NAC|Architecture and Osborn, friendly competitors for years, announce that they have merged to provide a greater depth and breadth of services to a wider range of clients and projects. With offices in California, Washington, and Colorado, the firm now offers landscape architecture, graphic design, and environmental graphics, in addition to architecture, interior design, master planning, project delivery, sustainability, construction administration, engineering, and historic restoration.
Osborn, which was headquartered in Glendale, CA, for 25 years, and NAC|Architecture’s eight-year-old Los Angeles office will physically merge in a new space in Downtown LA’s Chinatown, at 837 North Spring Street. The office is being designed by an in-house team with architects and designers from both offices, with expected completion in early 2015.
NAC|Architecture is leasing the entire 13,000-square-foot third floor from Redcar Properties, LTD, a Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm. The 1912 three-story brick building, which used to be a retail center, is being rehabilitated into creative office space.
The like-minded firms work on the guiding principles of collaboration and responsibility. Professionals of the practice embrace their shared commitment to applying active listening, technical acumen, sustainable innovation, and creative problem-solving to achieve design excellence. They uphold this commitment while developing educational, commercial, civic, healthcare, laboratory, housing, hospitality, and cultural projects.
“This merger is about two strong, stable firms joining forces to create an even more robust, competitive, and geographically diverse company,” says Dana Harbaugh, AIA, President and CEO of NAC|Architecture.
Joining Forces
The merger of Osborn and NAC|Architecture is unlike the current architecture/engineering marketplace trend of huge firms acquiring small and mid-size offices.
“We were interested in forming a new partnership with a simpatico firm, by leveraging common culture, design ethic, and purpose,” explains Michael Pinto, AIA, Principal at Osborn. “There’s always been mutual admiration for the individuals and work of each office.”
Now, this four-office, mid-size firm possesses the power of a large firm, while it maintains the personal service found at smaller practices. Presently referred to as NAC|Architecture, the firm is conducting a deep branding program, and will introduce its new identity in the coming months.
NAC|Architecture’s Los Angeles office now consists of 40 men and women—the full contingent from both Osborn’s and NAC|Architecture’s Los Angeles and offices. Current Osborn principals Pinto and Timothy A. Ballard, AIA, along with NAC principal Helena Jubany, FAIA, will be the principals of NAC|Architecture’s Los Angeles office. In addition, Ballard joins Jubany as a member of NAC|Architecture’s six-person Board of Directors, which sets the future course of the firm.
“This initiative enables our combined team to become even more of a leader in sustainable and community architecture in the Los Angeles market and across the nation,” says Ballard.
Experience & Diversity
Existing project teams will remain intact, yet will now have additional resources of talent within the nationwide support network. NAC|Architecture’s clients will benefit from adding landscape and graphics services to their projects, while Osborn’s clients can confidently enlarge their project scope with the advent of additional depth and expertise in interiors and engineering.
“The marketplace necessitates that architecture firms possess advanced expertise in a number of disciplines,” says Jubany. “We need to offer not only a wide range of services, but also geographic mobility.”
The members of the combined firm are highly experienced, having delivered important, award-winning projects, such as NAC|Architecture’s Eisenhower High School, Patterson Hall Renovation, and Northside Residence Hall, and Osborn’s Playa Vista Elementary School, Miraloma Park and Community Center, and See Change at the LAX International Terminal. Known leaders in design for educational facilities, the firms have worked with more than 85 public school districts and 20 colleges and universities.
“This new phase is compelling to all of us because it brings together highly skilled peers with different talents and strengths,” Harbaugh adds. “The key is that we all share a long-standing commitment to collaborative and responsible architecture. That commitment continues to guide all of us.”
About NAC|Architecture
NAC|Architecture is a diverse architecture practice with offices in Spokane and Seattle, WA, Denver, and Los Angeles. In addition to winning 250+ individual project awards, the firm-wide recognition includes rankings as one of the Architect Top 50 Firms in the U.S., based on such measures as design excellence and sustainability, and as eighth largest architecture firm in the K-12 sector. The 130-person practice, formed in the 2014 merger of NAC|Architecture and Osborn, provides design excellence guided by the principles of collaboration and responsibility.
