Category: Point of View

Staff Inspire High School Students Through Architecture Industry Mentorship

Architect Cara Wessel and interior designer Abby Cridland share about their experience volunteering with the ACE Mentor Program. The firm annually sponsors and enables staff to participate in this architecture industry mentorship as part of our Hennebery Eddy Gives program.

Cara (standing left) explains architectural design concepts to students during a mentor session in the Hennebery Eddy office.

Describe how the ACE program works.

Cara: ACE is an after-school program for high school students interested in Architecture, Construction and Engineering. Students are placed on teams and collaborate on a building design project under the mentorship of industry professionals from each of the three disciplines. Over the course of 12 meetings, the students learn about different phases of design through presentations, hands-on activities, and construction site visits. The mentors guide the students to complete their design project and present it at the end-of-year program.

Abby: These students are from all over the Portland metro area and are grouped together to create their own project. I even had a student who traveled from Jefferson County — that’s almost a three-hour drive! Each ACE session is hosted at a mentor’s office. This gives students a sense of not only how we work but were we work, helping make what they are learning more real.

What was your goal for the students in ACE?

Cara: I wanted to inspire the students and demonstrate the immense impact they can have on the built environment and the surrounding community.

Abby: My goal was to teach them about teamwork and communication: how it’s not up to a single person or discipline to make all of the decisions for a project, and all of the disciplines have to communicate for a project to be successful. I also wanted to teach the students there are multiple avenues in the ACE industry. I am the only interior designer in the ACE Mentor Program, so I show students how important it is to look at the interior of the building, the psychology of space, and different design principles to make building users comfortable.

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My Experience as an Intern at Hennebery Eddy

By Jordan Micham, Design Intern

This summer, Hennebery Eddy has the pleasure of hosting three design interns. In a three-part series throughout the summer, each intern will share their internship experience and takeaways from their time with the firm. This month, Jordan Micham, an undergraduate student at the University of Cincinnati, describes what he’s been up to during his time with the firm. Read the previous post in this series here.

Intern at Hennebery Eddy, Jordan Micham, hiking with fellow interns
Hennebery Eddy interns and staff took a break from the office for a hike at Angel’s Rest; Jordan is on the far left.

I’ve always been drawn to the West. The dynamic terrain and variety of cultural influences made Portland an appealing destination for someone born and raised in the Midwest suburbs. Prior to starting work as an intern at Hennebery Eddy, I completed three other internships, ranging from small- to large-scale firms. Approaching my final year of my undergraduate studio, I wanted the opportunity to explore a mid-size firm in attempt to find a niche that was less corporate but still tackled more complex projects; Hennebery Eddy’s ensemble of around 65 people was the perfect scenario to do just that. The firm rests in the heart of one of the most vigorously design-oriented communities in America; Portland is a hub for creative innovation. My theme for this summer is to learn from the lifestyle of the anti-conformist creative.

In my studies at the University of Cincinnati, we’ve focused on the conceptual design process, primarily concentrating on human-spatial interaction. Getting involved in the design world through the internship program has helped me gain a better grasp on the industry and has informed my perspective on architecture more toward the concept of creating an engaging blend of form and function while designing within constraints. What they don’t teach you in the classroom is that few clients have the budget for your extreme designs. I’ve learned that architecture is often less about creating an evocative design but more about finding a way to translate the wants and needs of the client into a design that blends form and function while still satisfying the various building constraints.

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Lessons Learned: The Latest in Innovative Interior Design from NeoCon

By Jessy Miguel and Liz Bray, IIDA

Each year, Hennebery Eddy sends members of our interior design team to the NeoCon conference in Chicago, billed as “the world’s leading platform for the commercial design industry.” Jessy and Liz share what they saw at this year’s June show.

innovative interior designers at Hennebery Eddy Architects
Liz Bray and Jessy Miguel at the Chicago Skydeck during the 2019 NeoCon interior design conference.

It’s well established that beige cubicles are no longer best practice for workplace design. But the world of innovative interior design and planning is constantly progressing to promote experiences that are productive, flexible, and inspiring. Because of Hennebery Eddy’s commitment to net-positive spaces that are healthy, efficient, and adaptive, our interior design team is always keeping tabs on these advancements.

This year, NeoCon showcased a fresh perspective on contract furnishings. We were inspired by the integrity of materials, attention to detail, tactile experience, expressions of structure, and a lighthearted intelligence. The following trends stood out among manufacturers at the show.

