September 17, 2014

A Future Practice: Bialosky + Partners Lead Sessions at the 2014 AIA Ohio Convention!

AIA Ohio Convention 2014 Bialosky + Partners Architects

AIA Ohio Convention 2014 Bialosky + Partners Architects

This week, Bialosky + Partners Architects will lead sessions at the 2014 AIA Ohio Convention, in Kent, OH that tackle the theme of "A Future Practice".  Senior and Managing Principal Jack A. Bialosky, Jr.,  AIA, LEED AP and Principal David W. Craun, AIA, LEED AP are  jointly leading two sessions. Thursday’s Session, Action Planning For Firm Development will be facilitated by Jeffery Carmen, Management Consultant to the AEC industry. On Friday, Jack and David, along with Partner Aaron Hill AIA of Richard Fleischman + Partners Architects, and Principal Mike Schuster, FAIA, LEED AP of MSA Architects will be hosting a discussion titled It Takes A Village to Raise A Partner. Finally, Designer and Business Development Director Theodore Ferringer, Assoc. AIA, LEED Assoc., is leading a session on Thursday with designer Michael Christoff, Assoc. AIA, of Vocon and Project Manager Angela Jayjack Assoc. AIA, LEED AP of the General Services Administration, titled Empowering Emerging Professionals & Non-Traditional Practitioners: Lessons Learned  From AIA Cleveland.

We hope to see you there!

See details regarding the convention and the individual sessions below:

About the 2014 AIA Ohio Convention:

AIA Ohio, in collaboration with host chapters AIA Eastern Ohio and AIA Akron will be hosting the 2014 AIA Ohio convention at Kent State University on September 18 - 20, 2014. Working together with members of the profession from throughout Ohio, this years convention will be the first time that AIA Ohio has worked to bring its annual convention to the site of one of the states architectural programs.

This years theme, "A Future Practice" focuses on careers, business and practice opportunities for those who are just entering the architectural profession as well as long time practitioners looking for ways to change their existing practices.  Centered out of the Kent State Hotel and Conference Center, the convention will focus on the connection of practice to the academy as the profession is redesigned.

Thursday, Sept. 18: 1:00 - 2:15pm at Dix Ballroom, KSU

Action Planning For Firm Development
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Too much time spent working in the business and not enough spent on the business can leave a firm stagnant and unable to compete. Generational changes and new technologies are not only changing how we produce architecture, but the business of architecture itself. This session reflects on how leadership can successfully plan for the changing landscape of practice, creating opportunities for innovation and growth, while still getting the job done. This session is primarily focused on mid to large size firms. Jeffery Carmen, Management Consultant to the AEC industry will lead this session, explaining the trends, hurdles, opportunities to both the business and practice of architecture. With over 35 years of experience, Carmen has helped many define and achieve success on their terms. With a belief that "industry standard metrics" perpetuate mediocrity, Jeffrey will explain how to plan for action without falling into usual solutions. Joining Jeffery will be Bialosky + Partners Architects Managing Principal, Jack Bialosky, Jr., and the firm's youngest Principal, David W. Craun. They will share BPA's recent Action Planning strategy which has transformed such things as work environment, branding and messaging, and young leadership that has pushed the firm to never before seen successes.

Thursday, Sept. 18: 2:30 - 3:45pm at McGilvery Ballroom, KSU

Empowering Emerging Professionals & Non-Traditional Practitioners: Lessons Learned From AIA Cleveland

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Organizations throughout the county are evaluating how they engage the generations they serve. With an average member age of 50 and 40% of members retiring in the next 10 years, AIA is at a particularly sensitive and exciting time as it evaluates its relationship with Emerging Professionals (EP) and those on non-traditional career paths. In response to this context, AIA is proactively responding to evolving membership needs through the Repositioning Initiative. This session will showcase engagement and programming lessons learned by the AIA Cleveland Associates Committee; a committee organized by a series of Associate Directors who recognized the importance of engaging EP's and non-traditional career path professionals in the organization. This panel will engage the audience in discussing: How can EP's and associates become valuable resources for AIA as outreach into the community, positioning components as leaders within the community? How can increased EP and associate participation help address the diversity gap found in most chapters? What value does AIA participation by EP's and associates have for firms? We shall discuss these questions and more in this moderated panel discussion, sharing the replicable model that AIA Cleveland has recently developed to engage and empower EP and associate members.

