August 2026

What We're Celebrating

Three cheers to some stellar accomplishments!

Five Championships in Six Years 🥎 🏆

The LJC softball team capped off the 2026 season with another championship!

After an eight-run comeback and walk-off semifinal win against Oates and Associates, LJC defeated longtime rival McClure 18-9 to claim the title.

That makes five championships in six years. Dynasty status is looking pretty official.

Lamar Johnson, has been named the recipient of the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award from AIA Chicago!

This distinguished recognition celebrates Lamar's extraordinary career, his leadership within the profession, and his lasting impact on Chicago's architectural community. Throughout decades of practice, he has shaped significant projects, fostered enduring relationships, mentored future generations of architects, and demonstrated the lasting value of thoughtful design.

Lamar's vision established the foundation for LJC, and his commitment to collaboration, innovation, and design excellence continues to influence our work and culture today.

Congratulations, Lamar, on this well-deserved honor. As Lamar often says, "Onward."

Four Years at #1: LJC Named a Best Place to Work

LJC and Clayco have been named the #1 Best Place to Work in the Large Company category by the Los Angeles Business Journal for the fourth year in a row!

At LJC, our people are at the heart of everything we do. This recognition reflects the culture our teams create every day through collaboration, creativity, leadership, and a shared commitment to delivering meaningful work for our clients and communities.

Thank you to our LJC and Clayco teams for continuing to make this such a great place to work. Here’s to four years at #1!

What We're Working On

Check out some of the latest and greatest milestones from this past month!

Exciting milestones are taking shape in Humboldt Park.

Once complete, this 4-story, 60-unit mixed-income development will stand as one of the most prominent examples of Phius-certified passive architecture in Chicago.

By leveraging a continuously insulated envelope, advanced energy recovery systems, and a high-performance tight wall assembly, this project will dramatically reduce carbon footprint while providing clean air, exceptional thermal comfort, and true operational affordability for its future residents.

The project is centered around ideas of community and cultural wealth-building and features exterior garden and terrace spaces for social gathering. It advances our ideas about Architecture as a Social Act and demonstrates our optimism that the future of affordable housing can—and should—be resilient, green, and beautiful.

More about the project here.

Chapter Mifflin Connects to Madison’s History

In partnership with CRG, LJC designed Chapter Mifflin to reflect the character and history of Madison's Mifflin neighborhood while supporting the evolving needs of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The project demonstrates how thoughtful design and community engagement can help create places that feel connected to their surroundings. Read the full story below.

More about the project here.

Eleven stories. 327 units. Life Time Living just topped out.

Our integrated LJC and Clayco teams recently marked this milestone on the project in Paradise Valley, Phoenix, Arizona.

The residential community is built around a wellness-focused lifestyle, with direct connection to the adjacent Life Time Inc. athletic club. As part of the broader Paradise Valley redevelopment, the project adds a residential and wellness destination to this evolving area of Phoenix.

With the structural framework complete, the team turns to the next phase.

More about the project here.

What We Have Wrapped Up

Check out our completed projects!

SIUE Health Sciences Complex Earns LEED Silver

Our Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Health Sciences Complex project was awarded LEED Silver this summer! The facility was designed to bring together the next generation of healthcare professionals in an environment built for collaboration, innovation, and discovery.

Delivered by the Clayco + Poettker Construction Company Joint Venture in partnership with CannonDesign and LJC, the 215,000-square-foot facility unites Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's Schools of Nursing and Pharmacy under one roof, creating modern classrooms, simulation spaces, teaching laboratories, and research environments that support hands-on learning and interdisciplinary education.

📸 Serhii Chrucky

More about the project here:

BandWith is for Our Community

Belonging is not an amenity. For community-centered spaces, it is part of the design brief.

BandWith Chicago has built a place where young people are encouraged, and everyone is welcome. Its permanent home creates an opportunity for the physical environment to reinforce that same idea.

That changes the questions designers ask.

