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BLGY
EDUCATION ARCHITECTURE
With over 50 years of experience, this Texas-based firm works with local school districts to re-think not only the architecture of the building but also the structure of the educational system.
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CONSTRUCTION LEADERS TODAY
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south | architecture
BLGY: by Rachel Goldberg
a
pillar of the community
BLGY Architecture has remained successful for over 50 years by upholding their role as a pillar of their Austin, Texas community. The firm was founded in 1955, and current CEO Benny L. Hawkins joined the firm in 1988. The co-owners of the company now also include vice presidents Gary Iwers and Barry Sikes, who have both been with the company since the early 1990s. “Barry, Gary and I have 60 plus years of experience at BLGY. We have worked together for a long time, and we think that’s one of our strengths,” Hawkins said. BLGY has consistently won awards for their work for clients in education, healthcare, law enforcement and government facilities. Since the 1970s it has focused mostly on public school projects. Though the types of projects they design have changed over the years, they retain high standards of quality. “More by evolution than design, it appears that we have had 4 Construction Leaders Today
more of a niche to work with public institutional projects that came our way,” said Hawkins. “We evolved to where we are and we keep busy satisfying the needs of all these repeat clients.” Every client they are working with right now has worked with BLGY before. One current project is a science lab addition lab to downtown Austin’s flagship high school, a building originally designed by BLGY in 1974. “Our services were desired at that location not necessarily because we designed it decades ago, but because they didn’t feel comfortable entrusting the addition to the flagship location to just any firm,” Hawkins said. “It’s proven to be a really rewarding project to go back and work on a building that we were the initial designer for back in the 70s,” Iwers adds. They enjoyed serving the school’s diverse student population, as well as the devoted network of enthusiastic parents who were
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involved in the project. Though the marketing and bidding process has changed a great deal since BLGY has been around, they have kept up with the changes by evolving to meet their clients’ needs. In their region, each project involves a process of public discussion and voting in order to approve construction or renovation to school and government facilities. BLGY is able to use their years of experience creating relationships within their community to help school districts to develop plans for new growth and modernization. 1. Toll station on SH130, Austin, Texas. Photo courtesy of BLGY Inc. 2. Staff members at BLGY, Inc. Photo courtesy of BLGY Inc. 3. Teague High School, under construction, Teague, Texas. Photo courtesy of BLGY Inc. 4. Stony Point High School, Round Rock, Texas. Photo courtesy of BLGY Inc. 5. Competition gymnasium at Nacogdoches High School, Nacogdoches, Texas. Photo courtesy of BLGY Inc. 6. Rudder High School Entrance, Bryan, Texas. Photo courtesy of BLGY Inc.
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BLGY’s school services have evolved over the years in response to changes in educational needs. School districts in Texas and around the country are placing renewed emphasis on educational programming and progress in student performance as measured by standardized testing. Changes in teaching and learning styles also mean that schools need new facilities to support them. “Often our challenge with school districts is to help them explore the alternative environments for learning,” Sikes said. “In elementary schools, for instance, you’re trying to group
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classrooms around open common spaces that can provide other settings to get together and learn.” BLGY accomplishes these goals by coming up with the solution that suits each particular project. Most of their projects are new buildings, though they have also successfully completed complex renovation and addition projects. They were recently involved in converting an 80-year old brick gymnasium building into classroom and office spaces for the local community college. “We kept the exterior walls and roof but we came in and
replaced the floor and added a new floor above the original floor to give the school more room for classrooms and office space,” Iwers said. BLGY also provides architecture, planning and program management services for other government facilities. They recently completed work on a new city hall building, through the design build team of Raymond Construction/BLGY, for Kyle, a small but growing community near Austin. “We were able to design a facility that was modern but still respected the old storefronts of the downtown and blends in
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well,” Sikes said. The city liked their work so much that they enlisted the team again to accomplish their new public library. The City Hall project also won the Association of General Contractors’ award for best design build project under $10 million. “We’re not all about large projects and profits; some projects come with so many collateral benefits,” Hawkins said. “The fun part of working in our office is you can do some large projects and you can do some diverse projects and you can have the satisfaction of knowing you’ve had a positive impact on a community like Kyle.” Their work is closely intertwined with the history of the Austin region, an area with its own unique culture. Being located in a town with a strong artistic heritage means design standards are set high for BLGY. Austin also has one of the nation’s first comprehensive green building programs in the country, and BLGY has been recognized for its environmentally sustainable architecture by Austin Energy Green Building. The firm also has several LEED Accredited Professionals on staff and host periodic “lunch and learns” to educate employees about developments in green technology. BLGY prides itself on its professional family atmosphere. Employees are offered incentives for good performance and teamwork. The firm holds companywide events and invites input from not only its registered architects, but also the other employees that help keep the company running smoothly. “We all try to work together and we also make sure that we get the person who is best suited to an assignment,” Hawkins said. “First and foremost we treat each other as human beings and professionals.” They plan to continue to build on their reputation by treating employees as well as clients with integrity and respect. CLT Summer 2010 7
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