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Architecture Internship Provides New Perspective for Design Student

By Haley Teske, Design Intern

This summer, Hennebery Eddy has the pleasure of hosting three design interns. In a three-part series throughout the summer, each intern will share their architecture internship experience and takeaways from their time with the firm. First, Haley Teske, a COTE Top Ten for Students winner and student at Montana State University, reflects on her experience so far. Read the next post in this series here.  

Haley Teske annotates drawings as part of her architecture internship
Student intern Haley Teske annotates a material palette study for the OSU Cordley Hall rehabilitation project.

My initial exposure to Hennebery Eddy began during my undergraduate experience at Montana State University. President Tim Eddy and Associate Dawn Carlton, both alumni of MSU, have been frequenting our school as active advisory council members for some years now and are highly regarded by the faculty.

Through studio critiques and my involvement with AIAS (American Institute of Architecture Students), I was quickly acquainted with both individuals and found them memorable due to a tangible authenticity. Fast-forward to graduate school, I stubbornly decided that I must work in Portland after deeming it one of the best design cities in the states. Hennebery Eddy immediately came to mind. Dawn was generous enough to give me a tour of the office, and I found the firm extremely appealing. Each design projected a distinct character to its history, site, and use as opposed to the ego of an architect. Rarely does a firm display attention to the needs of a project on such an apparent scale. If this firm listened so well to its clients, then it must listen as closely to the needs of its employees.

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What I Learned from the Net Zero Emerging Leaders Internship

Hennebery Eddy Architects Net Zero Emerging Leaders intern Madelaine Murray
Hennebery Eddy Architects Net Zero Emerging Leaders intern Madelaine Murray, left, works with design staff member Pooja Kashyap to capture project data for the DDx.

In 2019, Hennebery Eddy received a Net Zero Emerging Leaders Internship grant from Energy Trust of Oregon to hire a sustainable design student intern to help us comply with our Architecture 2030 Commitment, integrate new sustainable design QC checks throughout our design process, and conduct post-occupancy evaluations focused on building performance. The internship demonstrates our dedication to the 2030 pledge and our broader net-positive philosophy and integrated sustainable design process. In the second post of a two-part series, intern Madelaine Murray shares her what she learned from her time at Hennebery Eddy. Read her first post here.

Purpose

The primary role of Net Zero Emerging Leaders Intern for Hennebery Eddy is to help our sustainability committee report the firm’s 2018 projects performance metrics, using AIA’s Architecture 2030 Commitment tool called Design Data Exchange (DDx).

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Net Zero Emerging Leaders Intern: Introducing Madelaine

Net Zero Emerging Leaders Intern Madelaine Murray working at Hennebery Eddy Architects. The NZEL internship is funded from a grant from Energy Trust of Oregon.
Net Zero Emerging Leaders intern Madelaine Murray consults with design staff and sustainability committee member Pooja Kashyap.

In 2019, Hennebery Eddy received a Net Zero Emerging Leaders Internship grant from Energy Trust of Oregon to hire a sustainable design student intern to help us comply with our Architecture 2030 Commitment, integrate new sustainable design QC checks throughout our design process, and conduct post-occupancy evaluations focused on building performance. The internship demonstrates our dedication to the 2030 pledge and our broader net-positive philosophy and integrated sustainable design process. In the first of a series of blog posts, intern Madelaine Murray shares her initial reflections from the experience.

I’m Madelaine Murray, a graduate student in the College of Design at the University of Oregon – Portland. One of the advantages to studying in Portland is the ability to work at an architecture firm alongside classes, especially in a city acting as a hub for sustainable culture and mindful design. Hennebery Eddy is a very familiar name at the UO Portland, advocating for net-positive design, and several staff members have served as visiting reviewers for student projects. Hennebery Eddy is certainly a role model for successful projects rooted in context and for utilizing design principles relating to sustainability and thinking long term. University of Oregon encourages students to think beyond the buzzword of “sustainability,” allowing students to focus on many different avenues of design, such as adaptive reuse, resiliency, and energy efficiency. What was enticing about becoming a Net Zero Emerging Leader is advocating for these concepts beyond the academic realm. Reading about a building’s energy use in a textbook is not nearly as impactful as discussing it with a project team aiming reach a specific EUI goal. In a way, the NZEL program lets aspiring architects like me watch these sustainable design principles come to life.

