CannonDesign is a global
architecture,
engineering and consulting practice that provides services for a range of project types, including hospitals and medical centers,
corporate headquarters and
commercial office buildings, higher education and PK-12 education facilities,
hotels and hospitality,
mixed-use, sports facilities, and science and research buildings. Brad Lukanic has been the CEO of the employee-owned firm since 2015.[1] In 2017 and 2019,
Fast Company named CannonDesign one of the 10 most innovative architecture firms in the world.[2]
History
Will Cannon, Sr. started his architecture practice in
Niagara Falls, New York in 1915. His best-known work from this period was the
Beaux-Arts styleNiagara Falls City Hall in 1923. When his sons, Will Jr. and Don, revealed natural talents in architecture and engineering, the trio formed a family business in 1945 that would grow from its humble roots into one of the leading design practices in the world.[3]
Acquisitions
In 2009, the company acquired O'Donnell Wicklund Pigozzi & Peterson (OWP/P), a Chicago-based architecture firm.[4]
In late 2014, CannonDesign acquired Pittsburgh firm Astorino Co. The deal allowed CannonDesign to expand its footprint into
Pittsburgh.[5]
In 2017, CannonDesign announced it was merging its global practice with
FKP Architects, a Houston-based architecture firm with 90 employees.[6] Denver-based Bennett Wagner Grody Architects also joined CannonDesign.[7]
In 2019, Blue Cottage Consulting merged with CannonDesign. The merger strengthened CannonDesign's consulting and planning capabilities within the healthcare, education and workplace sectors. Juliet Rogers assumed the role as President of the company.[9] CannonDesign formed a strategic partnership with ModularDesign+, a modular design and prefabrication firm with a 100,000-SF warehouse in
Euless, Texas.[10]
Controversies
In August 2016, CannonDesign reached an agreement with the
Justice Department and the
Department of Veterans Affairs to pay a $12 million settlement after it admitted to criminal conduct kickback scheme. Prior to the settlement, the former director of the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center hospital and later the VA hospital in Dayton, Ohio, William Montague, was sentenced to prison for his role in giving insider information to contractors in exchange for money. CannonDesign executive Mark Farmer was also sentenced to prison for his involvement in the scheme.[11][12]
Notable awards and recognition
2018, Laboratory of the Year Winner, R&D Magazine [13]
2019, Outstanding Organization of the Year, Healthcare Design Magazine[14]
2019, One of 9 World Changing Companies, Fast Company[15]
2019 & 2017, One of the 10 Most Innovative Architecture Firms in the World, Fast Company [16]
^Rosenblum, Charles.
"A new front door". Pittsburgh Quarterly. Pittsburgh Quarterly. Archived from
the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
^Bernstein, Gerald S (1999). Building & Campus: An Architectural Celebration of Brandeis University 50th Anniversary. Brandeis University Office of Publications. p. 76.
ISBN0-9620545-1-8.