SHW’s new design leadership has exponential impact on firm’s world-class educational architecture
New director of design and creative director to champion firm’s culture of design
PLANO, Texas, November
14, 2008 – SHW Group announces that Jim Luckey, AIA, LEED® AP, formerly principal of Smith Group and lead design architect in their Chicago office, has joined the firm as the new director of design. Luckey is working in concert with Jeff Sharpe, AIA, principal and a lead designer for SHW, who presently serves on the firm’s board of directors and is the company’s new creative director. Together, this unique partnership is mentoring, inspiring and driving SHW’s creation of beautiful, high-performance learning environments.
“We are confident our new design leadership will positively impact our ever-evolving culture of ground-breaking design,” says Gary Keep, AIA, the chief executive officer for SHW Group. “Collectively, they bring more than 50 years of significant and award-winning education planning and design expertise to our firm. They are invaluable firm-wide leaders as SHW continues its global efforts to provide world-class design, planning and programming to local, national and international clients.”
Throughout his career, Luckey has demonstrated his talents in solving design challenges and creating significant architecture in a variety of sectors, including higher education, K-12 and health care. He has also worked as lead designer for a wide range of client projects across the U.S. that included budgets of more than $1 billion. Luckey is residing in SHW’s Michigan studio where he is designing some of the firm’s most complex higher-education projects.
Since joining SHW in 2005, Sharpe has led the creation and development of numerous award-winning educational designs in Michigan, Texas and Maryland. Sharpe is also the leader of the firm’s “Learning and Creativity” researching and benchmarking initiative that is continually studying how people learn and how we can successfully weave all the components of a campus together to create truly unique and inspiring learning environments.
About SHW Group
Specializing in both K-12 and higher-education projects, SHW Group is one of the world’s largest educational architecture and design firms. More than just an architecture firm, the company is known for its comprehensive collaboration with educators, cognitive researchers and strategic planners to design innovative facilities that support the learning process. Founded in 1945, SHW Group has grown to nearly 400 employees and seven studios nationwide. For more information, please visit www.shwgroup.com.
###
Media Contact: Claire Bloxom
claire@coopersmithagency.com, (214) 329-9191
