Company Overview

• Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB) is an architecture, planning, and interior design firm that was founded in 1931 by Lou and Irving Solomon. They were later joined by John Cordwell and John Buenz.
• The company currently operates from three locations in Chicago, Seattle, and San Francisco. 
• SCB currently employs 280 design professionals, completed over 600 projects, and currently has over 220 active projects. 
• Under its architecture portfolio, the company offers residential, office, aviation, hospitality, and other services.
• SCB offers the following services under its planning portfolio: campus planning; comprehensive, land-use, and policy planning; urban design and master plan; international planning, and others.
• They also offer interior design services such as corporate, residential, repositioning, campus environment, and aviation.
• SCB has an estimated annual revenue of about $43.6 million. 

Messaging

• The company's tagline is "Design for a changing world".
• The company pitches itself as a forward-thinking innovative design firm that leaves a "lasting impact on the nation’s skyline, campuses, and neighborhoods."
• SCB approaches design with a focus on the company's four core principles; interpret, envision, execute, and inspire.

Social Media Usage

• SCB has an account on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. However, they are more active on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
• Number of Followers
• LinkedIn: 5,582 followers 
• Instagram: 2,286 followers  
• Facebook: 1,157 followers 

Hiring Channel

• SCB advertises job openings on the career section of its website and its LinkedIn page. However, job openings in the company are also advertised on third-party job aggregators such as Indeed and Glassdoor.

Pricing Information

• While the company does not provide pricing information on its websites, the company can be contacted through e-mail on hello@scb.com. 
• Furthermore, Krista Nestor and Ryan McBrayer are the company's directors of business development. They are committed to client service. Hence, they are likely going to provide pricing information if contacted.
• Krista Nestor can be contacted via e-mail on krista.nestor@scb.com and via telephone on 312.896.1250.
• Ryan McBrayer can be reached via e-mail on ryan.mcbrayer@scb.com and via telephone on 628.867.6180.

Hartshorne Plunkard Overview

• Their studio is located in the historic Fulton Market District, in Chicago, Illinois.
• The firm was started in 1987 by Raymond Hartshorne and James Plunkard.
• They have over 50 employees, including an executive team of 13 members. Their executive team consists of six partners, two executive partners, and five principals.
• Their recent portfolio includes over 64 projects nation-wide.
• In 2018, Hartshorne Plunkard was awarded Firm of the Year by the American Institute of Architechs Chicago (AIAChicago).

Hartshorne Plunkard's Approach

• Hartshorne Plunkard focuses on "placemaking. "

• Hartshorne Plunkard approaches each project as a collaboration with their clients.
• They infuse their designs with the history and unique attributes of the project so that each building can "feel like they belong and are authentic to their space."

Hartshorne Plunkard's Social Media Presence

• Hartshorne Plunkard uses various forms of social media including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.

• They have over 450 twitter followers and over 500 tweets.
• They have over 1200 Instagram followers, and over 140 posts where they display their projects.
• Their Facebook page has over 200 likes and almost 300 followers.

Career Opportunities at Hartshorne Plankard Architecture

• Job opportunity/career inquiries can be found on the Contact page on the company's website

• Any available positions, as well as directions and contact information can be found on the Contact page as well.
• No other job postings were found on the company's LinkedIn page, AIAChicago's job board, or at any of the popular job boards such as Indeed, Monster, or ZipRecuiter.

Pricing

• The company does not provide pricing information on their website.

• For general inquiries, including pricing, you can find contact information on the Contact page on the company's website.
• Their email for general inquiries is info@hpacrchitecture.com.

Research Strategy

Company Overview

• bKL Architecture, an architecture firm based in Chicago, Illinois, was founded in 2010 by Thomas Kerwin, the founding principal, who was supported at the time by James Loewenberg.
• It has 89 employees in total — 1 founding principal, 1 managing director, 15 directors, 16 associate directors, 35 associates, and 21 studio employees.
• The culturally diverse team works in an open studio environment that was designed to encourage the exchange of ideas.
• bKL Architecture has one office each in Chicago, Washington, DC, and Shanghai.
• It handles the following types of projects: civic, education, housing, interiors, mixed-use, and office.
• On LinkedIn, it lists architecture, planning, and interior architecture as its specialties.
• Its revenue is estimated at $14.5 million.