Friday, Sept. 19: 9:00am - 10:15am at McGilvery Ballroom, KSU 

It Takes A Village To Raise A Partner

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A roundtable discussion will allow participants to examine the road to Partnership as one that requires equal ownership of the process by both older and newer leaders of the firm. This model of shared ownership asks experienced Partners to strategize in growing and harvesting the next generation of leadership together with future firm leaders. A culture of empowerment and self-driven responsibility proves to be the soil for emerging practitioners (EPs) to not only bloom, but to take roots in the firm. From the EP side, the session explores how to emerge as a partner in a fashion that fits him/her personally. Managing Partner of Bialosky + Partners Architects, Jack A. Bialosky, Jr, AIA, LEED AP, will host this roundtable with David W. Craun, AIA, LEED AP, who made history when he earned the first intern-to-partner promotion in the firm. Mike Schuster, FAIA, LEED AP, Founding Principal of MSA Architects and AIA Ohio Immediate Past President and Aaron Hill, AIA, Partner at Richard Fleischman + Partners Architects and AIA Cleveland President-Elect will join other architects at various career milestones from around the state to join the discussion.

March 26, 2014

Canstruction: Bialosky Wins “Can-Spirit” Award Two Years in a Row!

The Bialosky + Partners Architects CANstruction team has once again won the award for “can-spirit” at CANstruction Cleveland 2014!  This award is given to the team with the biggest enthusiasm and largest amount of cans donated through a can sculpture.

7,000 Cans ready to be Can-Structed!

BPA would like to thank our sponsors for their generous donations.  Thanks to their help we were able to raise over $5,750 and purchase over 6,900 cans of food to donate to the Greater Cleveland Foodbank during their Harvest for Hunger Campaign! These cans combined with the rest of the teams’ structures, will provide a record breaking number of over 30,000 meals to Northeast Ohio’s Hunger Relief.

The team works together to finish the structure in under 5 hours

With this year’s theme of “Route 66 – American Landmarks”, our team created a can replica of the Hollywood Hills.  Route 66 was one of the first original highways in the U.S. As one of America’s Landmarks and near the ending site of route 66; our sculpture of the Hollywood hills was built in hopes to help end hunger in Cleveland.  The front of the sculpture represents the undulating hills of Hollywood and the back gives a nod to route 66 with the classic logo.IMG_4016IMG_4016

Route 66 - The back of BPA's Hollywood Hills Structure

With Route 66 covering over 2,448 miles, it was our goal to double that number in canned goods to create this structure.  To our surprise, and the generous help from our sponsors, we were able to meet and exceed that goal! Note: Please hover your mouse over the images below to navigate the slideshow: [slideshow_deploy id='2593']   BPA Thanks our sponsors!

January 24, 2014

Theodore Ferringer Awarded Bike Cleveland’s 2013 Guardian of Transportation Award!

Bialosky + Partners' own Theodore Ferringer , Assoc. AIA has been bestowed with the 2013 Guardian Transportation Award in recognition of the time and talent contributed to Bike Cleveland in 2013.

Theodore Ferringer of Bialosky + Partners awarded Guardian of Transportation 2013 by Bike Cleveland for The Midway

Theodore receiving his medal on-stage from Bike Cleveland Executive Director Jacob Van Sickle.

No one told Theodore ahead of time; he just showed up to the Bike Cleveland Annual Meeting at The Beachland Ballroom and Tavern as planned, and was surprised with a very fragile translucent medallion engraved with the Guardians of Transportation - the giants that stand on the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge . Theodore wears the medallion like a an Olympic Gold Medalist when he's at the office after-hours for his second-wind.

Bike Cleveland Guardian of Transportation Award 2013 Theodore Ferringer

The medal bestowed to Theodore last week!

Now, for the work behind the award- Theodore has led Bialosky + Partners in the design and planning of "The Midway", a planning proposal generated on a pro-bono basis, that imagines Greater Cleveland and its neighborhoods threaded together by a user-friendly bike network.

