January 2023

What We're Celebrating!

Three cheers for some stellar achievements!

Let's give some of our incredible colleagues a round of applause for all their hard work and accomplishments!

Top Left: Jen Nevil on the CREW St. Louis Exec. Board | Top Right: Mackenzie McCulloch on the IIDA Gateway Impact Committee | Bottom Left: Marissa Swanson joins the Atlanta CKLDP | Bottom Right: Imani Dixon, Jessica Statz, Al Fiesel, and Kelsey Johnson at the CoreNet awards ceremony

We are so proud of Jen Nevil who will be serving her second term on the CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) St. Louis Executive Board this year. This Board sets and accomplishes the chapter's strategic goals, helping to advance, educate, and support women to influence the commercial real estate industry.

Way to go Mackenzie McCulloch! Mackenzie is a member of the IIDA Gateway Impact Committee, focusing on providing service events to strengthen the community, provide education and visibility on matters of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and unite the larger St. Louis design community. The committee is hosting a Design Your World summer session this year! Keep an eye out for more on this event.

A big congratulations to Marissa Swanson who is a part of the 2023 class of AIA's Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program in Atlanta! The competitive program trains and inspires the next generation of leaders in architecture.

Incredible work to the whole team that worked on the recently-completed Sloan project. The project was honored at the CoreNet Real Estate Awards and team members Imani Dixon, Jessica Statz, Al Fiesel, and Kelsey Johnson represented LJC at the ceremony!

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Is getting licensed your 2023 resolution?Get in touch with Paul Bryant or Laura Stock to find out how LJC can support you on your licensure journey!

Oh what's that you hear? It's OUR VOICE!

Check out this never-before-seen preview from an upcoming LJC Our Voice video project and see how many familiar faces you spy...

Have a colleague you want to shout out, or an accomplishment of your own we can include in a future issue of the Plum Line? Email news@theljc.com!

What We're Up To

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

LJC PHX is getting ready for our new office!

Check out this video walkthrough of the progress on our new space!

Clayco NOW (Network of Women) and LJC sponsored a tour of the Embry Jobsite!

The tour was led by Ben Buehrle and our attendees got to learn more about the custom window systems, unit layouts, and fire protection system while on site.

We celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

LJC + CRG + Clayco sponsored the virtual event A Day of Understanding and Service: Mass Incarceration, Returning Citizens, and a Vision Forward, presented by United Way.

If you missed the event, or want to learn more about the work of speaker Dr. Ruben Jonathan Miller, visit the event website here.

We attended the IPAD/IPRA Soaring to New Heights Conference

Neil Eisenberger and Eli Lechter represented LJC at the conference, and we partnered with GHA (Gewalt Hamilton Associates) to host attendees at a Toast to 2023 happy hour at our office!

We had a 3D-printed holiday ornament competition!

LJC's Chicago office hosted a design competition... of a different sort. Colleagues submitted designs to be printed in-office by our own Brady Polowy. Veronica Widholm took home first place!

Our St. Louis team had a great time at the Armory!

Our own Kapil Khanna was a guest on the Real Estate for Breakfast podcast!

Kapil joined Phillip Coover of Ice Miller for a discussion on integrated design, and the many challenges that have arisen in the architecture industry as a result of the pandemic.

Follow this link and go give it a listen!

We hosted students from WashU for a weekend Q&A and tour!

Big thanks to everyone who helped make this event happen and showed the students around, including Al Fiesel, Shannon Riddle, Eli Lechter, Yash Mehta, Michael Berger, and Jen Hohol.

Our office leaders got together and volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House in Kansas City!

Look at that team building!
According to Andrew Kilmer (and the LJC aprons), "you don't serve green beans with a pizza!"

WE MATCHED!

See some colleagues wearing matching outfits in the office? Send us a photo! We love to see our stylish coworkers looking alike.

Anything going on around the office that you'd like to see in a future issue of the Plum Line? Send to news@theljc.com!

Who's Joined Us

Say "hello" to some new faces at LJC!

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!

Left: Wendi hiking on the Fourth of July! | Center: Yash and Mimosa (cat) getting ready for a weekend trip | Right: Madison enjoying the great outdoors (or in a computer wallpaper)

Wave to Wendi Gilbert!

Office: Culver City, CA
Title/Role: Associate Principal / Senior Project Architect
Focus Area: Architecture
School(s) you graduated from: California State Polytechnic University Pomona
Professional Affiliations: AIA

What is something about you that you think would surprise your co-workers?
I was in a bowling league for about 13 years, but please don't jump to the conclusion that I'm a good bowler. Would still be bowling, if more old school bowling alleys in So California survived to cater to the sport, in lieu of black light party centers. Best one sided lunges and forearm workout around.

