CannonDesign is a global

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

and consulting practice that provides services for a range of project types, including hospitals and medical centers,

corporate headquarters Corporate headquarters is the part of a corporate structure that deals with important tasks such as strategic planning, corporate communications, taxes, law, books of record, marketing, finance, human resources, and information technology. Corpo ...

and commercial office buildings, higher education and PK-12 education facilities,

hotels A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

and hospitality,

mixed-use Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to so ...

, sports facilities, and science and research buildings. Brad Lukanic has been the CEO of the employee-owned firm since 2015. In 2017 and 2019,

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan We ...

named CannonDesign one of the 10 most innovative architecture firms in the world.

History

Will Cannon, Sr. started his architecture practice in

Niagara Falls, New York Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 48,671. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and named after the famed ...

in 1915. His best-known work from this period was the

Beaux-Arts style Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorpora ...

Niagara Falls City Hall in 1923. When his sons, Will Jr. and Don, revealed natural talents in architecture and engineering, the trio formed a family business in 1945 that would grow from its humble roots into one of the leading design practices in the world.

Design approach

CannonDesign employs a design approach it created called Living-Centered Design. The approach addresses the complex interdependencies that exist between people, businesses, communities, society and the environment. Inspired by the best attributes of

human-centered design Human-centered design (HCD, also human-centred design, as used in ISO standards) is an approach to problem-solving commonly used in process, product, service and system design, management, and engineering frameworks that develops solutions to ...

systems thinking Systems thinking is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts. It has been used as a way of exploring and developing effective actio ...

and traditional architectural and engineering processes, Living-Centered Design solves challenges through the lens of the broader ecosystems they exist within—helping organizations and communities realize more impactful, systemic change.

Acquisitions

In 2009, the company acquired O'Donnell Wicklund Pigozzi & Peterson (OWP/P), a Chicago-based architecture firm. In late 2014, CannonDesign acquired Pittsburgh firm Astorino Co. The deal allowed CannonDesign to expand its footprint into

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. In 2017, CannonDesign announced it was merging its global practice with FKP Architects, a Houston-based architecture firm with 90 employees. Denver-based Bennett Wagner Grody Architects also joined CannonDesign. In 2018, gkkworks, an architectural and

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...

practice with a significant presence in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

and

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

joined CannonDesign. In 2019, Blue Cottage Consulting merged with CannonDesign. The merger strengthened CannonDesign's consulting and planning capabilities within the healthcare, education and workplace sectors. Juliet Rogers assumed the role as President of the company. CannonDesign formed a strategic partnership with ModularDesign+, a modular design and prefabrication firm with a 100,000-SF warehouse in

Euless, Texas Euless ( ) is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, United States, and a suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth. Euless is part of the Mid-Cities region between Dallas and Fort Worth. In 2020 Census, the population of Euless was 61,032. The population of t ...

Controversies

In August 2016, CannonDesign reached an agreement with the Justice Department and the

Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers and ...

to pay a $12 million settlement after it admitted to criminal conduct kickback scheme. Prior to the settlement, the former director of the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center hospital and later the VA hospital in Dayton, Ohio, William Montague, was sentenced to prison for his role in giving insider information to contractors in exchange for money. CannonDesign executive Mark Farmer was also sentenced to prison for his involvement in the scheme.

Notable awards and recognition

*2018, Laboratory of the Year Winner, R&D Magazine *2019, Outstanding Organization of the Year, Healthcare Design Magazine *2019, One of 9 World Changing Companies, Fast Company *2019 & 2017, One of the 10 Most Innovative Architecture Firms in the World, Fast Company *2020, Design Firm of the Year,

Engineering News-Record ''Engineering News-Record'' (widely known as ''ENR'') is an American weekly magazine that provides news, analysis, data and opinion for the construction industry worldwide. It is widely regarded as one of the construction industry's most authori ...

Selected projects

2010_Winter_Olympics,_Richmond_Olympic_Oval

Commercial

*2012

Clorox The Clorox Company (formerly Clorox Chemical Company) is an American global manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products. As of 2020 the Oakland, California based company had approximately 8,800 employees worldwide. Net sales ...

