Defining Design Excellence
Design Tenets
Over 60 years, we have evolved a living definition of design excellence, crystallized in ten tenets. These tenets codify the collective design culture that connects us, drives us forward, and readies us to elevate the human experience through design.
Spirit of Place
Engage with the site’s historical, cultural, or personal memories. Acknowledge context and create outdoor spaces that restore ecology and build community.
Beauty & Delight
Elicit a strong emotional response through harmonious and poetic interplay of light, shadow, color, texture, line, scale, rhythm, and proportion.
Clarity of Concept, Form, & Organization
Use design elements, massing, and spatial sequences purposefully to clearly support the concept.
Resilient & Adaptable
Mitigate effects of climate change with long-term strategies that respond, absorb, and adapt to disruptions, challenges, or environmental changes.
Elegant Detail & Craft
Celebrate the art of building. Use materials responsibly, consider how they meet, and develop sophisticated detailing.
Environmental Stewardship
Commit to carbon reduction, energy use reduction, water conservation, and healthy communities by maximizing value and minimizing waste.
Integration & Innovation
Engineer comprehensive and interconnected building systems with innovative advancements born from integrated design.
Community & Culture
Demonstrate appreciation, understanding, and authentic reflection of users’ diverse cultural identity. Ignite positive change by addressing community needs and creating inclusive experiences.
Health & Wellbeing
Support mental, physical, and emotional well-being. Be a catalyst for users’ health, cognitive function, physical performance, and personal goals.
Elevated Value
Create lasting value to society. Meet project budget goals and align with program requirements.
What We're Saying
Every project and client solution starts with a spark of an idea. Design thinking and problem solving are some of the ways we start to engage a design challenge.
Meet our People
Our sector, discipline, and executive leaders are dispersed to mentor the next generation of employee-owners, counsel clients, and share their design voice in their local communities.
