Michael Kerwin on innovation

September 2010 — "A great building can be a moment of relative perfection in a mass of confusion," says Michael Kerwin, regional design principal for AECOM in Miami, Florida. "Our work is ambitious: it is driven by the belief that the environments we create directly influence the quality of the lives of everyone who interacts with them."

"We live in an age of awesome change," says Mike. "Our aim is not just to keep pace with this change, but to lead it." For him, innovation means redefining the expectations of the marketplace with bold work. "It is more important that a design be interesting than expensive, more satisfying that it is clever in its economies than extravagant."

"Cities are the cultural hearts and the economic engines of our society," says Mike. "A salutary balance between the public and private domain is one of the key things that defines design excellence for us. We contribute to the public discourse about our cities and our profession."

Mike says that AECOM provides multi-disciplinary solutions that integrate the best ideas from all sources — architecture, engineering, interiors and urbanism — and gives equal weight to all of the fundamental languages of design. "Our approach engages the knowledge and experience of the entire team, and encourages collaboration both within the design studio and with colleagues, consultants, specialists, clients, academics and the public."

Ginny Dyson on sustainability

"Evaluating a building's success has increasingly become connected to environmental performance, especially energy efficiency," says Ginny Dyson, IIDA, LEED AP BD+C. "Our success is judged by clients who are owners and occupants and have the responsibility to manage the building day to day."

Budgetary pressures often concern clients as they evaluate the upfront costs of sustainability strategies. Ginny points to AECOM's Sustainable Systems Integration Model™ (SSIM™) and standalone energy module, SSIMe, to address such concerns. "These tools can help clients determine the most cost-effective sustainability measures in response to the particular conditions of a project," says Ginny.

"Partnering with our clients and involving their design and sustainability ideas in our process is very effective," says Ginny. "I love to see the light-bulbs go off over their heads."

Ginny is working with AECOM's regional lead mechanical engineer on a training course to help architects take responsibility for high-performance envelopes. "We're working to figure out how buildings and their users can demand less energy and water, and to apply that knowledge earlier and earlier in the project, encouraging more responsibility for material choices beyond LEED standards," says Ginny. "We're fine-tuning our buildings so they can fine-tune themselves throughout the day."

Mike Brennan on consensus

While a building's managers and occupants are attuned to its performance, its neighbors evaluate on a different scale. Getting buildings approved — and embraced — by the community is no small feat. Mike Brennan, AECOM regional design principal, recently completed the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute in Virginia, the signature building on the Riverside Center campus that he masterplanned.

"Since many of my projects are on campuses or military installations, the stakeholder groups are often very large and diverse, and my role as the facilitator of the design conversation becomes quite important in building consensus for the appropriate solution," he explains.

"Perhaps because I began my career as a planner, I have always been keenly aware of the impact of buildings I design on their community and immediate environment," says Mike. "My designs are always influenced by the context of the site as well as the desires of my client. I believe in a collaborative approach to the design process, engaging design team members and the client."

"One of the advantages to our clients is our integrated approach to design and the ready availability of virtually any expertise required to help them be successful in creating appealing, engaging and successful places," says Mike.

James Tilghman on symbolic meaning

James Tilghman is AECOM's director of design for the National Capital Office in Arlington, Virginia. "Within the context of Washington D.C. — a city of symbols, monuments and icons from many periods of American history — we're surrounded by artifacts intended to represent the most enduring values of a nation," he says.

"Our buildings need to be driven by a strong organizational logic, to resonate with the time and place and the unique qualities of the organizations and institutions that we design for. They need to be smart at all levels and drive innovation where the greatest value can flow from a given design solution or application of technology. They need to embody best practices for a sustainable present and future."

"I believe that our work is about enhancing and sustaining an enduring spirit of our time through the unique lens of our clients: to think about the meaning of form and space in the public and private realms," says James.

"There should be a certain audacity to what we do — whether it be in the application of technology and engineering solutions, or the spirit of the forms and spaces that we create and that become part of our cultural awareness. Our mission in the end is to inspire and lead through design: the power of form, space and organization that inspire us to great things."

By Erik Miller