New Pleasanton Campus *2015 Follett Corporation Headquarters Office Consolidation *2015

Lockton Companies Lockton is an American company that provides insurance, risk management, and employee benefits. It is the world's largest privately held insurance brokerage firm. In addition to its Kansas City, Missouri headquarters, Lockton operates more than ...

Chicago Office Relocation *2015 Flexera Software Headquarters Relocation *2015

Zurich Insurance Group Zurich Insurance Group Ltd is a Swiss insurance company, headquartered in Zürich, and the country's largest insurer. As of 2021, the group is the world's 112th largest public company according to ''Forbes'' Global 2000s list, and in 2011 it ran ...

Headquarters *2017

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery ( Uber Eats and Postmates), pack ...

, Advanced Technology Group, Pittsburgh *2017

CJ Group CJ Group () is a South Korean conglomerate holding company and one of the largest Chaebol headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous businesses in various industries of food and food service, pharmaceutics and biotechnology, ente ...

, CJ Blossom Park *2019

Atlassian Atlassian Corporation () is an Australian software company that develops products for software developers, project managers and other software development teams. The company is domiciled in Delaware, with global headquarters in Sydney, Austr ...

, Mountain View Office *2019

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global ...

, West Coast Headquarters *2020

Upwork Upwork Global Inc., formerly Elance-oDesk, is an American freelancing platform headquartered in Santa Clara and San Francisco, California. The company was formed in 2013 as Elance-oDesk, after the merger of Elance Inc. and oDesk Corp. The merg ...

, Chicago Office Expansion

Education

*2008

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciple ...

, Brown Lupton University Union *2008 University of San Diego

Price Center Price Center is a student center located in the center of the University of California San Diego campus, just south of Geisel Library. As one of the largest student centers in the country, Price Center serves more than 30,000 visitors a day. Pric ...

, renovation *2008

University of Chicago Law School The University of Chicago Law School is the law school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is consistently ranked among the best and most prestigious law schools in the world, and has many dist ...

, Library Tower *2014

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado s ...

, Student Recreation Center *2015

Coppin State University Coppin State University (Coppin) is a public historically black university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland and a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. In terms of demographics, the Coppin State st ...

, Science and Technology Center *2015

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

, Cohon University Center Addition *2016

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of D ...

Lassonde Studios *2017 Waukee Innovation and Learning Center *2018

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and staf ...

, Second Student Centre *2018

University of Maryland Baltimore County The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...

, Event Center *2019

North Carolina A&T State University North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

, Student Center *2019

Richard J. Daley College Richard J. Daley College is a public, two-year community college in Chicago, one of the seven City Colleges of Chicago. The college was founded as William J. Bogan Junior College in 1960 and utilized classrooms in the evenings provided by Willi ...

, Engineering + Advanced Manufacturing Center *2020 Ohlone Community College, Academic Core *2020 Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine

Healthcare

*2010

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital Advocate Lutheran General Hospital (ALGH) is a 645-bed non-profit teaching hospital located in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, Illinois. Founded in 1897, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital is the sixth largest hospital in the Chicago area, and i ...

*2011 Tata Medical Center *2012 Kaleida Health Gates Vascular Institute *2013

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2, ...

OR 360 Simulation Laboratory *2015

Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente (; KP), commonly known simply as Kaiser, is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser ...

Kraemer Radiation Oncology Center *2016

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is a children's hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with its primary campus located in the University City neighborhood of West Philadelphia in the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. The ...

, Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care *2016

UC San Diego Health UC San Diego Health is the academic health system of the University of California, San Diego in San Diego, California. It is the only academic health system serving San Diego and has one of only two adult Level I trauma centers in the region. In ...

, Jacobs Medical Center *2017 Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal *2018

Texas Children's Hospital Texas Children's Hospital is a nationally ranked, freestanding 973-bed, acute care women's and children's hospital located in Houston, Texas. It is the primary pediatric teaching hospital affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine and is located wit ...