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Lessons Learned: A week in the life of a Carleton College extern

By Karen Chen, Carlton College extern

Each year, the firm hosts an “extern” from Carleton College. These are undergraduate students who may be interested in pursuing design studies and architect careers, and their 1-2 weeks here are designed to give them a taste of every aspect of our profession. Our most recent extern, Karen Chen, shares reflections from her November externship. Her post has been slightly edited for brevity.

Karen Chen, right, with her externship homestay host at Portland’s Tilikum Crossing bridge.

I had the privilege and pleasure of being dipped into the professional sphere of architecture for a week at Hennebery Eddy Architects. During the externship application process, I was attracted to Hennebery Eddy’s demonstrated core values of innovative design, responsive service, and the obligation that firm members take ownership in their work. They aligned with my developing interests in art, STEM, and environmental and social justice — what would be more complementary than a discipline that uses considerations in aesthetics and physical function to create structures for people to inhabit in the real world?

I was exposed to an eye-opening, informative slice of the architectural industry and what professional life entailed. I gleaned a ton of knowledge and insight about architect careers simply through watching and talking with architects in various roles. Through shadowing, observing meetings, and conversations, I have a firmer handle on topics like entrance into the field, schooling, school-to-career transitions, internships, and career and job development. I both sat in on meetings about projects and accompanied architects who had volunteered to take me to tours of those project sites, including the Clackamas County fire stations, the new PDX terminal, a commercial renovation at Columbia Square, a factory cafeteria, and community college buildings.

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Hennebery Eddy’s First Community Service Scholarship

In 2018, Hennebery Eddy awarded its first Community Service Scholarship to associate Nick Byers, AIA, supporting his proposal to provide design services to a school with limited access to volunteer design professionals. The community service scholarship is part of the firm’s larger philanthropic effort, Hennebery Eddy Gives, which provides a framework for volunteering, financial contributions, and pro bono work to support community development where we work, live, and play. Here, Nick shares the process, successes, and lessons learned from his project.

Hennebery Eddy community development service project - Newly constructed raised planters at Clackamas River Elementary School
Newly constructed raised planters at Clackamas River Elementary School.

Please describe your service project. How did you conceive of it? 

In the summer of 2014, I volunteered with a group at an elementary school in Portland, where we assisted in improving a tired courtyard into a vibrant open space, complete with new landscaping, raised planters, and trees. The effort was led by a local construction company, and the final product was a beautiful new courtyard that gave the school a greater sense of pride and provided the opportunity to add gardening and healthy eating to its curriculum.  My fond memories of this project inspired my service project proposal for Hennebery Eddy’s community service scholarship.

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Here Lies Hunger: Hennebery Eddy’s Award-Winning ‘Canstruction’ Partnership with INLINE Construction

Two design-build partners. One Revit model. Six hours to build. And 3,515 cans.

“Here Lies Hunger” brought home two awards from this year’s Canstruction Portland volunteer competition benefitting the Oregon Food Bank: Best Use of Labels and People’s Choice. Hennebery Eddy teamed with INLINE Commercial Construction to dream up this design-build canstructure paying homage to the original Oregon Trail educational computer game ubiquitous in 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s classrooms.

Team Leader Jacob Simonson: “We realized that if we wanted to have a really successful structure, it needed to be something that someone could relate to and already had some sort of connection to.”

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Historic Preservation Internship at Hennebery Eddy

Hennebery Eddy hosted two interns this summer, both of whom are working on Master of Architecture degrees from the University of Oregon – Portland focused on historic preservation. In the second of this two-part series, Shannon Hines shares highlights from her historic preservation internship and takeaways from her time with the firm. Click here for Michael Moran’s experience.

Historic preservation intern Shannon visits the construction site for Clackamas Fire District Station 16 - not a historic project, but definitely part of a well-rounded Hennebery Eddy internship!
Shannon visits the construction site for Clackamas Fire District Station 16 – not a historic project, but definitely part of a well-rounded Hennebery Eddy internship!

Throughout school, I have had an interest in the historic preservation side of architecture and have taken both architecture and historic preservation classes at the University of Oregon – Portland. I first learned about Hennebery Eddy through one of my architecture studios when Tim Eddy came to talk with us about the Albina Vision effort the firm had been working on and learned more when Josette Katcha came into a historic preservation class to talk about her role as a specialist in the firm’s historic resources group. This was how I learned about Hennebery Eddy’s strong historic preservation expertise. This interested me because I would be able to combine my studies in a professional setting.

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