Evolving into more comprehensive design-build services was the driver behind CannonDesign’s recent merger with gkkworks, an integrated planning, design, and construction firm.
Founded in 1991, gkkworks employs 120 people in its offices in Irvine, Pasadena, and San Diego, Calif.; Denver; and Pune, India. (CannonDesign has an office in Mumbai.) Its annual revenue ranges from $50 million to $60 million.
Praful Kulkarni, president and CEO of gkkworks, says his goal has been to “create a firm with multiple professionals to customize the design process.” He notes that his company’s progressive design-build delivery model is promulgated on the belief that “architecture and construction are inseparable.”
Kulkarni’s new title at Cannon Design is director of integrated services, focused on advancing the combined firm’s design and construction capabilities.
Praful Kulkurni is now Cannon Design's director of intergated services, focused on the firm's design and construction capabilities. Image: courtesy of Cannon Design
Last year, Fast Company magazine recognized CannonDesign as one of the 10 most innovative architectural firms in the world. CannonDesign became acquainted with gkkworks through a “client connection,” says Brad Lukanic, AIA, LEED AP, CannonDesign’s growth-minded CEO.
Merging with gkkworks expands CannonDesign’s west-coast partnerships and moves the firm into the hospitality sector. Lukanic further explains the rationale behind this merger by stating “we’re finding that the industry is really hungry for alternative delivery methods. When there’s a single source of delivery, fewer mistakes are made.”
Cannon Design got into integrated modular design two years ago. Based on post-occupancy studies that CannonDesign has conducted on those subsequent projects, its delivery model is reducing delivery times by 28%, lowering costs by 20%, and reducing material waste by 30%. Kulkarni observes that these results “rest on involving the construction company at the point of selection.”
Deb Sheehan, Cannon Design's Executive Director-Firmwide Strategies, is looking forward to her company working earlier with subs and suppliers. Image: Cannon Design
Merging with gkkworks extends CannonDesign’s delivery reach to the supply chain, says Deb Sheehan, CannonDesign’s Executive Director-Firmwide Strategies. The company is already collaborating with GCs, and has started to include large subcontractors such as Hill Mechanical in early design discussions. Sheehan speaks enthusiastically about working sooner with suppliers and subcontractors to get costs down.
When asked why more firms should go the IDP route, Kulkarni cites a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that, he says, set “an impossibly high bar” for the accuracy of design drawings. In any disputes among building team members or with clients, that ruling “became a defensive position.” But when design and construction are integrated, “you no longer have these disputes.”
Since joining Cannon Design in 2016, CEO Brad Lukanic has been acquisition minded. Image: Cannon Design
“I believe our firm can play a vital role in a unified approach, as clients seek integrated solutions that link a project’s design and delivery phases,” says Lukanic. “By breaking traditional boundaries, our firm seeks to delivery every project aspect—from shaping the design experience to final construction.”
Its merger with gkkworks brings to 24 the number of offices Cannon Design operates. Over the next several months, Cannon Design and gkkworks will be combining their respective operations, “especially in California,” says Lukanic.
Related Stories
| Dec 15, 2014
SHoP Architects plans to turn NY's Seaport District into pedestrianized, mixed-use area
The scheme includes a proposed 500-foot luxury residential tower that would jut out into the harbor, extending the Manhattan grid out into the waterfront.
| Dec 15, 2014
Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture launches fundraising campaign for independent incorporation
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation announced today that it approved a possible path toward independent incorporation of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture by raising $2 million before the end of 2015.
| Dec 15, 2014
Studio Gang tapped for American Museum of Natural History expansion
Chicago-based Studio Gang Architects has been commissioned to design the $325 million Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
| Dec 12, 2014
Dunkin’ Donuts launches certification for green restaurant buildings
The company aims to build 100 new DD Green-certified restaurants by the end of 2016.
| Dec 12, 2014
COBE's striking 'concrete finned' scheme wins competition for Adidas' flagship building in Germany
Danish firm COBE has been announced the winner in a contest to design a new Adidas flagship building in Herzogenaurach, Germany. It beat out 29 other teams, including REX and Zaha Hadid.
| Dec 12, 2014
SOM names winner of One World Trade Center photo contest
Gerry Padden's winning photo offers a striking juxtaposition of the Brooklyn Bridge with the sparkling One World Trade Center tower.
| Dec 11, 2014
2015 Architecture Firm Award goes to Ehrlich Architects
The AIA Architecture Firm Award, given annually, is the highest honor the AIA bestows on an architecture firm and recognizes a practice that consistently has produced distinguished architecture for at least 10 years.
| Dec 11, 2014
Moshe Safdie awarded 2015 AIA Gold Medal
The AIA Gold Medal, voted on annually, honors an individual whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture.
| Dec 10, 2014
International Olympic Committee releases first images of new HQ in Switzerland
Designed by 3XN, the new headquarters is located within a park on the shores of Lake Geneva and adjacent to historic Château de Vidy, which has been the iconic home of the IOC.
| Dec 10, 2014
CannonDesign acquires Astorino, forms design-led design-build division
The merger also extends CannonDesign’s presence in the markets Astorino currently serves, namely Pittsburgh and Abu Dhabi.