A conceptual rendering of "The Midway", which activates the abandoned 20th century streetcar network for 21st century bicyclists

The Midway will soon be launching an informational website with a deeper outline of the proposal - to re-use abandoned right-of-ways from Cleveland's former streetcar network to form an approximately 70 to 100 mile separated cycle track network throughout Cleveland. This project is currently as aspiration conceptual design planning project, which is in addition the city of Cleveland's commitment to add over 70 miles of bikeways to the city's cycling infrastructure network by 2017. Congratulations to Theodore, the rest of the supporting BPA team, and the other winners - fellow committee member and traffic engineer Melissa Thompson, and Ben Stewart. Congratulations! Bialosky + Partners is proud to be a supporting Bike Cleveland, as they work on building livable communities by promoting all forms of cycling and advocating for the rights and equality of the cycling community. To learn about Bike Cleveland's annual meeting, see their recap here: http://www.bikecleveland.org/2014/01/20/bike-cleveland-annual-meeting-recap/ To see a great recap of Bike Cleveland's recent accomplishments for 2013 click here: http://www.bikecleveland.org/2013/12/31/bike-cleveland-2013-accomplishments/ Interested in becoming a member? Click here: http://bikecleveland.memberlodge.org/

January 21, 2014

Bialosky Promotions: Principal – David W. Craun

We have one final promotion to announce at Bialosky + Partners Architects: David W. Craun, AIA, and LEED AP has been promoted to Principal. Congratulations David! Bialosky + Partners Promotes David Craun to Associate Principal David has been recently named as one of Engineering News Record’s Top 20 Under 40 (Midwest Region, c/o ‘14) as a mover and shaker in the industry. David’s well rounded experience as an architect includes a holistic understanding of access, connectivity and interaction of mixed and multi-use facilities due to his training and practice as an urban designer. David W. Craun is a registered architect in the state of Ohio, and a LEED AP Certified Professional. His professional affiliations include AIA, NCARB, USGBC, ULI, APA and KSU’s CAED.

David Craun was the design lead for the Ben & Jane Norton Culinary and Convergent Digital Arts at Lorain County Community College

David Craun was the design lead for the Ben & Jane Norton Culinary and Convergent Digital Arts at Lorain County Community College

David was the design lead for the Ben & Jane Norton Culinary and Convergent Digital Arts at Lorain County Community College, which recently won an Honorable Mention at the 2013 AIA Cleveland Design Awards. He has also led firm planning and design efforts for Crocker Park, the highly acclaimed 4,000,000 square foot mixed use center that has become a national model for New Urbanist development. Pushing the firm to enter design competitions, David has led many of them with great successes. This includes INTESA, the major development of the last vacant parcel in Cleveland’s prestigious University Circle, COLDSCAPES (Honorable Mention) as well as Bialosky + Partners' collaboration with Architecture Research Office on a joint effort for the new facility for the Kent State University College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED) international competition (Finalist).

Bialosky + Partners' finalist entry for the Kent State CAED Competition.

Bialosky + Partners' finalist entry for the Kent State CAED Competition.

In his decade-long relationship with Zygote Press, the Cleveland-based non-profit print shop and gallery, David has volunteered his architectural services for the organization’s new studio spaces – a tall order that encompassed space-planning for large equipment and also fluctuating volunteers, interns, and staff. The current pro-bono project with Zygote is called “Ink House”. Located in the Waterloo Arts District, David will be the design lead on transforming an empty house into center for printmaking production and artist residence as a part of a grander plan of neighborhood revitalization.

Zygote Press' new Ink House, slated to open this summer, is being re-imagined by David as a screen printing center for the non-profit.

Zygote Press' new Ink House, slated to open this summer, is being re-imagined by David as a screen printing center for the non-profit.

David retains a strong relationship with his alma mater, Kent State University (MArch c/o ’03), where he was an Adjunct Instructor for six years. While enthusiastically and holistically coaching undergraduates in design studios, David taught not just to help students solve the immediate puzzles of their projects, but to instill technique, creative thinking, and confidence for young designers at the university. David has kept a relationship with many of his former students throughout the decade, even launched their professional careers working beside him as co-workers at Bialosky + Partners. As principal, David joins existing Bialosky + Partners Architects principals Jack Bialosky Jr., Paul Deutsch, Bruce Horton, and Mark Olson in leading one of the Midwest’s most successful architecture, planning, and design firms.

