Case Studies Region: West

Gardens and vegetation are, ironically, not the best way to go green on college campuses. The water consumption alone can be drastic, especially in places like Los Angeles, California, which is in the third year of a historic drought. That’s why Garrett Solomon worked with a design team to plant eco-friendly greenery. In 2015, Scripps […]

When Scott Bailey’s truck was totaled, it was a blessing in disguise, says his wife, Beverly Bailey. Scott, a traveling electrician, was tired of being on the road. Beverly was on maternity leave and dreaded returning to her job as a loan officer. So, the pair used the money from the insurance settlement to launch […]

Mary Martin had been working at the Oregon Humane Society for one month when a friend told her she’d found the perfect dog for her. While she didn’t feel ready to adopt, she offered to foster instead. It didn’t take long for the French Bulldog, Mimi, to change Martin’s mind. “That little dog is with […]

When the Seattle Kraken opened its season in November 2020, big league hockey had finally arrived in a city known for its love of sports. The new Climate Pledge Arena also ushered in a new era in arena sustainability and energy efficiency, right down to the ice itself. Michael Hart helped design and oversee construction […]

The Kenilworth Apartments were built solidly enough during the 1960s to still be home to several hundred dwellers, but Avanti Residential saw need for upgrades after buying the Prairie Village, Kansas, complex last year. “Though well maintained, the place still feels like it need modernization,” says the young but very seasoned man who’s been directing […]

The most successful major college athletic programs use more than just national championships in football and men’s basketball to measure greatness. “We really think that great athletic departments are coach driven, student-athlete centered and administration assisted,” Jamie Breslin says. “We work to live by that every day with the work we do as a team.” […]

Jim Slagle has made a career out of helping to sustain quite the legacy. As vice president of facility asset management at Disneyland Resort, he feels like he is on hallowed ground. “Walt Disney’s legacy is visible throughout Disneyland park,” Slagle tells Blueprint in September 2021 from Anaheim, California, where he’s spent the second half […]

It was a busy, hot summer night in the late 1980s when as a teenager Elycia Child got an introduction to conflict resolution in the kitchen of a lakeside resort in Muskoka, Canada. During a particularly bustling Saturday dinner rush, the dining room was mobbed with hungry families and squalling children, she remembers. In the […]

Big things were afoot when Ken Cooper joined Larimer County, Colorado, government in 2016 as its director of facilities. As part of a facilities master plan he helped develop, the county was considering widespread improvements and expansion for county operations, most immediately to criminal justice and public health buildings. Yet there was always the chance […]

Cool, crisp October days ideal for outside work, a crew was landscaping and paving outside a $82 million, four-story building under construction at the UCHealth campus in Longmont, Colorado. The exterior is mostly done, save for the final windows. Grounds were broken around a year ago, and while there have been significant changes with the […]