Perkins+Will Acquires MBT Architecture

Perkins+Will, a Chicago-based international architecture, design and planning firm, has acquired MBT Architecture, a 50-person, San Francisco-based firm recognized for its service to the science, technology and higher-education sectors.

MBT has an office in Seattle office in addition to its San Francisco headquarters. As with other Perkins+Will acquisitions, MBT's leadership and key staff will continue with the firm.

Established in 1954, MBT has received widespread acclaim for its design of research laboratories and related facilities for academic, corporate and government clients. Six MBT projects have received awards from the prestigious Lab of the Year Awards program from R&D Magazine, including three in the past five years.

The firm also has a strong design history, having received more than 50 design awards including six National Honor Awards from the American Institute of Architects. Building on its national leadership in sustainability, MBT recently designed one of the very few LEED V2.0 Silver-certified research laboratories.

MBT's client list includes organizations from both the private and public sectors, including Stanford University, University of Washington, UC San Francisco, UC San Diego, University of Virginia, Genentech, Allergan and Merck.

In San Francisco, Perkins+Will and MBT will consolidate into a single office. The existing San Francisco office practices across a wide variety of market sectors and client types.

MBT CEO H. Russell Drinker, AIA, will be managing director of the office. Allison Williams, FAIA, current leader of the San Francisco Perkins+Will office will be design director.

Similarly, MBT's Seattle personnel will join with Perkins+Will's current Seattle office.

"Both firms are dedicated to pursuing projects that benefit society, challenge us to innovate, and allow the practicing of sustainable design," Drinker said .

Perkins+Will was established in 1935.

McCarthy Launches New Office

McCarthy Building Companies Inc., a Saint Louis-based construction manager and general contractor, has opened an office near Interstate 805 at 6165 Greenwich Dr., Suite 340, San Diego, CA 92122.

McCarthy has been building major structures in San Diego for 23 years, including the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the recently completed Rebecca and John Moores Cancer Center for UC San Diego. The company has completed or is in various stages of construction on more than $500 million in San Diego-area projects.

Ron Hall, a 17-year McCarthy veteran, will direct the new office.

"We have been working here for many years, but I am very pleased to finally call this home," Hall said.

McCarthy has operated in San Diego out of a full-service Newport Beach office since 1984.

Midwest-based Architecture Firm Opens California Office

Kansas City-based 360 Architecture has opened an office near Telegraph Hill in San Francisco.

West coast projects include the Stockton Events Center.

The 110-person firm has been involved in several projects in Northern California in the last few years.

"The San Francisco office will not focus on sports facilities alone, but will take advantage of the breadth of experience of the entire firm," said Principal Brad Schrock.

Pollack Moves Into Larger Office

Richard Pollack & Associates, a San Francisco-based interior architecture firm, has moved its office to 111 Maiden Lane, Suite 350, in San Francisco. The new office is a block from Union Square and above Hermes. The phone number remains the same, but the firm has changes its Web site to www.PollackArch.com.

The new studio is about twice the size of the firm's former office.

Richard Pollack & Associates was established in 1985.

RSA Establishes Strategic Facilities Group

Steven Mandic and George Rosales have been named to head the new Strategic Facilities Group at Los Angeles-based Rothenberg Sawasy Architects Inc., RSA's SFG will serve as corporate facility advisors, providing computer-assisted facility management services to corporate, health care, legal, professional and financial service firms, said RSA President, Mark Alan Rothenberg.

Mandic, who will be RSA's sector leader, was the corporate facilities manager at ARCO and ARCO Transportation Co. for 17 years, and a consultant before joining RSA, an international architectural and interior design firm with offices in Los Angeles and Beijing.

Rosales, formerly with SRA Architects and DMJM, will serve as a project director.

RSA was established in 1979.

HDR Opens Office in Long Beach

HDR, an Omaha, Neb.-based architecture-engineering-consulting firm, has opened an office at 100 West Broadway in Long Beach.

"The city's vibrant urban community and prime waterfront location offer an exciting environment for HDR employees to work collaboratively with clients," said Jon Rohrer, who will be managing the office.

The firm's projects in Long Beach include several expansion and rehabilitation projects for the Port of Long Beach.

HDR has been doing business in Southern California since 1973. Other Southern California HDR offices include Lake Forest, Pasadena, Santa Ana, Riverside and San Diego.