Added Mendell: “Personally it’s been gratifying to work in support of Dean Shibley as a member of his Dean’s Council because it is such a powerful mechanism to connect the academy and the profession – something many other schools of architecture can learn from the Buffalo School!” This academic-practice exchange is pervasive, extending from the classroom to community. For instance, CannonDesign associates are frequent lecturers and visiting critics, and several serve as adjunct faculty. The firm is also a frequent sponsor of the school’s public lecture series, most recently co-hosting a conversation among UB faculty and students and Buffalo practitioners on public interest design, practiced by the firm through its Open Hand Studio.
“Our collaborations with CannonDesign continue to enrich our students’ educational experience. The department is able to tap into the office for teachers, critics and perhaps most importantly employers,” said Omar Khan, associate professor and chair of architecture at the Buffalo School. “This is a great resource for the school to have in its backyard. I am also encouraged by the dedication of our alumni at the firm to keep the pipeline of dialogue and mentorship open with their regular participation in our reviews and lectures.” The two organizations are also deeply entwined around a commitment to research-based design. As former director of research for CannonDesign, Principal Peter Hourihan (MArch ’71) led the firm’s efforts to integrate evidence-based inquiry into all aspects of design, from a building’s water and energy systems to workplace design for enhancing productivity and collaborative interaction. Hourihan says the roots of his multi-disciplinary and investigative design ethos were established in Buffalo in 1969, when he enrolled in the first graduate class of the “School of Architecture and Environmental Design.”
“What still resonates with me is the spirit of research through practice and engagement and the school’s learning-through-doing model. It’s still a valid way to build professionals,”
/ ABOVE TOP Elisabeth Ann Perreault (MArch ’03), vice president, Buffalo, and the first recipient of the CannonDesign Scholarship. As a frequent lecturer and visiting critic at the Buffalo School, she seeks to “drive the design conversation and the profession of architecture forward.” / ABOVE MIDDLE Luke A. Johnson (MArch ’10, Architecture BS ’05), associate, Buffalo, and a recipient of the CannonDesign Scholarship. Johnson is active in CannonDesign’s community initiatives, including the Architecture + Education, a program of the Buffalo Architecture Foundation that places UB architecture students and area practitioners in the city’s public schools to expose grade-schoolers to design education. / ABOVE BOTTOM Peter Hourihan (MArch ’71), principal, Boston
said Hourihan, who works out of the firm’s Boston office. He joined CannonDesign in 1974 after the firm acquired Building Sciences Inc., a research and consulting practice co-founded by Hourihan and four other Buffalo School graduates. A recent example of this research-based design at work is the firm’s partnership with the Buffalo School’s Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDeA Center) on the design of Greiner Hall, an award-winning residential complex that opened in 2012 on UB’s North Campus. Engaging faculty and students through a design studio, the collaboration applied the latest practices in universal design to create a simple, intuitive space that can accommodate everyone, regardless of ability. Post-occupancy studies on Greiner Hall will further the IDeA Center’s research on universal design standards for public buildings.
Together with the latest research on green design and learning landscapes, the design approach created a model for campus living and a new design standard for the UB campus. Among the LEED Gold Certified building’s features are electrical outlets high enough to be accessible to wheelchair users, floor tiling made from recycled soda bottles and man-made ponds that capture rainwater.