Does the building feel approachable? Can students see themselves in it? Does it support both focused learning and moments of connection? Can a first-time visitor understand that this place is for them?

The answers are found not in one gesture, but in the experience of the whole environment.

📸 Daniel Kelleghan

More about the project here.

Nevada Museum of Art

New photography offers a fresh look at the Nevada Museum of Art expansion in Reno, Nevada. LJC served as Executive Architect alongside Design Architect Will Bruder, FAIA, helping bring the museum’s vision for expanded galleries, education and research spaces, and a new sculpture garden to life. The project strengthens the museum’s connection to its surrounding landscape while creating more space for art, learning, and community.

Explore the new project photography and see more of the Nevada Museum of Art here.

What We're Up To

Take a look at what we've been up to this past month!

One of the best outreach events of the year, Canstruction!

LJC joined Suntec Engineering & Design, Solutions AEC, and Clayco to build the kraken — nicknamed "KraCAN" — for Canstruction Phoenix, complete with a working lighthouse and sandbar, built entirely out of canned goods. When the competition wraps, all 4,702 cans gets donated to St. Mary's Food Bank to help fight hunger across the Valley.

AI is reshaping what’s possible and what’s required across mission critical environments.

At DCAC Live, LJC’s Mission Critical team joined industry leaders to explore how the rapid evolution of AI is influencing the way we think about the next generation of digital infrastructure.

For our team, thought leadership means more than following where the industry is headed. It means asking the right questions, exchanging perspectives across disciplines, and applying deep market knowledge to help clients navigate increasing complexity with clarity.

As AI continues to accelerate change, our Mission Critical team remains focused on the ideas, collaboration, and forward-looking thinking that will help shape what comes next.

Saying Farewell to our Summer Interns

We wrapped up the summer with our Intern Farewell Gallery Night and Intern Dinner, celebrating the creativity, hard work, and fresh perspectives our interns brought to LJC.

Throughout the evening, interns showcased projects they contributed to over the summer, sharing their work and experiences with colleagues across the firm. From design ideas and project solutions to lessons learned along the way, the gallery offered a glimpse into all they accomplished during their time at LJC.

We’re grateful for the energy and talent our interns brought to the team this summer and wish them all the best in what comes next!

Together in Chicago: Reflect. Recommit. Raise the Bar.

Nearly 400 of our LJC team came together in Chicago for our All Staff Meeting, taking time away from the day-to-day to connect with colleagues from across the country, celebrate how far we’ve come, and focus on where we’re going next.

We kicked off the gathering with a Chicago Architecture Center River Cruise, taking in one of the world’s great architectural cities from a different perspective. With a boat full of architects, engineers, and designers, there was no shortage of observations and conversation, a fitting start to a few days centered on connection, collaboration, and the future of design.

The team also gathered at the Obama Presidential Center, where we were honored to hear from Theaster Gates and Zack Kass. Their perspectives challenged us to think differently about creativity, technology, and the opportunities ahead.

Throughout the gathering, we reflected on what it means to be Integrated by Design, bringing disciplines, experiences, and perspectives together as one firm and drawing on the strength of the broader Clayco enterprise to create better outcomes.

The week was a reminder that design is ultimately about people and the places where they learn, work, heal, gather, and live. By bringing the right people and perspectives together, we can do more than respond to change. We can help shape what comes next.

Reflect. Recommit. Raise the Bar. Integrated by Design.

Reframing a Civic Landmark

LJC’s Max Komnenich, AIA, will join industry peers at The Architect’s Newspaper’s Facades+ Conference in Chicago on September 17.

During the session, “Reframing a Civic Landmark: The Aspire Center’s New Face for Workforce Innovation,” Max will share the story behind the Aspire Center and how the project team is transforming a civic landmark for a new purpose.

The session will explore the design thinking behind the project and how thoughtful transformation can give an existing building a new identity while supporting workforce innovation.

