Business Intelligence – September 2020

The eXchange | September 08, 2020

In the midst of all the recent challenges and changes, have you found new opportunities for your company and, if so, what is one of the most interesting opportunities?

Jonathan Ceci
Principal and Owner
Jonathan Ceci Landscape Architects

As landscape architects, we look for opportunities to season projects with regional flavor. We’re currently working for the Army Corps of Engineers to guide planting and land stewardship on a 9,000-acre site in southwest Oklahoma (Fort Sill). The natural landscape is very diverse with prairie, wooded bottomland and near-desert savanna. It sits at the intersection of three very different ecoregions. It also has a rich cultural history ranging from prehistoric settlement to associations with indigenous peoples (Kiowas, Comanches, Apaches), and its strategic use in the two World Wars and the Cold War. Our work here touches the heart of our vocation — using landscape design to steward ecosystems and to serve communities. At Fort Sill, the aesthetics of selecting and arranging plants is contingent on variations in growing conditions, soils, geology and informed by regional cultural history.

Mike Purtell
Senior Vice President
Gipe Associates, Inc.

Gipe Associates, Inc. recently completed the design for a major systemic renovation for the 168,000 SF Central High School in Prince George’s County. The project includes replacement of HVAC systems, window/curtain wall systems, lighting and ceilings as well as re-branding with new finishes throughout the school. Gipe Associates serves as the Prime Design Professional for this $35 million project which is now in the construction phase, coordinating the efforts of six subconsultants as well as PGCPS’s third-party vendors such as DPIE process permit expediter, peer reviewers, commissioning agents and Pepco liaisons for the gas utility upgrade and rebates. The Central High School project required an accelerated design schedule of only three months, which Gipe completed with enthusing reviews from PGCPS’s project manager.