in the same building and serving the health care design and consulting market.

Clark/Kjos Architects is a 19-year-old architecture, interior design and planning firm that serves health care clients throughout the Northwest.

This year is Mills, John & Rigdon's 81st anniversary. In the 1950s the firm focused on churches and schools, but in the 1980s made a shift to health care.

Plans call for growing into a 40- to 50-person firm over the next five years. The address is 333 N.W. Fifth Ave., Portland 97209, and phone is (503) 224-4848.

Sparling opens office for Portland market

Seattle-based Sparling, an electrical engineering and technology consulting firm, has opened an office in downtown Portland. The new office, located in the 3400 U.S. Bancorp Tower, was established to help Sparling continue serving local clients and to generate new business in Oregon.

Sparling vice president and COO Eric Overton said Kimberly Krull, a Sparling Associate, has been appointed general manager at the Portland office. Joining Krull in Portland is senior project manager Mark Engdall and Michael White, who will serve as Sparling's senior project engineer. This team will help Sparling in Portland in the areas of health care, higher education, biotech/research and arts and culture.

Sparling's most recent local projects include: Sacred Heart Medical Center's Riverbend Campus in Springfield, the largest health care facility in Oregon; Edith Green/Wendall Wyatt Federal Building, a $35 million modernization project in Portland; and Clackamas Community College's new arts building.