Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood, the Montgomery, Ala.-based architecture and engineering outfit, strengthened its position in Georgia by completing its acquisition of Smyrna, Ga.-based Stevenson & Palmer Engineering, which has been in business in the Peach State for more than 50 years.
The two firms have been collaborators for at least the past two years, and currently have several projects underway. Teams from both companies have been working on an integration strategy to ensure a smooth transition.
Stevenson & Palmer’s 22 employees will continue to provide engineering support services from their company’s four Georgia offices, albeit under the name Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood, which already had an office in Atlanta. “The SPE team is still in place—we’ve just added a few names and a new list of services to our resume,” said Corkey Welch, Stevenson & Palmer’s former President, who is staying on as a Senior Client Manager for the combined firm. That team now reports to Jim Teel, Goodwyn, Mills’ Vice President of Georgia.
Founded in 1947, Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood employs more than 300 people who work out of its dozen offices in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and South Carolina. The company assembled its Georgia team in 2011. Steve Cawood, President of the firm’s Eastern Region, which encompasses its operations in Georgia and South Carolina, spearheaded the negotiations between the two companies, which began two years ago, says Abby Basinger, a GMC spokesperson.
Its services include environmental, geotechnical, interior design, landscape, planning, surveying, and transportation. This month, GMC started construction on a 140,000-sf, $55 million football complex at Clemson University that is scheduled to open in early 2017. The firm is also in the planning stages of a $29 million expansion and upgrade of Franklin High School in Williamson County, Tenn., which if greenlighted would include more classrooms, a new athletic facility, and multipurpose field and track.
Basinger says GMC, which does work nationally, has no immediate plans to open new offices. But she also points out that GMC has customers in Mississippi and North Carolina, “so you never know.”
Related Stories
| Dec 20, 2010
Architect Adrian D. Smith on zero-energy cities, new technologies, and high density.
Adrian D. Smith, FAIA, RIBA, is co-founder (with Gordon Gill) of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Chicago. Previously, he was a design partner in the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (1980-2003) and a consulting design partner from 2004 to 2006. His landmark structures include the Jin Mao Tower (Shanghai), Rowes Wharf (Boston), and Burj Khalifa (Dubai, U.A.E.), the world’s tallest structure. He recently collaborated with Gordon Gill to design the world’s first net-zero-energy skyscraper, Pearl River Tower, now nearing completion in Guangzhou, China. This account is based on his recent remarks at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
| Dec 17, 2010
BIM Tools Enhance Project Value
The Building Team for a renovation project at Georgia Tech uses BIM and 3D design tools to solve a complex millwork problem.
| Dec 17, 2010
Historic Rhode Island hotel reborn with modern amenities
The iconic Ocean House resort in Watch Hill, R.I., had to be torn down in 2005 when systemic deficiencies made restoration unfeasible. Centerbrook Architects and Planners, Centerbrook, Conn., designed a new version of the hotel, working with preservation societies to save or recreate favorite elements of the original building, and incorporating them into the contemporary structure. The new resort has 49 guest rooms and 23 residences, plus banquet halls, a corporate boardroom, a private clubroom, a spa and fitness center, an indoor lap pool, a bar, and the obligatory international croquet court. Dimeo Construction, Providence, R.I., was the construction manager.
| Dec 17, 2010
Gemstone-inspired design earns India’s first LEED Gold for a hotel
The Park Hotel Hyderabad in Hyderabad, India, was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to combine inspirations from the region’s jewelry-making traditions with sustainable elements.
| Dec 17, 2010
Condominium and retail building offers luxury and elegance
The 58-story Austonian in Austin, Texas, is the tallest residential building in the western U.S. Benchmark Development, along with Ziegler Cooper Architects and Balfour Beatty (GC), created the 850,000-sf tower with 178 residences, retail space, a 6,000-sf fitness center, and a 10th-floor outdoor area with a 75-foot saltwater lap pool and spa, private cabanas, outdoor kitchens, and pet exercise and grooming areas.
| Dec 17, 2010
Sam Houston State arts programs expand into new performance center
Theater, music, and dance programs at Sam Houston State University have a new venue in the 101,945-sf, $38.5 million James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center. WHR Architects, Houston, designed the new center to connect two existing buildings at the Huntsville, Texas, campus.
| Dec 17, 2010
Alaskan village school gets a new home
Ayagina’ar Elitnaurvik, a new K-12 school serving the Lower Kuskikwim School District, is now open in Kongiganak, a remote Alaskan village of less than 400 residents. The 34,000-sf, 12-classroom facility replaces one that was threatened by river erosion.
| Dec 17, 2010
Luxury condos built for privacy
A new luxury condominium tower in Los Angeles, The Carlyle has 24 floors with 78 units. Each of the four units on each floor has a private elevator foyer. The top three floors house six 5,000-sf penthouses that offer residents both indoor and outdoor living space. KMD Architects designed the 310,000-sf structure, and Elad Properties was project developer.
| Dec 17, 2010
Subway entrance designed to exude Hollywood charm
The Hollywood/Vine Metro portal and public plaza in Los Angeles provides an entrance to the Red Line subway and the W Hollywood Hotel. Local architect Rios Clementi Hale Studio designed the portal and plaza to flow with the landmark theaters and plazas that surround it.
| Dec 17, 2010
New engineering building goes for net-zero energy
A new $90 million, 250,000-sf classroom and laboratory facility with a 450-seat auditorium for the College of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign is aiming for LEED Platinum.
