Every month we’ll be touching base with past 40 Under 40 honorees to see what’s been happening in their professional and personal lives since winning the award. (U40 alums are invited to participate by sending an update to: jhigginbotham@sgcmail.com.) This month: An accomplished author of test-prep books and an architect who headed to China when the American economy turned sour.
HOLLY WILLIAMS LEPPO
AIA, LEED AP BD+C
Vice President,
Principal Architect
SMB&R, Camp HIll, Pa.
Class of 2009
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Leppo continues as Principal Architect at SMB&R, a design and structural engineering firm. Recent work includes a 72,000-sf office building and numerous adaptive reuse and renovation projects.
Since 2009, she has continued to write and publish exam review books for Professional Publications Inc. The latest: a series covering the Green Associate and LEED AP BD+C, ID+C, O+M, and Homes exams.
EXTRACURRICULAR
Received the Penn State Alumni Association Alumni Achievement Award in 2010, as well as the Young Alumni Award for Distinction from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Washington University in St. Louis.
Named one of 25 Women of Influence in central Pennsylvania by the Central Penn Business Journal in 2011.
Named to the Board of Directors of the Central Pennsylvania AIA in 2010.
Serves on the Board of Directors of Central Pennsylvania for Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership, an international development organization for high school students.
OFF THE CLOCK
Leppo stays busy raising two young sons while grappling with a residential reconstruction job. “I am still—still!—working on fixing up our old farmhouse. This is a never-ending project.”
CLAY VOGEL, AIA
Co-President, Design Principal
KaziaLi Design Collaborative
Tianjin, People’s Republic of China
Class of 2008
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
In the wake of the 2008 economic crash—which devastated his Chicago firm, Kazia Design Collaborative—Vogel joined forces with Chinese partner Li Chunguang to regroup in Tianjin. Renamed KaziaLi, the firm later expanded to London and Shanghai, and re-established Chicago operations through an alliance with PFB Architects. Currently eyeing growth opportunities in Africa and India.
Working on: Changhong Electric Technology Company’s International R&D Center in Chengdu, comprising 38-floor and 20-floor office towers connected by a 10,000-sm podium level for amenities, plus a 2,000-sm museum and exhibition space. The design incorporates both Western and feng shui principles.
EXTRACURRICULAR
In 2010, Vogel opened a real estate firm to deal with development issues outside the scope of the primary architectural practice.
With local partner Wang Jianli, KaziaLi recently built a pro bono facility for the 200-student Chihui School in Tibet, which had formerly operated only in tents.
OFF THE CLOCK
Vogel often combines work with recreational travel, from the grasslands of Inner Mongolia to the mountains of Sichuan to the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong. “Having an open mind and a willingness to accept other people’s culture has landed me in tricky business dinners where I have consumed snake’s blood and the gallbladder, ears, feet, lungs, and hearts of various other animals,” he says.
Related Stories
| Nov 10, 2010
$700 million plan to restore the National Mall
The National Mall—known as America’s front yard—is being targeted for a massive rehab and restoration that could cost as much as $700 million (it’s estimated that the Mall has $400 million in deferred maintenance alone). A few of the proposed projects: refurbishing the Grant Memorial, replacing the Capitol Reflecting Pool with a smaller pool or fountain, reconstructing the Constitution Gardens lake and constructing a multipurpose visitor center, and replacing the Sylvan Theater near the Washington Monument with a new multipurpose facility.
| Nov 9, 2010
Just how green is that college campus?
The College Sustainability Report Card 2011 evaluated colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada with the 300 largest endowments—plus 22 others that asked to be included in the GreenReportCard.org study—on nine categories, including climate change, energy use, green building, and investment priorities. More than half (56%) earned a B or better, but 6% got a D. Can you guess which is the greenest of these: UC San Diego, Dickinson College, University of Calgary, and Dartmouth? Hint: The Red Devil has turned green.
| Nov 9, 2010
12 incredible objects being made with 3D printers today
BD+C has reported on how 3D printers are attracting the attention of AEC firms. Now you can see how other creative types are utilizing this fascinating printing technology. Among the printed items: King Tut’s remains, designer shoes, and the world’s smallest Rubik’s Cube.
| Nov 9, 2010
U.S. Army steps up requirements for greening building
Cool roofs, solar water heating, and advanced metering are among energy-efficiency elements that will have to be used in new permanent Army buildings in the U.S. and abroad starting in FY 2013. Designs for new construction and major renovations will incorporate sustainable design and development principles contained in ASHRAE 189.1.
| Nov 9, 2010
Designing a library? Don’t focus on books
How do you design a library when print books are no longer its core business? Turn them into massive study halls. That’s what designers did at the University of Amsterdam, where they transformed the existing 27,000-sf library into a study center—without any visible books. About 2,000 students visit the facility daily and encounter workspaces instead of stacks.
| Nov 9, 2010
Turner Construction report: Green buildings still on the agenda
Green buildings continue to be on the agenda for real estate owners, developers, and corporate owner-occupants, according to the Turner 2010 Green Building Market Barometer. Key findings: Almost 90% of respondents said it was extremely or very likely they would incorporate energy-efficiency improvements in their new construction or renovation project, and 60% expected to incorporate improvements to water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and green materials.
| Nov 5, 2010
New Millennium’s Gary Heasley on BIM, LEED, and the nonresidential market
Gary Heasley, president of New Millennium Building Systems, Fort Wayne, Ind., and EVP of its parent company, Steel Dynamics, Inc., tells BD+C’s Robert Cassidy about the Steel Joist Manufacturer’s westward expansion, its push to create BIM tools for its products, LEED, and the outlook for the nonresidential construction market.
| Nov 3, 2010
First of three green labs opens at Iowa State University
Designed by ZGF Architects, in association with OPN Architects, the Biorenewable Research Laboratory on the Ames campus of Iowa State University is the first of three projects completed as part of the school’s Biorenewables Complex. The 71,800-sf LEED Gold project is one of three wings that will make up the 210,000-sf complex.
| Nov 3, 2010
Park’s green education center a lesson in sustainability
The new Cantigny Outdoor Education Center, located within the 500-acre Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Ill., earned LEED Silver. Designed by DLA Architects, the 3,100-sf multipurpose center will serve patrons of the park’s golf courses, museums, and display garden, one of the largest such gardens in the Midwest.
| Nov 3, 2010
Public works complex gets eco-friendly addition
The renovation and expansion of the public works operations facility in Wilmette, Ill., including a 5,000-sf addition that houses administrative and engineering offices, locker rooms, and a lunch room/meeting room, is seeking LEED Gold certification.
