Tag: workplace

University of Cincinnati Co-op Gives Student Practical Design Experience

By Coly Tabberson, Design Intern

Coly is an undergraduate architecture student and joined Hennebery Eddy in 2020 through the University of Cincinnati Co-op program, where students work full-time at a professional architecture practice. Learn more about Hennebery Eddy’s internal internship program here.

University of Cincinnati Co-op student

Before the University of Cincinnati co-op process even began, I knew that I was looking for an opportunity to live in the Pacific Northwest. I visited the region several years ago, and I was certain that I would one day find my way back. I greatly admire the regional focus of the firms in Portland and their genuine concern for the communities they serve. Further, the commitment to comprehensive sustainable design in the Pacific Northwest is seemingly unmatched in other areas of the country. Ultimately when it came time to choose a firm for my first co-op experience, I looked for one who embodied the qualities I admired most. Before even setting foot in the office, it was apparent that Hennebery Eddy was committed to sustainable, well-crafted, and regionally responsible design. Since beginning work here, my respect for the firm-wide commitment to Hennebery Eddy’s core principles has only grown, as I continue to learn more about the people and procedures that make great design possible.

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COTE Top Ten for Students Internship Focuses on Net-Positive Design

This summer, Hennebery Eddy has the pleasure of hosting three design interns. In a three-part series throughout the summer, each intern has shared their internship experience and takeaways from their time with the firm. This month, Philippe Bernard, a COTE Top Ten for Students winner and graduate of Laval University, reflects on his time with the firm. Read previous posts by interns Haley here and Jordan here.

AIA COTE Top Ten for Students intern Philippe Bernard
COTE Top Ten for Students intern Philippe Bernard (left) meets with fellow staff members for input on their latest design.

This internship opportunity came at a pivotal moment in my development as a future architect. As a student, I participated in the AIA COTE Top Ten for Students 2019 contest, and our team was the first Canadian contestant to win this international competition! It was excellent news, considering that I was also completing my master’s degree at Laval University in Quebec City. It is thanks to this sustainable design competition that I was put in contact with Hennebery Eddy, an architectural firm also very committed to eco-friendly design. This is a very rewarding experience for me, given the important language adaptation that I have to demonstrate as a French-speaking Canadian. French is my mother tongue, so immersion in an English-speaking country and workplace is very instructive.

Prior to this internship in Portland, I had the chance to complete other work experience in various architectural firms in Quebec. The corporate scale of Hennebery Eddy is very interesting, combining the advantages of a large firm and the welcoming side of a smaller office. It is a firm with significant resources given its size of 65 employees, which offers a stimulating work environment. I really appreciate the attention of all the Hennebery Eddy staff in listening to my questions and comments. Everyone is treated equally, creating a very democratic and pleasant working environment.

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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 other posts in this series, by Haley here and Philippe 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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Haley Teske design intern

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 other posts in this series, by Jordan here and Philippe here. 

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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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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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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Merry + Bright: A Hennebery Eddy Holiday

It’s a festive and fun Friday in the Hennebery Eddy studio when we break out the holiday headgear, don our ugly sweaters, and celebrate the season and our staff. This year, our winter quarterly all-staff lunch featured an Italian feast and homemade eclair cake (yum). We launched the first round of HEA Connections, a program designed to foster new relationships among our ever-growing staff. Promotions were announced, recognizing the contributions of new firm associates and associate principals — and everyone got to enjoy a little envelope revealing a year-end bonus.

The giving extended to the community, as we wrapped up our office food drive for the Oregon Food Bank and shared the annual “principals gift,” a donation on behalf of individual staff members to a nonprofit organization in the name of our five principals; this year, we pitched in $1,600 for Friends of the Children. A white elephant gift exchange brought out the wacky, weird, and wonderful. And to top it all off, the famous Hennebery Eddy Elf Cart delivered treats throughout the office.

We hope your holidays are filled with just as much good cheer — and all of us at Hennebery Eddy Architects wish you a happy holidays and prosperous new year!

Photos from our annual holiday festivities and a snippet from our 2018 holiday card