Design Fuel Welcome, and thank you for reading Progressive AE’s inaugural newsletter. It’s our way of staying connected. We are proud of our accomplishments and look forward to sharing the unique insights and challenges we experience every day.
For more than 50 years, Progressive AE has been living, working and making a difference in the Grand Rapids community. And we’ve been fortunate enough to expand our national reach with licensed professionals throughout the 48 contiguous states. This affords us the opportunity to be a responsive and consistent partner for our clients, whether they’re sticking close to Grand Rapids or traveling from coast to coast. 2016 is proving to be another strong year for both the design and construction industries. If capital investments are a barometer for the health of the economy, then we expect this strength to continue throughout the coming months. Last year saw a similarly strong market which led to shortages in construction trade bids and an increase in costs. Based on the current strength of the industry, we are expecting to once again see rising construction costs this spring and summer.
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in the power of good design and its ability to drive organizational success for our clients. This is Creative why we have adopted the tagline: people. “Creative people. Strategic Strategic spaces.” We pride ourselves in hiring professionals who are spaces. dedicated, collaborative and creative. However, our design is never just about beauty. We design spaces that meet needs and provide solutions to our client’s most pressing problems. Through a meticulous process and client feedback, we strive to continually improve how we work and the products we deliver.
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Whether you’re a current or former client, an industry partner, or simply a friend of Progressive AE, we acknowledge your contribution to our success. Thank you for being part of our rich history and we look forward to continued partnerships in the future.
This year has also been an opportunity to reflect on the future of the firm. We strongly believe
Brad Thomas, President and CEO
Brad Thomas, President and CEO
MEET
Brian Johnson
We are excited to welcome Brian Johnson to the Progressive AE family. As a senior civil engineer, Brian will serve as a team leader while assisting with resource planning throughout the organization. We sat down with Brian to learn a little more about him. Where were you working before coming to Progressive AE and what type of work have you been doing? Brian Johnson: For the past 16 years I’ve been working for AECOM at their Grand Rapids office. My focus was in non-traditional delivery systems and influencing project managers for more successful project outcomes. The overall goal was to improve corporate metrics. What made you interested in becoming a civil engineer? Brian Johnson: I graduated from Michigan Tech and pursued a degree in civil engineering as a result of fatherly influence. My dad served as a chief of design for the Genesee County Drain Commissioner’s office Water and Waste Division. While he never encouraged or discouraged me from becoming an engineer, I had great respect for him as well as the profession. What is a favorite past project you’ve worked on? Why? Brian Johnson: With over two decades in the profession, I have had the privilege of working on several exciting projects. One that stands out is a project I inherited that had suffered through some difficulties and was looking at a very tight deadline. The speed and teamwork it took to complete the work was a boost of professional adrenaline and certainly
a challenge. I quickly learned the importance of trusting team members and the value of building client relationships through delivering a quality product even when working against the odds. What makes you excited about working at Progressive AE? Brian Johnson: Culture. At the end of the day I believe there is a foundational balance between culture and competency that most firms in the industry don’t understand. Most firms elevate people based on competency metrics and assume they have the character to lead. However, Progressive AE’s evaluates character along with competency to make sure the right people are added to the leadership team. The result is a deeply engrained culture focused on servanthood, integrity, loyalty, dedication and honesty that produces a quality product. What do you like to do in your free time? Brian Johnson: I enjoy anything outdoors like hiking, hunting, fishing and especially camping. I enjoy mountain biking but have not done it as much as I would like in the last several years. My nickname was ‘Lightning”. It’s not because I was fast, it’s because I never struck the same object twice. I’m a little older… perhaps a little wiser… and certainly slower to heal. I enjoy reading and I’m always working on projects around the house. I’m married and have two girls ages 16 and 19 and have hosted several international students.
Thom Danckaert Receives AIA Michigan Young Architect Award Humancentric places & spaces. Creating space to empower.
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“Creating space to empower”—it’s a tall order, but Senior Design Architect Thom Danckaert applies this philosophy to each of his projects. Thom was recently named Young Architect of the Year by AIA Michigan. The award is presented to an architect under the age of 40 who has made significant contributions to the profession and/or community. Thom, who has been with Progressive AE since 2004, works with clients from visioning and conceptual design, through construction. Thom has been instrumental in a number of highvisibility projects in Grand Rapids including John Ball
Zoo’s Bissell Treehouse, Mercy Health Saint Mary’s new entrance and surgical renovation, the Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital addition and Steelcase’s Learning and Exploration Center. “I love architecture because it is the beautiful mix of art and science to make place. As architects, we craft the world where we live, work and play. To this end, I seek to be curious, empathetic, optimistic and socially responsible,” said Danckaert He believes that to be a good designer, you also need to be a good technical architect. He takes great pride in generating not only irresistible spaces and experiences, but also great details and integrated systems. “Throughout my career, I have sought to build places and spaces that are human-centric; to build trusting, engaging, and fun relationships with people in order to inspire them to realize their inner-most dreams.”
