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Mancini Duffy Architects ARCHITECTURALLY DIVERSE
Though they got their start designing corporate interiors over 90 years ago, Mancini Duffy has continued to grow and diversify despite the current economic climate.
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MANCINI DUFFY by Rachel Goldberg
With over 90 years of experience, this New York-based firm is forging ahead through the economic downturn and coming out on top. While some companies retreat in the face of economic adversity, Mancini Duffy is forging ahead. Chairman Tony Schirripa leads his company and the architectural community on a path of continued growth and diversification. As president of the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the oldest and largest chapter of the A.I.A., Schirripa is building on the theme of the “architect as leader.” His initiatives include programs to help members sustain and grow their practices and lobbying Congress to increase funding for energy efficient projects and for economic recovery in the architecture industry. Mancini Duffy was founded 90 years ago as an architecture firm, but over the years, said Schirripa, it came to focus almost exclusively on the design of corporate interiors. With businesses at all levels 4 Construction Leaders Today
threatened by recession, the firm decided to return to architectural design, while continuing to build its interiors practice and branching out into additional market sectors. “We made the decision that part of our firm’s strategy to diversify our practice was to go back to architecture, so we began hiring new talent and capitalizing on 1-3. The Pedestrian Connector Tunnel of the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia is part of the new underground system linking the Main Terminal with the airside concourses. Douglas Svitchan, A.I.A., and George Eisenberger, A.I.A., LEED AP were part of a multi-discipline team for the design of both the Garage and Tunnel while design principals with Still & Svitchan Associates P.C., and were responsible for all architectural programming, planning, design and construction documents and construction administration for the Tunnel. Photos by Jessica Marcotte.
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4-5. This residence is located in the Amelia Island Plantation community on Amelia Island, Florida. Working with the existing Mediterranean flavor of the development and within the Plantation’s design guidelines, Michael Winstanley Architects Planners created a seamless transition from the house to the surrounding natural environment. Photos by Jessica Marcotte.
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the talent we had in-house to get into architectural design work,” Schirripa said. While the firm already had several recent architectural projects to its credit, Schirripa explains that Mancini Duffy “wanted to accelerate that step into the marketplace.” Mancini Duffy’s foray into larger scale planning and government projects, among other markets, would allow it to weather a distressed economy and emerge from it stronger than ever. These changes meant a reorganization of the firm’s business and management structure. Last year, its plan was fulfilled by a merger with two D.C.-based firms: Michael Winstanley Architects/Planners and Still & Svitchan Associates. Michael Winstanley was named CEO of the company and also leads Mancini Duffy Winstanley, the firm’s Washington, D.C. operations. Diversification proved an effective survival strategy for tough times. Winstanley brought expertise in master planning and institutional design, while Still & Svitchan specialized in work for the federal government, particularly aviation facilities. Government design-build contracts helped sustain the Washington office through the recession. Mancini Duffy’s strength comes in large part from the flexibility to complete projects at any scale. “In our practice, we’ve always aimed to take on projects of varying scale – anything from a single office to a large community,” Schirripa said. One example of the latter is the Eilan mixed-use development in San Antonio, Texas. for which Mancini Duffy Winstanley Summer 2010 7
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is the lead architect and master planner. The project involves creating a new 1.5 million square foot live/ work/play community that includes office buildings, residential units, retail businesses, a chapel and an outdoor amphitheater. The Eilan master plan is particularly noteworthy for its accomplishments in green building. The utility infrastructure in the development is designed to minimize waste, with a water collection system and central power plants on site. The development also features an electric trolley to transport people throughout the area. The siting and design of the structures bear a strong relationship to the surrounding environment and climate. And, in keeping with the owner’s wishes, the architecture recalls a typical Tuscan hill town, with punched window openings, stucco walls, and large overhangs for shade. The LEED Platinum chapel, set apart from the other buildings, is the only building whose style is emphatically modern. Mancini Duffy Winstanley’s versatility is also evident in the variety of its designs. “We don’t espouse an aesthetic or impose a design on a client; we focus on what they want to be doing and create the architectural envelope for it,” said Winstanley. “The important driver is the image they want to convey.” The renovation of a large office building on Washington’s New York Avenue was a new technical challenge for Mancini Duffy Winstanley’s D.C. office. The owner, a real estate investment trust, wanted to improve the quality of the building to increase its value. The catch was that the building, located in a busy part of the city, was already fully leased and occupied for the two years during which construction would take place. Mancini Duffy Winstanley saved the owner time and money by designing a new eye-catching façade and by working closely with contractors to minimize the impact to tenants and surrounding traffic. The firm’s leaders say that the secret to their success is effective communication and collaboration with clients and contractors. “We make sure that communication is open, and that the owner sets the tone,” said Winstanley. “We just agree to agree and keep looking for solutions and not pointing fingers.” The architects stay involved through construction, keeping contingency plans on hand in case the contractors run into problems while building their designs. Peter Striano, CEO of Unity Electric, which has collaborated with them on multiple projects, said that 6-7. Eilan Mixed-Use Development project, San Antonio, Texas. This project is strategically situated in the expanding retail and business district of La Cantera and involves an area of dense development to preserve the majority of the site’s natural resources. The first phase development includes 1,400 rental units organized on pedestrian mews, a 165-room boutique hotel as a centerpiece of the project, two 100,000 sq. ft. Class A office buildings forming the gateway entrance and ancillary programs such as a 40,000 sq. ft. market, a non-denominational chapel, an on-site trolley traversing the entire site, and a 1,000 seat outdoor amphitheater for music and performances. Photos by Jessica Marcotte Summer 2010 9
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8 Mancini Duffy Winstanley always keeps the entire process running smoothly and efficiently, ensuring that every project is completed on time. “Whenever a problem developed on one of our jobs as to how to get things done, Mancini Duffy Winstanley took the forefront and led the way through the issues, quickly making decisions and not holding up the project,” he said. “Their commitment to the job completion was the focus.” Mancini Duffy’s years of experience working with businesses gives them an acute understanding of their clients’ needs. They create designs to reflect and support the workplace. “We work very hard with clients to concentrate their dollars in the areas where they want to achieve the greatest impact,” Schirripa said. Clients appreciate the quality of the design and of the service, and many of the firm’s projects come from repeat business. As part of the diversification strategy, Mancini Duffy has also used that expertise in its consulting practice, the Center for Workplace Innovation. CWI specializes in assessing a business’s organizational model and helping it determine the best workplace to support 10 Construction Leaders Today
its mission and objectives. Though the practice is separate from Mancini Duffy’s architectural design, it is expected to be a feeder into the firm’s other services and an opening to new markets as Mancini Duffy continues to expand. ALT 8-9. When the client at 1401 New York Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. wanted to improve the value of their 1980s brick and glass office building with a complete face-lift they presented a rare challenge: the property had to remain occupied and functional during the project. The company’s solution was a complete departure from convention: rather than first stripping the building of its existing facade, they developed an approach that overlaid the new cladding on the old. Photos by Jessica Marcotte.
LORING ENGINEERS Joseph R. Loring & Associates, Inc. consulting mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection and telecommunication engineers is proud to have collaborated with their friends at Mancini-Duffy over the past 25 years. Employing a staff of nearly 100 professionals, LORING has offices located in New York City, Washington, DC and Princeton, NJ.
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