Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel Featured in Metal Building Developer Magazine
Designed to appeal to the senses and evoke the natural environs of northern Michigan, the new Turtle Creek Casino and Hotel in Williamsburg, Mich., is a stunning example of modern architecture gone green. Read Article>>>
WBA Project Featured in Casino Enterprise Management
The Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem is featured in the current issue of Casino Enterprise Management. Walsh Bishop Associates was the Interior Architect for this project and in the article, Design Principal Ed Wilms discusses the challenge of providing a design that incorporates the historical significance of the site (formerly the Bethlehem Steel Mill) yet has a modern and pliable tone for future development. The article can be read at:
RAVE Awards Celebrate Residential Design
Walsh Bishop Design Principal Ed Wilms will lead a tour of the Ivy Hotel and Residence as part of the 2009 Residential Architects Vision and Excellence (RAVE) Awards being held on June 25. The RAVE Program was created by AIA Minnesota and Mpls-St. Paul Magazine to recognize excellence in residential design and raise awareness of the benefits of using an architect. This year’s awards take place at the Ivy, for which Walsh Bishop was architect, and include a special presentation on historical preservation. During the tour Ed will discuss our approach to this ambitious mixed-use development that incorporated an original 1930’s neo-Gothic building on a site of less than one-half acre. The project was largely completed in 2008 and includes a hotel, restaurant, health club and spa and residential condominiums.
Walsh Bishop extends it’s congratulations to the honorees of this year’s RAVE Awards!
Certified Interior Designer
We are excited to announce that Walsh Bishop Senior Associate Doug Larson has achieved Certified Interior Designer (CID) status. Congratulations Doug!
Excellence in Concrete and Masonry
On Saturday February 21, Troy Goetz represented Walsh Bishop at the 27th Annual Minnesota Concrete & Masonry Contractor’s Association Excellence in Concrete & Masonry Design & Construction Awards Banquet. Northland Concrete & Masonry took home two awards for projects on which Walsh Bishop was the Architect. The Ivy Tower Hotel/Condos in Minneapolis won in the “Concrete-Structural” category and the Hilton Hotel in Bloomington won in the “Commercial-Set Stone” category. Congratulations Northland Concrete & Masonry!
Keith’s Expert Insight
Have you checked out the December issue of Indian Gaming Magazine yet? If so, you may see a familiar face. Keith O’Brien, VP of Walsh Bishop’s Entertainment & Hospitality Group, is featured in their Ask the Experts piece, addressing the 2009 Gaming Forecast. Follow this link to gain insight from industry leaders on this topic and find out how the economic downturn will affect the Indian gaming industry.
http://www.indiangaming.com/magazine/
Also- this issue includes an overview last month’s Global Gaming Expo! (So if you missed Hulk Hogan, you will have to settle on checking out his picture…)
Walsh Bishop in the News
Walsh Bishop was recently featured in the September 2008 issue of the Native American Journal in an article entitled “Lighting the Way - Green Building on Tribal Land.” This article discusses how Native American Tribes have historically had a strong committment to land stewardship and conservation and how this is resulting in a desire for sustainable and green design. Walsh Bishop’s work for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs is highlighted.
LInk here to the article:
LEED-CS Registration Exciting Step in New Building
Walsh Bishop has taken another important step in renovating our new building by registering the project for LEED-CS Certification through the United States Green Building Council (USGBC.)
LEED certification provides third-party verification that a building project meets green building and performing measures. The benefits of having a LEED certified building can include lower operating costs, increased asset value, a healthier environment for occupants, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Walsh Bishop is a founding sponsor of the Mississippi Headwaters Chapter of the USGBC and this step further demonstrates our commitment to designing, building and working in an environmentally responsible manner. LEED certification will enable us to not only “walk the walk”, but also to enhance our ability to bring that knowledge and process to our clients.
Ramsey County Project Wins Best In Real Estate
And this year’s winner - in the Redevelopment/Extensive Renovation: Large, Office/Industrial category - the Ramsey County Department of Records and Revenue! Congratulations to the Walsh Bishop project team!
The Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal recently presented their 2007 “Best in Real Estate” awards in downtown Minneapolis. For these awards, a panel of 10 judges chose 24 winners from hundreds of nominees. Walsh Bishop is proud to announce that our design solution for Ramsey County was honored with an award at this event!
So what was this project all about?
When the City of St. Paul targeted their existing space for a mixed-use redevelopment, Ramsey County’s Department of Records and Revenue needed to find a new home. The Walsh Bishop team was selected to transform the former home of the State of Minnesota Department of Agriculture, a vacant building in a state of disrepair, to successfully serve the Department of Records and Revenue. Through an extensive environmental audit and comprehensive redesign, Walsh Bishop converted the large lab environment into an efficient, functional, comfortable contemporary office space that now supports the department’s operations and employees, along with the general public. Our team brought an abandoned building back to life and back into the market, and developed sustainable guidelines specifically for Ramsey County that will be used to encourage and support responsible design solutions for the County for years to come.
As Ramsey County Project Manager Jerome Biedny noted, “The County certainly received long-term solutions to our design issues that exceeded our expectations.”
ESOP Conference Energized and Educated
At Walsh Bishop, we think we’re pretty special for a variety of reasons, one of which is that on January 1, 2008 we became a 100% employee owned company.
Studies consistently show that companies that combine employee ownership with participation perform better than they did prior to implementing their ESOP and better than other similar companies without an ESOP. To encourge and foster this culture of ownership, an ESOP Committee has been appointed at Walsh Bishop. The committee’s first step is educating themselves on the implications, legalities, and possibilities of being an ESOP because like everyone at Walsh Bishop, they are new to the ESOP world.
Last week, three members of the ESOP Committee, Tina Brown, Andrea Samuelson and Joe Wagner, travelled to Chicago to attend the annual conference held by the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO). This conference was designed to provide learning and networking opportunities for ESOP companies and completely energized the three about the possibilities for Walsh Bishop. “We need to educate our ESOP Committee so that we, in turn, can educate everyone else” Joe said. “We are in the process of setting this commitee up in manner that will best serve our fellow employee-owners and foster a culture of ownership and leadership at all levels of Walsh Bishop.”
Attending events such as the national conference is just one of the many ways our ESOP Committee can connect with other ESOP companies and learn more about what it really means to be an ESOP company.