Marketing/Sales Approach

• bKL Architecture touts itself as “a team of passionate designers and practitioners with expertise in a variety of markets and project types.”
• It uses the terms ‘sophisticated’, ‘inspiring’, and ‘timeless yet forward-thinking’ to describe the spaces and structures it designs.
• It says with confidence that the projects it designs only enhance or enrich the sites, communities, or cities in which the projects are built. It highlights that it listens to the needs of its users and clients but, at the same time, takes into account surrounding communities and potential uses and desires.
• It highlights as well that analysis, experimentation, and collaboration all feature prominently in its process.
• Its website is image-heavy. The homepage, for example, shows only images of the firm’s work and links to project details. For each showcased project, the firm provides the following details: year of design, year of construction, project area, consultants, contractor, materials, awards, and photographers.

Social Media Usage

• bKL Architecture has a presence in five social media networks, namely, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.
• It has 1,406 followers on Facebook, 1,303 followers on Twitter, 2,710 followers on LinkedIn, 2,106 followers on Instagram, and 31 subscribers on YouTube.
• bKL Architecture is equally active on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, as it posts quite regularly about its projects on these social media platforms.
• It is not as active on YouTube, as it has only 15 videos on this platform. The most recent video was uploaded two days ago, but the second most recent video was uploaded five months ago.
• It does not appear to be running any ads on social media networks.

Recruitment Practices

• bKL Architecture does not have a Careers page on its website. It only notes on its Contact page that individuals seeking employment or internship may mail their cover letter, resume, and graphic work samples to Olivia Kempf at bKL Architecture LLC, 225 N. Columbus Drive Suite 100, Chicago, IL 60601. Individuals seeking internship must be full-time students seeking to work during the summer or complete co-op education requirements.
• bKL Architecture jobs are posted on Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, and the AIA DC Job Center. AIA DC stands for the American Institute of Architects in Washington, DC.

Pricing Information

• bKL Architecture does not provide any pricing information on its website. It only notes on its Contact page that, for project inquiries, the contact persons are as follows: Anne Karlovitz (Chicago), Annie Farley (Washington, DC), and Stephen Yas (Shanghai).
•  Anne Karlovitz can be contacted at akarlovitz@bklarch.com or 312-881-5999. Her office is located at bKL Architecture LLC, 225 N. Columbus Drive, Suite 100, Chicago, IL 60601.
•  Annie Farley can be contacted at afarley@bklarch.com or 202-464-2086. Her office is located at bKL Architecture LLC, 1 Thomas Circle NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005.
•  Stephen Yas can be contacted at syas@bklarch.com or 86-185-02162425. His office is located at bKL Architectural Design Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., No 388 West Nanjing Road, Room 2010, Huangpu District, Shanghai, China 200003.

Research Strategy

About Fitzgerald Associates Architecture

• FitzGerald Associates Architecture’s headquarters is located at 912 West Lake Street, Chicago, Illinois 60607-1707. It is a privately held company that was founded in 1919.
• FitzGerald has 100 years’ experience in the business of architecture and designs and specializes in “Residential, Mixed-Use, Commercial, High Rise, Mid Rise, Low Rise, Single Family, Urban Planning, Existing Building Condition Assessments, Adaptive Reuse, Industrial, and Retail”.
• Some of its clients are from national bank chains, retail, for-profit developers, not-for-profit developers and the government.
• It currently has approximately 64 employees and earns annual revenue of $12.2 million.
• Since 2007, FitzGerald has been the recipient of numerous awards, recognizing the company for its work. In 2017, one of its awards was CANstruction International “Best Use of Labels” Award, 1st Place — “Standing Together Against Hunger”, in 2018 they received the HBAGC Excellence in Interior Design Platinum Key Award — The Emerson, Oak Park and in 2019, FitzGerald was awarded the Friends of Downtown “Best New Building” Award — 727 West Madison.