The professionals of NAC|Architecture bring together an unusually wide range of leadership expertise in architecture, interior design, master planning, sustainability, construction administration, engineering, adaptive reuse, historic restoration, graphic design, landscape, and environmental graphics. The firm applies those services to produce the right design solutions for learning, healing, and human development.
The newly merged firm applies passion, comprehensive service, and technical expertise to every project, while respecting budgets, meeting schedules, and embracing thorough collaboration in order to meet the needs of clients and communities.
Related Stories
Project + Process Innovation | Mar 22, 2023
Onsite prefabrication for healthcare construction: It's more than a process, it's a partnership
Prefabrication can help project teams navigate an uncertain market. GBBN's Mickey LeRoy, AIA, ACHA, LEED AP, explains the difference between onsite and offsite prefabrication methods for healthcare construction projects.
Women in Design+Construction | Mar 21, 2023
Two leading women in construction events unite in 2023
The new Women in Residential + Commercial Construction Conference (WIR+CC) will take place in Nashville, Tenn., October 25-27, 2023. Combining these two long-standing events aligns with our mission to create an event most impactful for women in the $1.4 trillion U.S. commercial and residential design and construction industry.
Mass Timber | Mar 19, 2023
A 100% mass timber construction project is under way in North Carolina
An office building 100% made from mass timber has started construction within the Live Oak Bank campus in Wilmington, N.C. The 67,000-sf structure, a joint building venture between the GCs Swinerton and Wilmington-headquartered Monteith Construction, is scheduled for completion in early 2024.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Mar 17, 2023
Aurora, Colo., recreation center features city’s first indoor field house, unobstructed views of the Rocky Mountains
In January, design firm Populous and the City of Aurora, Colo. marked the opening of the Southeast Aurora Recreation Center and Fieldhouse. The 77,000-sf facility draws design inspiration from the nearby Rocky Mountains. With natural Douglas Fir structure and decking, the building aims to mimic the geography of a canyon.
Architects | Mar 16, 2023
HKS launches partner diversity program to create a more diverse workforce and partnership network
Design firm HKS has launched a new partner diversity program that will work to build a more diverse AEC ecosystem. The HKS xBE program will give xBE firms (a term encompassing all disadvantaged businesses) and their members “access to opportunities to build relationships, pursue new work, and bolster innovation within the architecture and design professions,” according to HKS.
Sustainability | Mar 16, 2023
Lack of standards for carbon accounting hamper emissions reduction
A lack of universally accepted standards for collecting, managing, and storing greenhouse gas emissions data (i.e., carbon accounting) is holding back carbon reduction efforts, according to an essay published by the Rocky Mountain Institute.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Mar 15, 2023
Georgia State University Convocation Center revitalizes long-neglected Atlanta neighborhood
Georgia State University’s new Convocation Center doubles the arena it replaces and is expected to give a shot in the arm to a long-neglected Atlanta neighborhood. The new 200,000 sf multi-use venue in the Summerhill area of Atlanta is the new home for the university’s men’s and women’s basketball teams and will also be used for large-scale academic and community events.
Sponsored | Cladding and Facade Systems | Mar 15, 2023
Metal cladding trends and innovations
Metal cladding is on a growth trajectory globally. This is reflected in rising demand for rainscreen cladding and architectural metal coatings. This course covers the latest trends and innovations in the metal cladding market.
Education Facilities | Mar 15, 2023
DLR Group’s Campus Planning Studio defines new leadership
Linsey Graff named Campus Planning Leader. Krisan Osterby transitions to Senior Planner.
Building Tech | Mar 14, 2023
Reaping the benefits of offsite construction, with ICC's Ryan Colker
Ryan Colker, VP of Innovation at the International Code Council, discusses how municipal regulations and inspections are keeping up with the expansion of off-site manufacturing for commercial construction. Colker speaks with BD+C's John Caulfield.