The AIA Convention comes to Philadelphia on May 19. Not sure what to do in your downtime? Click the link below to check out our guide to food, neighborhoods, and nightlife in the City of Brotherly Love.

Partner James Timberlake was honored as a distinguished alumnus this past week at his alma mater, the University of Detroit Mercy. Timberlake was the recipient of the Spirit of UDM: Alumni Achievement Award, an honor given by the university to recognize outstanding graduates who have excelled in their chosen field and have demonstrated leadership both in their careers as well as in their greater community.  
 
During a celebration weekend honoring award recipients, Timberlake credited the university with his early professional development. "These folks, and the university at large, helped to transform me and guide me to a dream that I've had since I was five," Timberlake said in his acceptance speech, "and that was to become an architect." 
 
To hear the rest of his remarks, click here.  

KieranTimberlake is pleased to announce the opening of KieranTimberlake: Drawn + Quartered, an exhibit of drawings, scale models, and mock-up experiments that survey the role of research and prototyping in our design process.

KieranTimberlake participated in this year's AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) Hackathon hosted at the Consortium for Building Energy Innovation (CBEI), a building designed by the firm in 2014. The event was attended by teams of students and professionals alike with the goal of connecting designers, developers, architects, and engineers with new technologies for the built environment.

When working in a new climate, researchers and designers at KieranTimberlake go to great lengths to investigate the design challenges inherent to the environment. During an early design meeting for the North Campus Housing project at the University of Washington, KieranTimberlake's team observed a campus landscape brimming with moss, algae, and lichen. These types of biological growth (“bio-growth”) are ubiquitous in the Pacific Northwest, clinging to windowsills, carpeting sidewalks, and decorating buildings. Located in a temperate rainforest climate zone with plentiful rain and cloud cover, the University of Washington's campus presented a unique set of challenges for the design team.