, Lester and Sue Smith Legacy Tower *2019

Nantucket Cottage Hospital Nantucket Cottage Hospital is a not-for-profit regional medical center located in Nantucket, Massachusetts and is the only hospital on the island. Founded in 1911 and conceived by the visions of Dr. John S. Grouard and Dr. Benjamin Sharp. The or ...

*2019 Mount Sinai Medical Center (Miami), Skolnick Surgical Tower and Hildebrandt Emergency Center

Community

*1977 Buffalo Metropolitan Transportation Center *2011 Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center *2012

Buffalo State College The State University of New York College at Buffalo (colloquially referred to as Buffalo State College, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo State, or simply Buff State) is a public college in Buffalo, New York. It is part of the State University of New ...

Science and Mathematics Complex *2012 Lloyd D. George Federal District Courthouse *2012 St. Louis Public Library *2013 Museum of Tolerance

Science and technology

*1994 Volen Center for Complex Systems,

Brandeis University Brandeis University is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational institution sponsored by the Jews, Jewish community, Brandeis was established on t ...

*2008 Texas Children’s Hospital, Feigin Research Center *2011

Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...

Institutes for Biomedical Research 200

Technology Square (Cambridge, Massachusetts) Technology Square, nicknamed Tech Square, is a commercial office building complex in the Kendall Square neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts, immediately adjacent to the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which is one ...

*2015 Novartis-Penn, Center for Advanced Cellular Therapies *2016

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

Sterling Chemistry Lab Renovation *2017

Institutes for BioMedical Research, Cambridge Campus *2019

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the ...

Agriculture & Environmental Laboratory *2021

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (Applied Physics Laboratory, or APL) is a not-for-profit university-affiliated research center (UARC) in Howard County, Maryland. It is affiliated with Johns Hopkins University and emplo ...

, Building 201

Stadiums and sports facilities

*2000

Jenny Craig Pavilion Jenny Craig Pavilion (JCP) is a 5,100 seat, multi-purpose arena, built in 2000 in San Diego, California, on the campus of the University of San Diego. It was named for weight-loss entrepreneur Jenny Craig. The Pavilion is sometimes affectionat ...

*2003 Friedman Wrestling Center,

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...

*2003

Curb Event Center The Curb Event Center is a multipurpose arena on the campus of Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Named in honor of its prime donor, music executive and former lieutenant governor of California Mike Curb, the arena was completed in 2003, ...

*2008

Richmond Olympic Oval The Richmond Olympic Oval (french: Anneau olympique de Richmond) is an indoor multi-sports arena in the Canadian city of Richmond, British Columbia. The oval was built for the 2010 Winter Olympics and was originally configured with a speed ska ...

*2011

TD Place Stadium TD Place Stadium (originally Lansdowne Park and formerly Frank Clair Stadium) is an outdoor stadium in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located at Lansdowne Park, on the southern edge of The Glebe neighbourhood, where Bank Street crosses the Rid ...

*2011 Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea *2012 Sports and Recreation Center,

Worcester Polytechnic Institute '' , mottoeng = "Theory and Practice" , established = , former_name = Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science (1865-1886) , type = Private research university , endow ...

*2015

Rafferty Stadium Rafferty Stadium is a 3,500-seat lacrosse stadium on the campus of Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. It is home to the Fairfield Stags men's and women's lacrosse teams. The facility opened officially on February 2, 2015. The stadi ...

*2017

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the Flagship un ...

, New

Cole Field House The Jones-Hill House is an indoor collegiate sports training complex located on of land on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park, a suburb north of Washington, D.C. Jones-Hill House is situated in the center of the campu ...

*2018 Place Bell (Laval, Quebec)

References

External links

{{commons category, CannonDesign
ArchDaily selected projectsArchitizer firm profile
Architecture firms based in New York (state) Architects from Buffalo, New York Design companies established in 1945 1945 establishments in New York (state)