From Innovation to Implementation

LJC’s Erika Winters Downey joined industry leaders for an iMasons Climate Accord webinar exploring how promising material innovations can move from proof of concept to implementation at scale.

The discussion went beyond the laboratory to examine the practical realities that shape adoption, including supply chains, specifications, organizational risk, and implementation within complex, fast-moving project environments.

Erika contributed her perspective to an important industry conversation connecting material innovation with the considerations needed for responsible, real-world application.

Twinning in the office 🤝✨ Great minds think alike… and apparently dress alike too.

Have a twins in your office?! Snap a pic and send to news@theljc.com.

Who We Are

A monthly Q&A to help you get to know what some of your LJC colleagues are up to outside the office!

Get to know Dave Myers!

Name: Dave Myers
LJC Office Location: St. Louis
Title/Role: Principal
Focus: Entertainment
School(s): Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, American University of Rome, Philadelphia University (now Thomas Jefferson University)
Affiliations: NCARB, IAAPA, TEA, AAM, AZA, AWA

What are you most proud of professionally so far?
Space Shuttle Atlantis Museum at Kennedy Space Center, Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind at Epcot, Ruby Falls, Chattanooga, TN, and the team we've built at LJC.

What are you most proud of outside of work?
My kids.

What was your very first job?
I worked as a mechanic for my dad most summers starting in 7th or 8th grade.

What movie do you never get tired of watching?
Pretty much any romantic comedy.

Say "hey" to Alexis Davies!

LJC Office Location: Chicago
Title/Role: Interior Designer
Focus: Interiors
School: Kansas State University
Affiliation: IIDA

What are you most proud of professionally so far?
I am most proud of receiving my NCIDQ certification this past spring! This was a goal I had been working on since my last year of grad school and my two years in the profession.

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
There were many other listed professions along the years, but one I think was closest to the design world was to become a cosmetologist. Sadly, many Barbies and one very willing dog suffered the consequences.

What’s your most memorable vacation or trip?
I don’t think I could narrow to just one vacation, but the most recent would be my honeymoon in Washington to see Mt. Rainier and all the mountain goodness last year! My photo features my lovely husband Nate and me on our trip!

Get to Know Kruti Majmudar!

LJC Office: Culver City
Title/Role: Associate Principal/ Senior Project Manager/ Project Leader
Focus: Architecture
School: Syracuse University

What’s the last show you binged and really enjoyed?
Anne with an E- it was precious to binge watch with our kids and it’s become a core family memory.

If you could travel to any time or place, where would you go?
I’m an avid traveler so my answer would be almost anywhere! Let’s go!

What was your very first job?
Bohlin Cywinski Jackson in Pittsburgh, PA. Got to work on my first Entertainment project (Pixar Animation Studios) and learn the craft of documentation and detailing.

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Astronomer, because I’m endlessly curious about how order and chaos work together in the universe.

Get to Know Alex Kano!

Name: Alex Kano
LJC Office: St. Louis
Title/Role: Associate Principal
Focus: Structural
School: University of Missouri - Columbia

What’s a niche or unexpected interest you have outside of work?Animals. They have fascinated me since childhood. Whenever I travel, I look for an opportunity to visit a local wild habitat—a park, forest, or similar place—and, if I’m lucky, see a species I have never observed in the wild. I’ve met people who initially assumed I worked in biology.

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
An artist. I still do, in a way—but by about age nine, I concluded it was probably not the most practical career path for me. It became a hobby instead, and one I still enjoy.

What non-work-related topic are you oddly knowledgeable about?History–particularly art, arms, and armor. I have a modest collection of books on the subject. I’m especially fascinated by the Bronze Age—the point where prehistory begins to overlap with the roots of modern civilization.

If you could speak another language, what would it be—and why?Harappan—the ancient language of the Indus Valley Civilization. Deciphering it would unlock the Indus script, one of the world’s most consequential undeciphered writing systems, and potentially reveal an enormous amount about one of the earliest urban civilizations.