NBBJ, the global architecture and design firm, today announced that it has acquired experience design studio ESI Design. The acquisition signals a new era where buildings will be transformed into immersive and interactive digital experiences that engage and delight.
By joining forces, NBBJ and ESI Design’s multidisciplinary team will be able to integrate digital experiences early in the design process, providing clients with more impactful and streamlined services.
Sweeping advancements in technology, from miniaturization to contemporary light projection technology, will make it possible for NBBJ and ESI Design to bring the type of immersive experiences that are increasingly desired as digital centerpieces in museums, stadiums, and transportation hubs to a wider range of industries, including healthcare, education, civic, commercial real estate, and science.
The two firms—which have previously collaborated on commercial real estate and corporate workplace projects in Boston and New York City—will now provide unified solutions as one of the largest and most robust experience design platforms in the country.
“By integrating the design of architecture and dynamic digital experiences, we will create boundless opportunities to energize the places we live, work, and play to stimulate our senses and inspire discovery, learning, and impact” said Steve McConnell, FAIA, Managing Partner of NBBJ. “The acquisition of ESI Design brings this vision to life and increases NBBJ’s ability to serve our clients as they activate their brands, create community, inspire wellbeing, and thrive.”
NBBJ is one of the largest architecture and design firms in the world, with clients that include Amazon, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Massachusetts General Hospital, Microsoft, and the University of Oxford. ESI Design has most recently received critical acclaim for its design of the immersive visitor experience at the Statue of Liberty Museum, which opened in May 2019. Other clients include Barclays, eBay, The Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration, PNC Bank, and WarnerMedia.
“We are at an exciting moment in time where the diverse skillsets of digital designers, media architecture technologists, gaming engineers and storytellers will partner with architects to create buildings as places that are lively, engaging and evolving,” said Edwin Schlossberg, the founder and principal designer of ESI Design. “NBBJ and ESI Design share a vision that well-designed spaces can bring ideas and brands to life in ways that inform, inspire, and delight. Through our partnership we will push the boundaries of what a building can be and help our clients bring people closer together through shared experiences – by seeking to design in ways that enable the environment to learn from its users so that it, and them get better with use.”
ALSO SEE: Tech Report 5.0: Digital Immersion
Under the agreement, ESI Design becomes NBBJ’s 18th studio. As part of the acquisition, Schlossberg becomes a partner at NBBJ and will lead the ESI Design studio at NBBJ.
Six ESI Design leaders will become principals at NBBJ: Alexandra Alfaro, Angela Greene, Cara Buckley, Emily Webster, Layne Braunstein, and Susan Okon. NBBJ will retain two office locations in New York City: The NBBJ New York office at 140 Broadway and ESI Design, an NBBJ studio at 111 Fifth Avenue. This will create a presence of 160 NBBJ employees in New York City, bringing the firm’s total employees to more than 800 worldwide.
Related Stories
Building Team | Jan 3, 2017
How does your firm’s hit rate stack up to the AEC competition?
If your firm is not converting at least a third of project proposals when competing for new work, it may be time to reassess your marketing tactics and processes.
Architects | Dec 9, 2016
Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects receives the 2017 AIA Architecture Firm Award
LMSA is the 54th AIA Architecture Firm Award recipient.
| Dec 8, 2016
Paul Revere Williams, FAIA, awarded 2017 AIA Gold Medal
The Gold Medal honors an individual whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture.
Building Team | Dec 8, 2016
The NYC Public Design Commission recognizes 12 projects with its 2016 Excellence in Design Award
2016 marked the 34th year the Public Design Commission has handed out its Excellence in Design Awards.
Education Facilities | Dec 7, 2016
How corporate design keeps educational design relevant
Learning is a lot like working; it varies daily, ranges from individual to collaborative, formal to informal and from hands on to digital.
| Dec 6, 2016
Workplace pilots: Test. Learn. Build
Differentiated from mock-ups or beta sites, workplace pilots are small scale built work environments, where an organization’s employees permanently reside and work on a daily basis.
Building Team | Dec 2, 2016
Alexandria Real Estate Equities becomes first real estate investment trust to be named a First-in-Class Fitwel Champion
Fitwel building certification was developed to foster positive impacts on building occupant health and productivity through improvements to workplace design and policies.
Government Buildings | Dec 1, 2016
Unlocking innovation in the government workplace
Government work settings ranked the lowest in their effectiveness across the four work modes: focus (individual) work, collaboration, socializing (informal gathering that fosters trust and teamwork) and learning.
Architects | Nov 20, 2016
D.C.’s first distillery-eatery taps into a growing trend
The stylish location targets customers craving craft spirits and late-night dining.
Architects | Nov 18, 2016
A Frank Lloyd Wright building in Montana will soon be demolished, or will it?
The building is one of only three Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings in the state.
