Two prominent Atlanta-based design firms whose specialties include the hospitality sector are joining forces.
On Jan. 1, The Johnson Studio, which has been in business for more than 25 years and currently has 22 employees, will blend its operations into the Atlanta offices of Cooper Carry, a full-service architectural design firm founded in 1960, with offices in New York and Alexandria, Va., and an international portfolio.
Kevin Cantley, AIA, Carry Cooper’s CEO, says that his firm is one of the top three hotel designers in the country. As such, it has worked with myriad restaurant design firms, including The Johnson Group. “We are delighted to have them work alongside our talented hotel and retail team every day,” Cantley said about the merger.
Bill Johnson, AIA, Senior Principal and Founder of The Johnson Studio—whose first big restaurant design project was a Cheesecake Factory in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood in the early 1990s—is staying on to lead the new business’s restaurant design practice. He will work with Cooper Carry’s seven Hospitality Studio principals.
The Johnson Studio will maintain its own brand. “This collaboration provides a platform for future services that we feel will be unparalleled,” said Johnson in a prepared statement.
According to its website, Cooper Carry has 11 specialty practices. Its services include architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, planning, sustainability consulting, and environmental graphics and wayfinding. The company emphasizes “environmentally responsible design,” as well as “connective architecture” that brings people and buildings within neighborhoods together.
Among its recent hotel design projects are the 1.1 million-sf Marriott Marquis Hotel in Washington, D.C., the 37,916-sf Sea Pines Plantation Golf Clubhouse in Hilton Head, S.C., and the 613,942-sf Hilton Cleveland Downtown.
Related Stories
University Buildings | Jul 21, 2015
Maker spaces: Designing places to test, break, and rebuild
Gensler's Kenneth Fisher and Keller Roughton highlight recent maker space projects at MIT and the University of Nebraska that provide just the right mix of equipment, tools, spaces, and disciplines to spark innovation.
Architects | Jul 21, 2015
Architecture Billings Index at highest mark since 2007
This is the first month in 2015 that all regions are reporting positive business conditions, said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 20, 2015
New stylus brings digital sketching to the next level
Without buttons, users can change the weight of the stylus’ stroke.
Architects | Jul 20, 2015
New York design competition looks to shed the sidewalk shed
New York, which has nearly 200 total miles of sidewalk sheds, is seeking a concept that is practical but that also looks good.
Cultural Facilities | Jul 19, 2015
SET Architects wins design competition for Holocaust Memorial
The design for the memorial in Bologna, Italy, is dominated by two large metal monolithic structures that represent the oppressive wooden bunks in concentration camps in Germany during World War II.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Jul 17, 2015
Japan scraps Zaha Hadid's Tokyo Olympic Stadium project
The rising price tag was one of the downfalls of the 70-meter-tall, 290,000-sm stadium. In 2014, the cost of the project was 163 billion yen, but that rose to 252 billion yen this year.
Cultural Facilities | Jul 16, 2015
Louisville group plans to build world's largest disco ball
The sphere would more than double the size of the current record holder.
Education Facilities | Jul 14, 2015
Chile selects architects for Subantarctic research center
Promoting ecological tourism is one of this facility’s goals
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 14, 2015
New city-modeling software quantifies the movement of urban dwellers
UNA for Rhino 3D helps determine the impact that urban design can have on where pedestrians go.
Industrial Facilities | Jul 14, 2015
Tesla may seek to double size of Gigafactory in Nevada
Tesla Motors purchased an additional 1,200 acres next to the Gigafactory and is looking to buy an additional 350 acres.
