Shah Kawasaki Architects is providing programming and design services for the 2,100 sf visitor center at Schulman Grove that will act as a centralized point of interpretation for the Ancient Bristlecone Forest. The new visitor center will not only compliment the natural environment, but will achieve LEED Silver certification.

More about the Schulman Grove Visitor Center and Ancient Bristlecone Forest here: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/about/

Shah Kawasaki Architects is pleased to announce that Nicole Collins has joined as Marketing Manager.

Nicole has a strong background in marketing for architecture firms and will support Shah Kawasaki Architects’ growth in civic, institutional, healthcare, and higher education markets. Prior to joining SKA, Collins was a marketing manager for the Oakland office of Perkins Eastman, an international design and architecture firm.

Shah Kawasaki Architects is pleased to announce that the Clark Design/Build has been awarded the $431 Million Highland Hospital Acute Tower Replacement project by the County of Alameda.

The team, led by Clark, includes SmithGroup as the lead architect and Ratcliff and SKA as associate architects. The $430.8 Million contract includes construction of replacement facilities that will be completed in three phases over seven years, making it the largest healthcare investment in the history of Alameda County. 

For more on the Highland Hospital project: http://www.clarkconstruction.com/releases/entry/5755/

The City of Tracy selects Shah Kawasaki Architects to design a new prototype Fire Station that can be constructed at two sites within the City of Tracy, and can be replicated at other locations in the future.

The program includes a pass-through bay that can accommodate three apparatus, living quarters for four personnel, and an exercise room.

Fire Station #18, designed by Shah Kawasaki Architects, breaks ground in Oakland. The new 2-story fire station is designed to achieve LEED Silver certification by employing sustainable strategies such as 100% natural ventilation in place of air conditioning and solar hot water panels to meet the station’s hot water demands. Fire Station #18 will accommodate three shifts of up to eight fire fighters and two ride-along students and is designed to allow drive-thru of the apparatus.

Shah Kawasaki Architects was selected by the city of Richmond to design the new Fire Station 66 that will replace the existing station on the same site. The fire station is being designed to achieve LEED Silver Certification and will include a “tot lot” to the east of the station will teach fire safety to local children through playtime activities.

West Millard Museums and Community Center selects Shah Kawasaki Architects to design a museum complex that will include: the Great Basin Museum focused on local history; the Topaz Museum, tracing the history of Japanese Americans in the WWII internment camp; Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museum; and the Delta City Convention Center.

More information on the Topaz Museum can be found here: http://www.topazmuseum.org/

Shah Kawasaki Architects assisted Goodwill Industries in their mission to utilize purposeful design to increase revenues through the remodel of their retail store at 6624 San Pablo Avenue in Oakland, California.

SKA created a bold facade that stands out along the busy thoroughfare. The facade’s vibrant colors, bright signage and visible overhangs now draw in new customers who increased this location’s sales by 53% within the first four weeks of the store’s grand reopening.

After 2 ½ years of design and construction, the Contra Costa County Public Works Department’s new office building and childcare center have finally opened! At 12,000 sf, this addition will alleviate overcrowding within the Public Works Department and provide daycare facilities and outdoor play yards for employees’ infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

Shah Kawasaki Architects is again honored to be published in Architectural Record. The work we did with Maki & Associates on the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Art at Washington University in St. Louis has received incredible praise from numerous sources, and we look forward to the upcoming opening of our current project on WashU's campus, the renovation of Steinberg Hall.

The article can be viewed at http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/portfolio/archives/0710samfox-1.asp and in print in October's Architectural Record.

Shah Kawasaki Architects has always enjoyed working on projects stemming from our on-call contracts. These contracts allow us to stay in touch with our current clients while getting to know our newer ones. In the past year, we have signed new agreements with Contra Costa County, the City of Oakland, Alameda County, the Port of Oakland and UC Berkeley, and our team looks forward to working with each agency throughout the next few years.

Alan Kawasaki was invited to speak at the California Association of Museums' annual Director's Luncheon. This year's topic, Culturally Sensitive Design and Diverse Museum Audiences, provided an active discussion among the panel and the museum Directors who attended. We would like to thank Bill Moreno, the Claremont Museum of Art's new Executive Director, for moderating the presentation.