Case Studies Region: West

There was no crystal ball predicting Margana Suendermann Nord would be helping design and build the workplaces of tomorrow for Carta. But then, what crystal ball predicted on-site workplaces would become endangered because of a global pandemic, the likes of which had not been seen in a century? As head of real estate and workplace […]

Here in California, wildfire season only seems to come earlier and last longer. What used to be June through October became April through November, but at no time does the threat really dissipate. The huge Golden State is always hot, dry and windy somewhere—Southern California beset by the Santa Ana Winds and Northern California, especially […]

In the heart of Koreatown, located in Los Angeles along Wilshire Boulevard, Korean BBQ restaurants, nightlife and historic architecture have all played a role in the neighborhood’s continued growth. Jamison Properties and 26-year-old Director of Construction Sandy Bole are finding new ways to build up, literally—by increasing density in what’s already one of the densest […]

Growing up in Houston, Monique Davis could see her neighborhood needed some care and wanted to help fix the buildings in the city she called home. But how, she remembers thinking, could she even get started? The answer came in a chance meeting when architect Vergel Gay spoke at her school and he and his […]

To live is to learn, to learn is to live. What a desirable place to do both, the University of California San Diego, where environments are being reshaped for like-minded students, faculty and staff. It’s here where the undergraduate division is organized into seven residential colleges, each headed by its own provost and with its […]

Amy Hunn was in college at the Art Institute of Colorado and she needed a job. She got one answering phones, scheduling appointments and sweeping hair at an original Floyd’s 99 Barbershop in Denver. It’s been more than 18 years since she’s picked up a broom as part of her daily work duties, but she’s […]

A 17-year-old Wesley Cooper would never forget the haunting screams of a woman burning to death in a car fire—and he never imagined his efforts to save her life would lead to a multiple careers. Seeing her car aflame in a ditch as a passerby, the teenager rushed to her aid, attempting to break the […]

For much of 2020, in California and along the West Coast, the day and night skies took on a permanent orange hue, a vivid reflection of the raging fires down below. Plumes of stinging, acrid smoke swirled into the sky, then settled as an uncomfortable haze shrouding houses, roads and businesses. The forest fire-induced haze […]

It’s the story of a green campus forced to go virtual and experiencing growth in multiple ways as a result. The Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator manages the La Kretz Innovation Campus in partnership with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. A showcase of cutting-edge environmental tech, the campus is WELL Gold- and LEED […]

To paraphrase an old truism, a dollar of prevention is worth many times that in rehabilitation. It may seem mind-boggling how so many property owners fail to take notice. Such as in Kansas City, Kansas, where a 13-story residential building will finally commence with a long-overdue overhaul in early 2021 after being acquired by Steele […]