What’s the most fun you’ve had on a trip or vacation?
The most fun I had on vacation would have to be my trip to Iceland in 2016, where we were fortunate enough to experience the fabulous northern lights, four nights in a row. The aurora borealis put on such a show, that the City of Reykjavik turned off the street lights to reduce light pollution for all to enjoy. The entire trip was spectacular and a must, but the best part, after somewhat mastering our camera's settings to capture a bucket list photo, was watching the show on the third night from the hot tub.

What was your first job, and what is most memorable about it?
My first job was at the Foot Locker in Huntington Beach, CA. Like almost every high school kid of that era, I took my turn working at the mall, à la Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Not a self-proclaimed sneakerhead, but I played sports, so access to new arrivals and the employee discount were nice benefits. I soon realized that work in sales was not my calling.

What movie can you watch over and over again? What makes it so special?
I have a number of favorite movies, but for some reason, there was a period where The Usual Suspects was stuck on repeat. I remember getting through two competition deadlines over a two week period with the movie playing non-stop through the night. Who doesn't love Keyser Soze and the tag lines like "flip ya for real". But the video tapes (yes, tapes) that got the most play were from the British TV sitcom, Absolutely Fabulous. I still find myself borrowing lines, blurting them out at as appropriate responses, even when I'm not sure the audience will catch on.

Say 'hello' to Yash Mehta!

Office: Chicago
Title/Role: Architectural Designer
Focus Area: Architecture + Urban Design
School(s) you graduated from: BAMU Unv., India, University of Lincoln, UK, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee - Bachelor of Architecture, Masters of Architecture, Masters of Urban Design
Professional Affiliations: Defining Humanity, RDET (founder and board member), AIA

If you could speak another language, what would it be? Why?
Mandarin, Chinese. Gaining access to so much wealth of knowledge through ancient books. If I could, I would speak the language of animals to understand them better.

What’s the most fun you’ve had on a trip or vacation?
I had a lot of fun on a recent visit to Hawaii. The trip was full of adventure sports like scuba, sky diving, swimming with sharks, and hiking to Mauna Kea.

What’s your most niche, non-work-related interest?
Astrophysics and quantum gravity.

If you could travel to any time period/place, what would it be and why?
I would visit Sagrada Família while it was being designed by Gaudi. I am fascinated by how he envisioned and achieved the design being so ahead of his time or the edge of the black hole, I am very curious of what lies inside.

What does a perfect weekend look like to you?
Starts with a sunrise to witness, a good long run, enjoying a book, and chilling with my dog and cat. Ending a day with good dinner with my loved ones and friends.

What are you most proud of accomplishing in your life, NOT professionally, so far?
My nonprofit was able to 3D print a concrete school in Madagascar, Africa in 18 hours. We are now printing a campus using soil, clay, cement, and lime.

What was your first job, and what is most memorable about it?
It was in aviation. I spent my time traveling to many different places, exploring food, culture, and people who taught me valuable life lessons.

What non-AEC related subject are you an expert on? How did you become one?
Physics. I hold a minor in physics and actively study it during weekdays and weekends, attending lectures, etc.

Meet Madison Quincke!

Office: Kansas City
Title/Role: Landscape Designer
Focus Area: Landscape Architecture
School(s) you graduated from: Kansas State University

What's the most fun you've had on a trip or vacation?
I renovated a van with two friends a few years ago and we went to every state west of Kansas over the entire summer. It was amazing to live so minimally and be immersed in nature every day!

What was your first job, and what was most memorable about it?
I was a pharmacy technician and I loved getting to know my community. I got to know the patients well when they would come pick up their prescriptions regularly as well as when I did home deliveries on Saturdays. I also learned so much about medicine and processing prescriptions through insurance which has come in handy in the adult-world.

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up, and why?
I wanted to be a veterinarian because I have a deep love for animals!

What We're Working On

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

The Great Rivers Greenway project is paving the way!

The first bricks were laid on the Brickline Greenway project, outside the new MLS stadium on Market Street. Priyasha Shrestha was on site to oversee the design implementation on the new, smooth bike path.

Photo Courtesy of Great Rivers Greenway Project

430 N. Michigan Ave. is well under construction and due to be complete within the next three months!

Construction is underway on our Millenium Park Plaza project!

Are you working on a project that has hit a milestone we should feature in a future issue of the Plum Line? Send to news@theljc.com!

What We've Wrapped Up

Check out the photos of some of our recently-completed projects!

Schreiber, Refrigerated Distrubution and Warehouse

SCAD Fourty Four, Residence Hall

Tower Grove, East Stream Daylighting

Delmar DivINe, Mixed-Use Redevelopment

St. Louis County Library, Lynn Beckwith Jr. Administration Building, Landscape Architecture

Reverberation, 2022!

View the digital issue here

Who's Talking About Us?

Where some of our work has popped up in the news!

Delmar DivINe was featured in the St. Louis Business Journal!

Click here to read the full story.

Urbanize Chicago wrote about our 3950 N. Damen project!