Case Studies

In 1859, amidst acres of 400-year-old trees in what is now the Glen Helen Nature Preserve in Yellow Springs, Ohio, Antioch College’s first president, Horace Mann, addressed the graduating class with these infamous words: “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.” Not unsurprisingly, this expectation has bred a campus culture […]

Since 1983, Martech Electrical Systems Ltd. has been providing electrical installations and services to commercial, industrial and residential customers throughout British Columbia. As the largest electrical firm in British Columbia’s Kootenay region, the business operates from a head office and main plant in Castlegar, British Columbia, as well as branch plants in Cranbrook and Sparwood, British […]

The phoenix-from-the-ashes analogy is much overused, but it still comes to mind when one strolls through the Hunt Valley Towne Centre in northern Baltimore County. Residents of sufficient longevity will remember that this now vibrant and uplifting outdoor shopping and lifestyle area was once the site of the Hunt Valley Mall that, like so many […]

Marvin Smith once managed large airfield maintenance and construction for the U.S. Air Force. Today, he’s focused on intricate medical complexes. Ultimately, the two endeavors aren’t all that different, the civil engineer says. Both are pressure-filled, require significant attention to detail and allow little margin for error. “I do enjoy the challenges,” says Smith, assistant […]

When it comes to urban development, “mixed-use” is a term that gets volleyed around quite a bit these days. As cities and towns grapple with their (in some cases limited) existing space and simultaneously strive to make themselves desirable, the concept of melding residential, commercial, cultural and industrial uses into one harmonious package seems to […]

Growing up in the West German capital of Bonn, in the uncertain years before and after reunification, Matthias Muckle marveled at the city’s multicultural verve: the kaleidoscope of faces on every street, the mix of gothic and postmodern architecture, meeting families from foreign embassies on early evening strolls with his parents. Today, he still yearns […]

The road paved with good intentions needn’t lead to someplace unpleasant. Quite the contrary, as long as good materials, state-of-the-art machinery and a capable work crew are included in the process. McAnany Construction Inc., an asphalt paving and construction company in Shawnee, Kansas, has long been noted for all of the above, and in the […]

Of all things, McCarthy Building Companies is stocking up on shipping containers. The reason why? Safety. By opening the front and back doors of enclosed, conex-type containers, the company can use them as tunnels at worksite entrances, protecting workers from falling debris. Robert Coibion, chief estimator for McCarthy, says the idea came from one of […]

It might have taken some doing back in 2010 for the McKee brothers, Patrick and Michael, to start the home building company that bears their surname in Fayetteville, North Carolina. But as CEO Patrick explains, if it was a gamble, it was one well insulated from undue risk. For Michael had brought capital down from […]

When Jerry Merriman first got word that Merriman Anderson Architects (MAA) had been awarded a contract to restore the iconic Statler Hotel—a building which his firm had already been working on for close to a decade—he knew his firm would be resurrecting a once-proud downtown Dallas treasure. Actually finding treasure? That was never part of […]