The HFW Companies (HFW), a fast-growing professional services firm with a national focus on the architecture and engineering industry (AE), has announced that two of its HFW Partner firms – architectural firms in Iowa and Missouri — have taken home coveted design awards from the American Institute of Architects(AIA) — Central States.
AIA’s Central States region includes AIA chapters in Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri. The AIA-Central States 2023 Design Excellence Awards ceremony took place September 15 at the First National Center in downtown Oklahoma City.
INVISION, with offices in Des Moines and Waterloo, Iowa, won a Merit Award in the Adaptive Reuse category for its design of new headquarters offices for Lincoln Savings Bank on the top two floors of the historic John Deere Tractor Company ‘R’ building in Waterloo. INVISION also won a Citation Award in the Commercial Architecture category for its design of MidAmerican Energy Company’s 241,000-square-foot Training Center for Excellence.
“We’re delighted that AIA-Central States recognized our design work in transforming the top floors of an historic manufacturing facility into a thriving bank headquarters in the center of Waterloo,” said Brad Leeper, president of INVISION, which has been serving its clients in the Midwest with its architecture and interior design services since 1914. “We’re grateful that Lincoln Savings Bank allowed us to collaborate with them on such a bold repurposing of a former factory. We also are grateful for our Citation Award for designing such a unique, next-generation training facility in collaboration with MidAmerican Energy Company. I’m proud of our visionary collaboration.”
GastingerWalker&, with offices in Kansas City, Mo., and Chicago, in partnership with Chicago-based architecture firm Gensler, won a Merit Award in the Large Commercial Architecture category for its design of the 125,000-square-foot Woolsey Hall, part of the Barton School of Business at Wichita State University.
“We’re honored to fulfill Dean Larisa Genin’s dream of having an award-winning project for the Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University,” said Kevin Harden, AIA, president of GastingerWalker&, which has been providing architecture, interior design, construction management, space planning and historic rehabilitation services for clients across 45 states since 1981. “We counted it a privilege to partner with Gensler of Chicago in designing a legacy complex that creates not only a hub for students in the Barton School of Business, but also a collaborative space that fosters innovation, entrepreneurship, and industry partnership.”
HFW likewise couldn’t be happier, according to Michael Hein, AIA, PMP, chief executive officer of HFW. “We’re very proud that two of our esteemed HFW Partner firms have been recognized for their architectural vision and magnificent designs that contribute to the distinguished legacies of their clients in education and commerce,” Hein said. “We celebrate, with our partner firms, these tremendous architectural achievements, and we also celebrate with their clients and the many employees, trainees, and students whose lives are being enriched now by these new spaces.”
INVISION and GastingerWalker& are part of a network of seven HFW Partner firms currently in HFW’s growing portfolio of strategic partners in the AE industry. HFW’s vision: To build a preeminent network of AE legacy partners that provides a gateway to accelerated growth and leverages its partners’ collaborative expertise.
Based in St. Louis, HFW is an AEC industry professional services company investing in architecture and engineering firms that serve metropolitan and infrastructure markets and are open to aligning with partners for growth. Its member firms, grounded in technical excellence, solve the most critical problems facing the built environment, improving communities through creative design, engineering, and planning.