Design Partner Olin McKenzie Speaks on Urban Revitalization

SOM Design Partner Olin McKenzie recently spoke among local design leaders at the event, “Urban Revitalization: The Eighth Annual Architects Panel” presented by the Los Angeles Headquarters Association, a member-driven network that engages the region’s diverse leaders through collaboration and advocacy to promote business growth. The insightful dialogue on urban revitalization engaged a panel of … Continued

Lever House Achieves LEED Gold, Wins Preservation Award

Our 21st century restoration of Lever House, originally built in 1952, has been recognized for its sustainability and preservation. The project was recently awarded LEED Gold certification—an official recognition of a project’s compliance with sustainability standards created and maintained by the U.S. Green Building Council.  The landmark also received the Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award, … Continued

SOM and Mithun to Expand Student Housing at UC Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) has selected SOM in association with Mithun to oversee the design and construction of seven new student housing buildings, called “San Benito,” on the northwest corner of the main UCSB campus. The student housing project—the first in a two-phase effort to substantially increase the number of student beds … Continued

Ralph S. O’Connor Building for Engineering and Science Wins Lab Design Award

Lab Design News recently recognized the SOM-designed Ralph S. O’Connor Building for Engineering and Science at Rice University with the Excellence in Whole Building/Holistic Design award. As part of its annual Design Excellence Awards, Lab Design News honors achievements in research laboratory design, planning, and construction. A panel of industry leaders—consisting of laboratory architects, engineers, … Continued

Wellesley College Science Complex Wins Boston Society for Architecture Award

The transformation of the Wellesley College Science Complex was the most ambitious building project in the institution’s modern history, and the Boston Society for Architecture (BSA) has recognized it with a 2023 Built Design Excellence Honor Award in the Education Facilities category. Citing the project’s careful mix of removal, renovation, and addition, the BSA identified … Continued

New SOM-Designed Residential Development Proposed for Melbourne, Australia

We are pleased to announce that our residential project with the GURNER™ Group, 424 St Kilda Road, has been submitted for planning approval. The 19-story complex in Melbourne, Australia’s Domain precinct will house approximately 200 apartments offering sweeping vistas of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Albert Park Lake, and the surrounding neighborhood. On the ground floor, … Continued

Final Beam Tops Out Appleton Public Library in Wisconsin

We are proud to have joined our partners in celebrating the installation of the last structural beam for the Appleton Public Library in Wisconsin. SOM’s Jason Fisher, Asiye Yukselen, Martin Rauber, and Zach Haney gathered with the community to sign a steel beam that now completes the building’s expanded frame. This milestone marks an exciting … Continued

Fast Company Names SOM Among Most Innovative Companies for Whole-Life Carbon Accounting

SOM has made the 2024 list of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in Architecture! The annual list chronicles innovations across the world that are transforming business and society, covering a range of sectors from space and robotics to sustainability and agriculture. This year, Fast Company selected SOM as the fifth most innovative architecture firm, citing … Continued

Genesis Marina Awarded World’s First TRUE for Construction Gold Certification

We’re proud to announce Genesis Marina was awarded the world’s first TRUE Gold certification. The certification—short for Total Resource Use and Efficiency—is a program administered by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) family. It is the premier global standard for zero waste and recognizes projects that achieve outstanding levels … Continued

The New York Times Recognizes SOM’s Part in the “Growth Spurt in Green Architecture”

The New York Times recently chronicled the “growth spurt in green architecture”—nature-based solutions that are dramatically reducing embodied carbon emissions in construction. Reporter Stephen Wallis identified the SOM-designed Terminal 2 at Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru as an “evocative” new example of this approach, “a building that felt almost like a garden pavilion with the openness … Continued