Sample Firm - Project 1.0 - Ben Larsen

COHOS EVAMY PARTNERS EDMONTON, ALBERTA

Darin Harding................Ben Larsen ARCH 575......Professional Practice Fall...........................................2007

ARCHITECTURE................................

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HISTORY

Cohos Evamy was founded in Calgary in 1960, quickly evolving to the interdisciplinary model of today under the leadership of Martin Cohos, FRAIC, Michael Evamy, FAIC and Paul Poffenroth, P.Eng. The Cohos Evamy Partners committed themselves to a practice in northern Alberta with the opening of an Edmonton office in the 1980s, forming the foundation upon which the firm has grown to the national firm of today.

The Partnership grew as new partners joined the firm (currently 24 total), broadening the fields of expertise and areas of practice. Cohos Evamy developed a unique ownership structure, which facilitates the entry of new partners and paves the way for continuity through the transition of ownership from the founding partners to those of today and of tomorrow.

ENGINEERING..........................

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CORE VALUES

Cohos Evamy is a fully integrated architectural, engineering, interior design and planning firm focused on design excellence in service for their clients. Their culture is focused on the development and spirit of their employees and strong team relationships in an open studio atmosphere … founded in their core values of excellence, integrity, community and

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INTERIOR DESIGN..............

AREAS OF PRACTICE

Cohos Evamy has grown from its unique commitment to a fully integrated interdisciplinary practice. Areas of practice include architecture, programming, urban planning, interior design, graphics and 3D modelling, and structural, mechanical and electrical engineering. The practice includes many different specialties including retail, commercial office, education, health care, research, hospitality, airports, retail petroleum services and arts and cultural work. They have been successful in winning outstanding, ambitious commissions and developing great relationships with their clients.

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MANAGEMENT

PLANNING.........................

Cohos Evamy operates as a consensus-based partnership with a projects-first focus. Management of the partnership grows from the participation of the partners in all aspects of their practice. Specific partners assume particular management responsibilities.

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OWNERSHIP

Cohos Evamy is wholly owned by 24 hands-on project-oriented principals.

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“The strength of our partnership model offers our clients the comfort of confidence in our stability and of our commitment to the communities in which we work.”

COHOS EVAMY PARTNERS EDMONTON, ALBERTA

excellence in integrated design

EXCELLENCE.....................................

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RESOURCES

Their offices are open, people-first environments, recently renovated and well equipped architectural, interior design, and engineering design facilities. Each office offers several meeting rooms options, including meeting rooms with video conferencing capability able to support groups of up to 25. They have state-of-the-art IT systems, including individual workstations, a multioffice network, wireless connectivity, and fully dedicated IT support in all offices. Their data system communicates seamlessly between offices, augmented by our multi-office video-conference system and our Voice Over IP Telephone System.

INTEGRITY................................

Cohos Evamy has full capability and knowledgeable support in the areas of 3D animation and modeling, graphic design, accounting and IT.

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SUSTAINABILITY

In support to their commitment to sustainability, their integrated studios include over 45 LEED™ accredited professionals among the disciplines of Architecture, Structural, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Interior Design, Planning, and Specifications Writing. While LEED™ might be described as a measurement tool, Cohos Evamy's commitment extends far beyond the 'collection of points' ...innovation, sustainable resource management, and the health and wellbeing of people and the environment are the primary motivators behind Cohos Evamy’s sustainability agenda.

INTEGRATEDUCATION

COMMUNITY........................

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Integrateducation....strengthening a great team Cohos Evamy integratedesign™ has designed and offers an ongoing professional development program to all of its people. The successes of the integrateducation program is owed to its ability to: ~ share and disseminate knowledge ~ foster creative thinking ~ inspire design excellence ~ support the career and development of all of their employees ~ reinforce our culture of sustainable and integrated design

FUN....................................

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CONTACT

Edmonton 10154 108 Street Edmonton, Alberta T5J 1L3 T: 780.429.1580 F: 780.429.2848

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Calgary 300, 134 – 11th Avenue SE Calgary, Alberta T2G 0X5 T: 403.245.5501 F: 403.229.0504

Toronto 1000, 2 Bloor Street E Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8 T: 416.966.0220 F: 416.966.0223

“Sustainability is a way of thinking... and it's our way of thinking about design, building, and the impact we make today which will echo for years to come. We excersise environmental responsibility in all aspects of our integratedesign™ approach recognizing the immediate and long range environmental effects of our work.”

COHOS EVAMY PARTNERS EDMONTON, ALBERTA

INTERVIEW

with Stephen Boyd (PARTNER)

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1. How are the 300 employees broken down? Interns, Partners, Associate, etc? -100 in Edmonton Office -160 in Calgary Office -50 in Toronto Office

-EDMONTON OFFICE -100 -8 partners -19 Associates, 12 of which are Architecture -23 staff (Architecture) - 4 Interns -2 IT staff

COMMITTMENT..................................

2. What are the firm’s future goals/plans? -To take over the world…(just kidding). Current goal is to strive for the highest design standards globally. Not just within our current market but actually the highest standards possible. Also, the current focus is not just to grow in size and numbers but we are now trying to raise the quality of the projects that we get. 3. One of your core values is FUN, do you get together socially?

QUALITY....................................

-Considered a social firm with a variety of activities and get-togethers. -Every third Thursday of the month, they have TGIT (Thank goodness its Thursday) where everyone cuts out early and they have a social function. They rotate which department will be in charge of the function. 4. What work is out-sourced? -Most of the disciplines are covered already within the firm but there are the few aspects that need to be out-sourced such as Landscape arch, civil engineering, acoustics, etc. and the occasional 3D modeling. -Have a team of about 4-5 that work on 3D modeling and graphics. They are usually able to handle the workload that needed. If there is more work, they don’t hire more personnel but rather they out-source.

REPUTATION.......................

5. How are your projects acquired? -The majority of our projects come from repeat clients and recommendations from clients, which speaks well the firms reputation. -Outside of this, they do have a marketing team which is about 4-5 people who specifically deal with marketing the firm to keep the projects coming. -The lead person on the team does actually come from an architecture background but the others do not, and come from a marketing or accounting background. 6. Committed employees or high turnover? -Have a very low turnover. Employees seem to stay with them. They invest in there employees through various things such as the integrated education programs, firm design competitions, travel programs, etc.

RELIABLE..........................

7. Do you support interns toward getting licensed? If so, how? -They support they’re interns as much as the interns would like. They wont take the book and set up the requirements for the intern but they will support them in the various areas and at the speed they are wanting to accomplish the tasks. -Licensing exams will be paid for under the condition that they pass. 8. What is the integrated education program? -The integrated education program consists of lectures and lessons where they bring in professionals or experts to give a presentation on various subjects such as a new material type or construction method etc. Lunch n learns are also common and many other opportunities for employees to further their education and understanding.

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“Cohos Evamy offers a strong team environment…great people working on great projects. We are focused on excellence in the design services we offer our clients.”

COHOS EVAMY PARTNERS EDMONTON, ALBERTA

SUSTAINABLE CASE STUDY Calgary Studio Space

Public transit Bicycle facilities Carpool priority parking Water efficiency: fixtures Efficient mechanical: fresh air, controls Light energy Daylight sensors Energy efficiency Energy star appliances Office recycling Construction waste management VOC (volatile organic compounds) Green housekeeping Daylight and views Thermal comfort Resource and reuse

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