Ghafari Associates

Main Office:

17101 Michigan Avenue

Dearborn, Michigan

313-441-3000

Additional Offices:

Birmingham, AL

Detroit, MI

Grand Rapids, MI

Forth Worth, TX

Chicago, IL

Indianapolis, IN

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Instanbul, Turkey

Baroda, India

Abu Dhabi, UAE

Muscat, Oman

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Services:

Architectural Design, Structural Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications, Consulting, Construction, and Process Engineering

History:

Founded in 1982, Ghafari Associates is a leading full-service architecture, engineering and construction organization with a history of customer focus, quality work and technological innovation. Through its offices around the globe, Ghafari serves a diverse client base across a variety of markets. The firm was founded on innovation and is widely recognized as a pioneer in adopting the latest technologies in real project applications (http://www.ghafari.com/content.cfm/firm).

Selected Projects:

Valeo Office / Research and Development Center

Flagstar Bank National Headquarters

Unirii Mixed-Use Development

ArvinMeritor North American Technology Center

Credit Union ONE Corporate Headquarters

URS Corporation

URS Corporation was absorbed into AECOM in 2014

To view information on AECOM click here.

Services: planning, design and engineering; systems engineering and technical assistance; construction and construction management; operations and maintenance; and decommissioning and closure services

History: 

URS Corporation’s oldest predecessor company was founded in 1904. URS was established in 1951, and incorporated in 1957 as Broadview Research—a research group active in the area of physical and engineering sciences. In 1967, management developed a growth strategy focused on building a multidisciplinary professional services firm. In 1968, Broadview Research acquired United Research Incorporated of Cambridge, Massachusetts. During this period, the name Broadview Research was changed to United Research Services and later shortened to URS.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, URS continued to expand through internal growth and strategic acquisitions that enhanced (their) engineering, architectural and environmental practices. When Dames & Moore Group joined the Company in 1999, it further widened our geographic base, strengthened our program and construction management expertise, added to (their)FORTUNE 500 client base and expanded (their) presence in the mass transit market. The 2007 acquisition of Washington Group International enhanced URS’ ability to provide integrated engineering and construction services throughout the project life cycle—from planning, design and engineering through construction to operations and maintenance, and decommissioning and closure.

Most recently, in 2010, URS acquired the Scott Wilson Group—a global integrated design and engineering consultancy based in the United Kingdom. The acquisition significantly expanded our resources and capabilities in the United Kingdom and Ireland in critical infrastructure markets. It also expanded our global footprint in continental Europe, China and India.

Today, URS has more than 47,000 employees in a network of offices in more than 40 countries. The company’s clients include the U.S. federal government, national governments of other countries, state and local government agencies in the United States and internationally, and FORTUNE 500 companies and other multinational corporations (http://www.urscorp.com/About_URS/index.php?s=2) .

Selected Projects:

Alameda County Medical Center, Highland

Baltimore/Washington International Airport Terminal

Axis Multistory Development

Alameda County Medical Center

Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County

Whitman, Requardt & Associates LLP

Main Office Location: Baltimore, Maryland

Additional U.S. Locations:
Atlanta, GA
Wilmington, DE
Jacksonville, FL
Tampa, FL
Ellsworth,ME
Philadelphia, PA
York, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
Austin, TX
San Antonio, TX
Fairfax, VA
Blacksburg, VA
Bristol, TN
Georgetown, DE
Fredericksburg, VA
Lynchburg, VA
Newport News, VA
Richmond, VA
Virginia Beach, VA
Charleston, WV
Washington, DC
Raleigh, NC

Services:
Transportation
Building Design
Water/Wastewater
Enviormental
Marine
Civil/Land Development
Construction Mangement

Number of Employees: 650

History:

Founded in 1915, WRA has maintained its tradition of delivering high quality, cost effective, innovative and sustainable infrastructure and building projects that improve society’s quality of life.

