I want to share some notes on the 2012 Summer Design Fellowship poster and some thoughts on design communication. But before I do here’s just a brief introduction for those who are new to the program. Years ago the firm established a ten-week paid Design Fellowship for an exceptional architecture student to work with us over the summer. The application is open to all students who are, at date of submission, enrolled in an accredited professional degree program in the field of architecture.

At some point, to keep things fresh we ...[more]

In a provocative blog post on beauty in architecture, 2012 Summer Design Fellow Amrita Raja commented upon the reluctance of many contemporary architects to discuss the role of beauty, relying instead on more purely rational justifications such as performance. It reminded me of the 2009 NY Times article about Douglas Bowman who very publicly left his position as Google’s top visual designer because, in his words, “at Google design lived or died by data.”

Amrita’s post also reminded me of the scene in the documentary film Helvetica, where Michael Place from UK-based design firm Build talks candidly about how, for him, design is primarily ...[more]

A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education (“Scientific Discovery, Inspired by a Walk to the Restroom”) made the argument that locating key support facilities has a role in fostering collaborative research environments.

As a design researcher, whenever I read a piece like this that cites research without providing citations or references, I become concerned about the quality of the evidence.

I decided to do a little digging. Although I was unable to find a research study documenting a 50-foot rule (“collaboration drops to 10% when workers are more than 50 feet ...[more]

An article by Shepley Bulfinch principal William Mead discussed communication and the role design of the Main South expansion at Children’s Hospital Boston in the July 2007 issue of Healthcare Design magazine.

The 11-story, 250,000 s.f. expansion was designed to foster communications among hospital staff, as well as with patients, and families, an aspect of particular importance in the pediatric acute care environment.

The facility, which opened in 2005, received the 2006 Modern Healthcare Award of Excellence. It incorporates sophisticated medical technology, including the innovative MROR, which bring magnetic resonance imaging technology into the surgical suite.

Shepley Bulfinch is pleased to welcome seminal design leader Scott Slarsky, who has joined the firm as a director.

In announcing the appointment, president Carole Wedge said, “Scott is an exciting new design voice for Shepley Bulfinch, with passion, vision, and a deep understanding of how design can provide clarity of purpose and mission during times of institutional growth and change.”

Scott cites Spanish modernism as a particular influence on his work, drawing from formative years spent in Madrid working with Rafael Moneo and Juan Navarro Baldeweg.  As a co-founder of designLAB, Scott and his ...[more]

What can you come up with to transform a parking lot into a community gathering place, in the face of financial and logistical constraints? That was the challenge facing design teams in the Flat Lot competition in Flint, Michigan. “Knot Lot,” a Shepley Bulfinch team submission, was chosen as one of five finalists from among 221 entries in the competition, which was sponsored by the Flint (Michigan) Public Art Project and the Flint chapter of the AIA.  Knot Lot and other top entries will be part of an exhibition opening in Flint on April 14.

Organizers asked designers ...[more]

Shepley Bulfinch was ranked 39th among the country’s leading interior design firms, according to a survey just published in the January issue of Interior Design magazine. The magazine’s annual ranking of the “100 Interior Design Giants” is based on 2012 interior design fees for major architecture and design firms around the US.

Shepley ranked fifth among education design firms, making the survey’s Top 10 in education design for the fourth year in a row. Shepley’s 2012 major education interiors clients included Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Hamline University, and the University of Houston.

Shepley ...[more]