PROJECT PROFILE:
Mary Free Bed YMCA The first building in the world to receive universal design certification from the Global Universal Design Commission The Mary Free Bed YMCA might just be one of the most unique projects Progressive AE has ever designed. From the very beginning, our team was challenged by the YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids and Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital to create a space that was accessible to everyone – regardless of age, ability or level of understanding. The YMCA is the first building in the world to be certified through the Global Universal Design Commission.
machines and a hard surface softball court specifically built for wheelchair softball. We have been thrilled by the community’s response to the new YMCA and look forward to creating more universally designed facilities in the future. Learn more at progressiveae.com/universal-design.
Universal design is the idea that anything – a space or product – can be designed in a way that makes it accessible to the widest number of people possible. The new YMCA has a number of universal design elements. The most obvious of which is the long yellow ramp. Not only is the ramp a unique architectural feature, but as the building’s main point of vertical circulation, it also creates a sense of equality among users. Other features of the facility include wider walkways and doorways, the elimination of stairs and thresholds throughout the building, brightly colored track lines to help those with visible impairments, accessible weight
FROM THE BLOG
The Science of Colors Design for the Mary Free Bed YMCA By Sara Molina, Lead Interior Designer
The use of color is central to all work in interior design. Color can inspire a certain mood, it can play on current associations and it can most certainly help with wayfinding as a person travels throughout a building or space. Color Universal Design is a relatively new industry term revolving around a user-oriented design system. It implies a system that allows information to be accurately conveyed to as many individuals as possible and takes people with various types of color vision into consideration. Color principles of the Mary Free Bed YMCA:
• Refrained from using blue and red hues together due to a potential sensitivity to the center of the color spectrum.
• Utilized contrasting colors including blues, yellows and yellow-green hues.
• Brighter colors were used to help distinguish change in architecture as a mode of wayfinding and programmatic clarity. Read the full article, and download the Mary Free Bed YMCA Statement of Design at progressiveae.com/colors.
Universal design is the idea that anything – a space or product – can be designed in a way that makes it accessible to the widest number of people possible.
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1811 4 Mile Road NE Grand Rapids, MI 49525 phone 616.361.2664 progressiveae.com
Celebrating 11 Years as one of the 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For This spring marked our 11th consecutive year as one of the 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® in West Michigan. The best and brightest competition identifies and honors organizations throughout the nation that display a commitment to excellence in their human resource practices and employee enrichment. Being acknowledged is a great honor and we’re thrilled to be listed among the other wonderful employers in our community. As a company, we are shaped by our employees. While we obviously take our work and our clients very seriously, we love to have fun, to learn and to take the time to come together outside of work. After all, we work with some of the coolest and most innovative people we know!
From Our Experts Seeking Alignment in the Design Process By Bryan Koehn, Director of Design As designers, our job is to discover what is unique about you, the client. Our curiosity fuels discussion. Progressive AE follows a design process that is both flexible and deeply comprehensive. This interactive method consists of five steps: Frame, Aspire, Create, Integrate and Validate. Arguably, the most energetic and innovative of these is “Create”. Create is that opportunity to sprint. To fail fast. Discuss ideas at the optimal time, and ultimately produce design trajectory. This occurs at a focused and immersive design work session called a charrette. In a charrette, the team comes armed with deep knowledge in the holistic “why” of the project including programmatic requirements, goals and design principals. By limiting distractions, the charrette is able to create a place where the fluid generation of concepts is possible. Curiosity and discussion fuel innovative content and ultimately reveal rich ideas. The goal of any charrette is to create as many ideas as is logical. We then critique, refine, select a preferred direction, and then refine again. This process engages the client in dialog that often reveals a more candid understanding of their organization. Most importantly, we achieve design courage and momentum. At the end we celebrate an approved design concept where all participants are aligned behind a single idea. Within the final concept, clients see a reflection of who they are, and what they believe. It’s how we measure success and it’s how we work!
CONNECT WITH US! Our website, blog and social media channels are full of great information regarding projects and general insight about the industry. We’d love to connect with you and hear your thoughts!
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