January 17, 2014

Bialosky Promotions: Associate Principals – Paul Taylor and Brandon Garrett

As a continuation of the celebration of our recent promotions, Bialosky + Partners Architects is proud to announce Paul Taylor and Brandon Garrett have both been promoted to Associate Principals.

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Paul Taylor, RA and Associate Principal

Paul Taylor joined the Bialosky + Partners Architects team in 1998 after earning his BArch from Kent State University.  As a designer, Paul has worked on numerous award winning projects including a private residence  Pura Vida, Cuyahoga Community College Hospitality Management Center.  More recently, he has been working on Ursuline College Center for Creative and Healing Arts and currently on his drawing board is a plan to redevelop the Cuyahoga County Community College Metro Campus’s Campus Center. Over the past few years Paul has shown a true interest in sustainability with a particular focus on the science behind developing an efficient building envelope.  To support his interest in this field, he is actively involved in Cleveland’s Building Enclosure Council.  Paul’s recommendation to those in the field is to read any book about designing environmentally sensitive and low energy-usage structures.  John Straube’s High Performance Enclosures or Joseph Lstiburek’s Builder’s Guide to… series are a great place to start.

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Pura Vida

Not only is Paul active in many projects and tasks within the office, he is also an involved member of the design community.   Along with his activity in the Building Enclosure council, he has served as a member of the Shaker Square Historic Design Review Committee for the last 8 years.  Paul has also volunteered his talents and design skills to support his church’s building and grounds master planning efforts.  In addition to these volunteer efforts, Paul and his wife, Sarah, are currently in the process of designing their own home. Paul has been able to check off 57 of Cleveland Scene’s top 100 things to do before you die.  If he was able to take us on a Cleveland based field trip, he’d wait until the spring and take us to Lakeview Cemetery.  He says, “The grounds are absolutely amazing!  It is as much an arboretum, park, horticultural garden, and sanctuary as it is a cemetery.  The design of the mausoleums and monuments are stunning and rich with stories; coupled with the spring growth and flowering trees it is a day to remember.”  His favorite place or space is actually standing on top of a mountain, with his skis pointed downhill, ready for a great run!

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Brandon Garrett, Associate Principal

Brandon Garrett joined Bialosky + Partners in 2001 and immediately became involved with the day-to-day activities of the firm.  As a designer with a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering Technology from the University of Cincinnati (class of 1998), Brandon prides himself on his work ethic and attention to detail.  These traits along with his management skills have been instrumental in developing projects such as the Walter K. Chess Center at Muskingum University, Crocker Park’s first phase, and 200 Lafayette. Brandon continues to excel as a leader and designer in the office.  He is currently overseeing the construction process for BPA’s most recent project at Muskingum, the University Center.  To understand the field as he does, Brandon would suggest Materials for Design by Victoria Ballard Bell & Patrick Rand.  The understanding of both material properties and the way in which they tectonically are assembled allow Brandon the ability to design amazingly beautiful details.

Northeast View of the Muskingum University Center

Northeast View of the Muskingum University Center

When not working in the office, you can run into Brandon at almost any Cleveland sporting event.  He’s such a big fan of the local teams that has recently accepted the challenge of bringing a winner to the area and undertaken the role as coach for a YMCA 5-6 year old Jr. Cavs basketball team.  If he’s not supporting the teams on the field, he is busy supporting teams of local charities including the Alzheimer’s Association. Brandon has been able to check off 68 items off of his bucket list of Scene’s top 100.  While Brandon’s favorite place is Interlaken, Switzerland, if he were to take us around the city of Cleveland, he’d give us a taste of Ohio City.  “Being a past resident of Ohio City for many years, we’d tour the OC.  Highlights would include a tour of Great Lakes Brewery (includes a pint or four), the West Side Market, a walk up Jay St., Bridge Ave. and West 25th St. Dinner at Momocho.” Congratulations again to both Brandon and Paul for their well-deserved promotion.  We look forward to continued success for you both!