At the very beginning, WRA emerged as a dominant force in water and wastewater on the experience of one of the founding members, Ezra Whitman, who played an integral role in designing Baltimore’s Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant. Building on its reputation, the firm evolved into a multi-faceted engineering, architectural, environmental and construction management firm capable of meeting the demands of a rapidly evolving society. This philosophy became more and more evident by the indelible marks left by the firm in both public and private sectors. WRA has been instrumental in improving society’s quality of life with cleaner water, improved roads, bridges and railroads, state-of-the-art buildings for federal, state, local and DOD facilities, modern and improved ship building, and marine facilities. Rich in tradition and values, WRA’s focus remains the same. Privately owned and managed by technical professionals, the firm maintains a culture and commitment to delivering high-quality, innovative, cost-effective solutions to our clients. WRA strives to build mutually beneficial partnerships with our clients and our commitment extends beyond a project’s completion. This philosophy is exemplified by the long-term relationships the firm has established with many government agencies and private businesses.

Selected Projects:

Symphony Woods Park

CSXT at MD 450

Air National Guard HQ

Ballenger-McKinney

I-95 Newark Toll Facility

Zaha Hadid Architects

Location: 10 Bowling Green Lane, London, United Kingdom
Number of Employees: 300
Number of locations: 55
Other Offices: Bel den Muhren 70, 20475 Hamburg, Germany

Firm History
Zaha Hadid began her architectural career working as a partner at the Office of Metropolitan Architecture with Elia Zenghelis and her former professor Rem Koolhaas. After leaving the firm, she began teaching at the Architectural Association in London where she developed her own unique brand of neo-modernist architecture. It wasn’t until 1980 that Zaha Hadid created her own firm and thus, Zaha Hadid Architects was born. In 1993, the firm completed its first project, the Vitra Fire Station, which showcased Hadid and partner Patrik Schumacher’s talent and style as well as attracted international attention. The firm had difficulties attracting high profile commissions for a period of time due to Hadid’s very modern approach. Some critics claimed that her buildings were impossible to produce. Ironically, it was the traditionally conservative, Midwestern US that gave Hadid’s firm its big break. The Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati not only showcased the firm’s unique style but also proved that the firm’s buildings were in fact possible to erect. Other projects followed including the Olympic Aquatic Center in London England, the MAXXI Contemporary Arts Centre in Rome, and the Phaeno Science Centre in Wolfsburg. Additionally, the firm acquired even more attention when, in 2004, Hadid became the first female Laureate to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Today, Hadid’s firm is comprised of three hundred staff members in fifty-five countries and has presided over nine hundred and fifty projects in forty-four nations. Zaha Hadid Architects has become an innovative, world renowned, cutting edge firm that continues to inspire and impress people around the world.

Zaha Hadid
Born in 1950’s Baghdad, to a bourgeois intellectual family, Zaha Hadid enrolled at the American University in Beirut, where she received a degree in mathematics, after which she attended Architectural Association in London. Upon graduation, she was offered a position as a partner under her former professor Rem Koolhaas which she took and later left in order to teach and further develop her artistic ability. Having a reputation of being single-minded and uncompromising, some of her early works were never built because her ideas were seen as too impractical or too radical. At the opening of her first large scale project, her staff wore T-shirts that read “Would they call me a diva if I were a guy?” In 2004, she became the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Today, Hadid’s architecture continues to attract international attention and admiration. She currently resides in London, England where she also designs furniture and jewelry.

Patrik Schumacher
Patrik Schumacher joined Zaha Hadid Architects in 1988 and is currently a partner as well as the co-founding director at the Architectural Association Design Lab. After studying architecture in Bonn, London, Schumacher received his diploma in 1990 and his PHD from the Institute for Cultural Science in 1999.

Selected Projects:

London Aquatics Centre – London, UK

1000 Museum – Miami, USA

Central Bank of Iraq – Baghdad, Iraq

CityLife Milano Office Tower – Milan, Italy

City of Dreams Hotel Tower – Macau, China

Collins Park Place – Miama, USA

D’Leedon Singapore – Singapore

Dongdaemun Design Plaza – Seoul, South Korea

Grand Theatre de Rabat – Rabat, Morocco