CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa.—Shive-Hattery announces it has acquired Design Organization, Inc., a 29-person architecture, interior design and planning firm, with offices in Chicago and Valparaiso, Ind. The acquisition allows Shive-Hattery to broaden its geographical reach and to strengthen its design capabilities in the higher education, corporate workplace and healthcare markets.
“Shive-Hattery and Design Organization share similar client-focused cultures,” says Shive-Hattery President James A. Lee, P.E., LEED AP BD+C. “Providing outstanding service to our clients is one of the reasons why we exist and is key to our firm’s long-term success.”
Design Organization was founded in 1971. As part of the arrangement, Design Organization will operate as Design Organization, a Division of Shive-Hattery, Inc.
“Because we share client-centered values, joining Shive-Hattery made sense,” says Spero W. Valavanis, AIA, LEED AP, president of Design Organization. “We will continue providing great service to our clients and will now be able to offer the capabilities of a full-service architectural and engineering firm.”
One of its recent projects is the Stryker corporate office located in Kalamazoo, Mich. Stryker is one of the world’s leading medical technology companies. A vacant 40-year-old call center was expanded and and renovated to 100,000 square-feet of class A office space for 380 staff. The new space was designed to reflect Stryker’s corporate culture and includes amenities such as a full-service cafeteria, fitness center and a 120-person tiered state-of-the-art auditorium. Large skylights provide natural light to the 50,000-square-foot floor plan and a new interior circulation stair was built between the two floors. The design has been awarded the Best Renovation Project in the over $5 million category from the Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. Western Michigan Chapter Construction Awards.
Shive-Hattery is a 350-person architectural and engineering firm with offices in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and West Des Moines, Iowa.; Bloomington, Chicago, Downers Grove, and Moline, Ill.; Valparaiso, Ind.; and Chesterfield, Mo.
