Case Studies March 2020

To some, an outdated manufacturing facility in Sunnyvale, California, might deserve to be razed to make way for the next development in Silicon Valley. But Norman LoPatin saw something different: a potential school. And that shouldn’t come as a surprise. For 18 years, LoPatin has led the construction of 25 charter schools nationwide showing that […]

Since opening its doors 189 years ago, Georgia’s LaGrange College has produced many memorable alums. There’s Dean W. Young, creator of the nationally-syndicated “Blondie” comic strip from the 1960s; Dwayne Shattuck, an Emmy-award winning producer of “Mad Men” and renowned novelist Terry Kay—awards and accolades abound. The other thing it’s produced: an annual utility bill […]

You won’t see Joe Holland peering into a microscope to determine whether the latest pharmaceutical innovation is ready for a clinical trial. But at the Charles River research facility in Reno, Nevada, he’s known to keep a sharp eye on how the building and its labs measure up to the exacting rigors of medical science—because […]

It’s a side of the process he didn’t have to deal with while working at an architectural firm during the early and mid-2000s. Back then, when Frank Cunha III would be handed a project, much of the legwork would have been complete, the clients specifying their needs and allowing him to focus on execution. Now […]

Not long after Matthew Johnston joined TI Fluid Systems in 2010, the company’s CEO Bill Kozyra embarked upon a project to dramatically improve its workplace, believing a new corporate office would have a powerful and positive effect on employees. The goal was to create a corporate setting in Auburn Hills, Michigan, that would inspire employees […]

On Feb. 22, 2011, a 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch, in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand’s South Island. The resulting peak ground acceleration (PGA)—the highest ever recorded—decimated the downtown business district and, according to eyewitnesses, tossed people into the air, thrown by the thrust of the earth’s vertical lift. Liquefaction of subterranean material—one of the […]

When it comes to the facilities at Take-Two Interactive, one of the world’s largest interactive entertainment companies, few know the lay of the land better than Larry Charlip—its nooks and crannies, its quirks and idiosyncrasies. As a teenager working in the mailroom at a commodity trading company, MG Corp., Charlip learned his first lesson in […]

Every day Albert Fiacco looks at the shiny plaque on his wall and smiles.   Winning the 2018 Energy Project of the Year from the government of Ontario and the industry conference Energy into Action is a point of pride for Fiacco, the director of facilities at Boston-based integrated facilities provider C&W Services.  It also makes him feel good about the positive environmental impact the company is making globally. And yes, on a […]

Wouldn’t it be cool to work at a vehicle test track? One where automated vehicles negotiate realistic highways, traffic lights, high-speed intersections and an 80-acre city? Andrew Mathers, director of facilities for Transportation Research Center Inc., doesn’t just work there. He’s helping build it. In its latest innovation, Transportation Research Center, an independent vehicle testing […]

As a kid, Sean Tracy remembers never wanting to work in a hospital. To him, that was where all the sick people went—a place where bad things happened far too often. So, when Tracy joined the grounds crew at Penrose Hospital in Colorado just two years out of high school, he couldn’t help but see […]