Approach/Message used

• FitzGerald Associates Architecture’s approach is client-focused. However, it also exudes a high level of expertise in the area.
• The company promises customers that it’ll be practical, inspiring and methodological in carrying out its services.
• The company highlights its experience in architecture and interior designs using images of projects it has successfully completed including high rise buildings, lounges, and bank executive offices. These are meant to give consumers a feel of what they can also achieve in working with them.
• FitzGerald highlights its reputation in the industry coupled with awards received. These also show that the company has both national and international recognition of producing high quality work and also being involved in their communities.
• The company speaks of itself in a friendly tone especially as it relates to getting “to know the team”.
• It is very detailed in showcasing its expertise and also uses “Before” and “After” pictures as well as downloadable case studies to reflect this. This approach is used to gain the confidence of its new customers while keeping the already existing ones engaged.

Social media usage

• FitzGerald has an online presence and is currently using social media channels such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. The channel with the most followers is LinkedIn which is followed by Instagram and Twitter. However, posts were made more frequently on Facebook (which has the least followers) than Twitter.
• It has 2,941 followers on its LinkedIn page and in the past few months they have made posts about various topics including their involvement in Canstruction Chicago 2019, the achievements, acknowledgment of one of their teams which comprises all females and panel discussion events that their experts participate in.
• The company has 932 followers on its Instagram account where it showcases its designs and highlights its involvement in their various communities.
• On Twitter, it has 477 Followers and its most recent post was made on December 20, 2019. It appears that the company does not make posts on its Twitter account very often based on the gaps between the dates of posts made, for example, prior to December 20th the previous post was made on November 18, 2019.
• FitzGerald has 366 people following their Facebook page where their most recent post was made on December 23, 2019. Posts in the past three months were mainly about events the company took part in.

Talent recruitment

• FitzGerald Associates Architecture advertises its job opportunities on the company’s official website, on its Careers page.
• It uses LinkedIn as one of its channels to recruit talents and job boards such as ZipRecruiter.

Pricing/contact information

• FitzGerald Associates Architecture’s pricing information is unpublished on its website. The company also does not provide information for its sales department but provides a general contact number through which queries can be made.
• Their general contact number is (312) 563-9100.
• On their leadership team, two of their principals were identified as working directly in designing, building, planning and ensuring that projects are completed within a budget. Mike Breclaw and Steve McFadden might be able to provide details as it relates to pricing information or providing direction of how to get such information.
•  Mike Breclaw can be contacted directly at (312) 563-9100 x250.
•  Steve McFadden can be contacted directly at (312) 563-9100 x217.

Research strategy

Environmentally-friendly design

• According to Design Studios Architects, companies are constantly seeking methods to reduce cost and minimize the harm they are causing to the environment, as well as improve their social responsibility. " Everything that uses energy needs to be more efficient, and even the positioning and design of the building matters. With all that in mind, it’s safe to say that this is a trend that is likely to stick around for a long time."
•  Brands are increasingly becoming more conscious about the significance of going green to their employees and their customers. They are now implementing this by making use of solar panels on roofs, energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, and recycling and recycling materials.  

• This is a trend because it's been repeatedly mentioned by credible news and expert articles, such as Design Studio Architects, Medium, Smooth Decorator and more as a trend in the commercial architectural space.
• Examples of firms leaning into this trend include Johnston Design Group and Carlton Architecture. 

Flexible-working design

•  Commercial buildings had to adjust to flexible working space designs in order to meet the rise in demand for flexible workspaces. With the trend of people now preferring to work from home or divide their work week between home and office, Flexible wok design is in demand.
• According to recent trends, people are no longer interested in working strictly outside the comfort of their homes. "The trend focuses on developing a workspace that can change to meet different needs in contrast to fixed-purpose offices that consist of a set number of rooms of a specific standardized size. Companies are constantly adapting, pivoting their services, or taking on new projects so their space must be able to work with businesses"
• This has been included as a trend because it's been repeatedly mentioned by credible news and expert articles, such as Design Studio Architects, Medium, and Smooth Decorator as a trend in the commercial architectural space.
• Examples of a firms leaning into this trend include Seth A. Leeb and Carlton Architecture.

Research strategy

An Overview of Multifamily Residential Architecture

• According to Designhaus Architecture, multifamily residential architecture refers to home designs that are commonly known as apartments or town homes. In most cases, they feature multistory architecture with numerous housing units on each floor.
• Housing units in a multifamily residential complex can be rented or owned.

• With a biting need for housing in the U.S., the demand for multifamily residential architecture is expected to grow.

