WE ARE SKB
AND WE SEE
THE WHOLE PICTURE
Founded in 1982 by Fran Spector, Connie Knapp and Beth Baughman, today the firm carries on the traditions and values of these three pioneering women who wanted to build a professional practice that allowed the experienced Principals of the firm to remain deeply involved in the projects and give the clients the real benefit of the Principals' experience. Fran, Connie and Beth also wanted to build a workplace that nurtured and encouraged everyone who came to work at SKB to achieve all they could as professionals and people.
Since its modest beginnings in a townhouse basement studio, SKB has grown to have major offices in Austin, Texas, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC, representative offices in Chicago and Hartford, and affiliate offices in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Singapore. SKB has designed architectural and interiors projects in over 100 countries, and is licensed to practice architecture in over 20 states.
We Were Already There: Before the Pandemic, we had been working with some of our clients to consider the future of the office, especially the Law Firm office. As others have pointed out, much of the impact of the Pandemic was to show how much the office had changed operationally.
International law firm giant Baker McKenzie's Washington, DC management wanted to explore the future of the law firm, and the client described the experimental prototype as "wildly successful."
Thinking about Change: This new 8 story building in downtown Washington, DC is being developed so that it can change from single hotel rooms to 1 or more bedroom apartments before or after the building is completed. The core and shell are being built like a speculative office building, with service shafts adjacent to the core so there are no vertical penetrations in the floor plate that would limit flexibility in replanning the floors later. Because of the small site and limited area for construction staging, the floors and shell will be prefabricated and brought to the site. If the Owner decides to take advantage of Inclusionary Zoning and LITC bonuses now, the skin of the building can easily be replaced with new upscale panels after the affordable housing obligations sunset.
Thinking Globally / Designing Locally: After designing more than 150 projects in 100 locations around the globe for the World Bank, it was only natural that SKB would be invited by private companies to submit design ideas for new buildings in some of the most beautiful and challenging places on earth. This design is a proposal for the Bank of Burundi's headquarters in Bujumbura. The building is a combination civic center, spec office building, apartment block and, of course, a branch bank. The exoskeleton was designed as a structural cage to resist earthquake forces known in the country. The building uses an atrium to let in filtered light and exhaust humid air. Solar panels on the roof and parking structure and a geothermal heat exchange system make the building net-zero / carbon positive.
NEWS: RETHINKING ROADSIDE ARCHITECTURE
52 years after publication of Robert Venturi's seminal book Learning from Las Vegas, the questions raised and insights presented by co-authors Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour are just as prescient.
Recent SKB commissions to design convenience stores and retail shopping centers where the small villages along I-35 are rapidly turning into towns and cities, has required the design teams to think about the now and not-too-distant future in a different way.
NEWS: SKB COMPLETES NEW BUILDINGS IN AUSTIN
SKB has recently completed full architectural services for the Pecan Flex Office building, The Howerton Eye Clinic Building and the Elder Mitsubishi Service Building, all in the Austin facility.
For more information, contact Patrick Londrigan, SKB Austin Director at plondrigan@skbarch.com
NEWS: SKB DESIGNS NEW OFFICE PROJECTS IN MASSACHUSETTS, NORTH CAROLINA, CALIFORNIA AND TEXAS FOR REAL ESTATE FIRM WALKER & DUNLOP
SKB has been designing office space around the country for Walker & Dunlop since 2011. The latest of these projects consider tweaks to the design of high-performance workplaces after the Pandemic.
For more information, contact Mark Baughman, SKB President at mbaughman@skbarch.com