Multifamily Residential Architecture Trends for the Next Few Years

Green Building

• According to World Green Building Council, a green building is building that incorporates features that reduce or eliminate negative impacts to the environment in its design, construction or operation.

• The features that make a building green include the use of renewable energy such as photo voltaic energy, incorporation of green roof systems with plants on the roof, and energy efficient designs that reduce electricity consumption.
• There is also a keen focus on using sustainable and recyclable building materials such as wood and glass respectively.

Why Green Building Architecture is Trending in the Multifamily Residential Industry

• According to Multi-Housing News, increased demand for homes with sustainable features and cost savings that come with green building are pushing developers to embrace sustainable construction practices.
• This saw over 1.5 million multifamily residential units take part in the LEED certification program in 2018 and the figure was expected to rise in coming years. The prediction was validated by a 2019 LEED's report that showed that the number of LEED certified homes grew by 20%.

• According Green Home Builder, a survey carried by the National Association of Home Builders showed that the energy efficiencies of a house would influence over 80% of the decision to buy a home. 72% of the respondents preferred water efficient homes while 40% of millennials preferred green residential units.
• The National Multifamily Housing Council recognizes that residents are demanding for homes with green features.

Company that is Leaning into Green Building

Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects [LOHA]

•  Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects stood out in the 2019 Residential Architect Design Awards with their MLK1101 Supportive Housing project. It incorporates a green roof, solar water heating system, and sustainable materials such as wood and rubber.
• Some of its projects that support the green building concept include the Baltimore Station residential and mixed use project and ISLA Intersections multifamily residential project among others.

Affordability

• According to The Economic Times, affordable housing refer to homes that low and middle income earners in the society can afford. The main purpose of affordable housing is to cater for the housing needs of low income earner who are not able to purchase home at market rates.
• It is common for affordable multifamily residential buildings to offer shared facilities such as community spaces and childcare amenities.

Why Affordable Multifamily Residential Architecture is Trending

• One of the determining factors of affordability is disposable income. According to CIVIC Financial Services the affordable housing crisis is in the U.S. is at an all-time high with more than half of renters paying at least 30% of their income. The demand for affordable housing surpasses the supply.

• According to Home for All, building affordable multifamily residential units will ease the pressure on housing crisis. One of the proposed strategies is to develop units that are tailor-made for different level income earners.
• HUD User project that by 2030, the demand for new multifamily residential homes will hit 4.6 million owing to population growth. One factor that will be crucial in meeting this demand is the affordability of the multifamily residential units.

Company that is Leaning into Affordable Multifamily Residential Architecture

Kwan Henm

• According to San Francisco Architects, Kwan Henmi is one of the leading multifamily residential architects in San Fransisco. The company is committed to developing housing designs that foster community growth.
• The company has built affordable multifamily residential homes in Bay Area with the lead architects being Sylvia Kwan and Denis Henmi.

Sustainability

• Sustainability in urban planning is evident through the increased number of living buildings and the use of environmentally-friendly materials in construction.
• Living buildings are becoming common in the United States. These are structures that produce the energy they use through on-site sources.
• Sustainability in urban planning has also resulted in the use of sustainable materials, water conservation, and HVAC systems. In addition, planning is being done with climate change and natural disasters in mind.
• Furthermore, sustainability is being integrated with technology. A case in point is the development of intelligent buildings that can reduce energy costs and monitor resource consumption. 
• Sustainability has been driven by urbanization, a growing population, and climate change.
• An example of a company that is embracing sustainability in its practices is Urban Collaborative.

Smart Cities

• Cities are becoming increasingly smart and characterized by factors, such as digitally connected transportation, the use of LCDs instead of billboards, and intelligent buildings.
• Urban planners are finding ways of using new technologies in their projects. The use of these technologies can result in resilient infrastructure and a reduced carbon footprint.
• In addition, automation is being used in urban planning. The advantages of automation include better security, transportation, and disaster response.
• The development of smart cities is being fueled by the need to develop more affordable and efficient cities that are livable and have better delivery of public services.
• Smart cities have the potential to improve access to city services, increase public engagement, and positively contribute to economic growth.
• An example of a firm that is leading the trend of smart cities is CityFi.