It’s the People that Make the Place
GFF has received three awards in 2021 for its service, leadership, and workplace culture and we can’t pass on an opportunity to celebrate the people that have made it possible.
Portrait of a GFFer: Marisa Dominguez
Meet Marisa Dominguez, an 11th generation San Antonian! Marisa graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor’s in Environmental Design and received her Master’s of Architecture from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Marisa joined the GFF Dallas Office in 2021 as a Team Member in the Reyes Studio. Read below to learn more…
How is ESG Impacting Real Estate Capital Investment?
There’s an acronym that has been around for a while now which is getting more attention as we emerge from the pandemic: Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is becoming a more common topic around the design of new buildings, whether they are speculative in nature or for a specific corporate user. ESG metrics are becoming a…
Dallas Morning News – Lake Highlands rental community kicks off construction in Northeast Dallas
“Developers have broken ground on the next phase of the Lake Highlands Town Center in northeast Dallas. The 70-acre mixed-use development is at Walnut Hill Lane and Skillman Street and has been under construction for more than a decade. Developers have already built two apartment communities, a shopping center and townhomes in the project, which is served by a DART commuter rail station. Now, Austin-based builder OHT Partners has started construction on a 403-unit rental community at the northeast corner of Skillman. Called Lenox Lake Highlands, the apartments are scheduled to open next summer.”
Greetings From Austin
It’s time to tell you about all the great things happening deep in the heart of Texas. Our Austin office has grown since we first opened our doors in 2018. We started with four pioneers and have flourished into a bustling office with 13 fantastic designers. These last three years have flown – we cannot hide how exhilarating it has been to establish a practice in one of America’s greatest cities.
Portrait of a GFFer: Jake Chavez
Among our Austinites are several musically gifted individuals, not least of which is Jake Chavez. Meet Jake, a man who can play the piano, the drums, and writes many of his own songs. His talents extend beyond music into architecture as well as he is an important contributor to the fantastic work happening in our…
Portait of a GFFer: Sydney Galloso
GFFers has more than one superhero but today we want to tell you about one who works in our Austin office. Sydney Galloso may not have a cape, might not be able to fly, and might not have a sidekick, but she is every bit of the superhero that makes GFF a great family. Learn…
Organizing Principles of Design – Evolution of a Growing Church Community
This Texas church was able to create a more attractive campus with GFF Architects to design a project with future-planning capabilities.
GFF Church Works: Under Construction
Many new GFF Church Works projects are under construction! Life Fellowship Church in McKinney held a groundbreaking ceremony in late February to celebrate the start of renovation and expansion of their existing campus. Prosper United Methodist Church broke ground on a brand-new campus to support their rapidly growing congregation Dallas Theological Seminary’s new 500-seat Chapel…
Faculty Offices: A Space Allocation Dilemma
It may not be luxurious or even fully private, but just about every full-time college faculty member has an office where he or she can work quietly, meet with students, teleconference or even record classes for e-learning. Unlike offices, classrooms both general purpose and special function are treated as shared space, scheduled by the department…
GFF Women’s History Month
GFF’s culture of creating memorable places is driven by the talent and hard work of our entire staff. This month, we’re sending a special shout-out to the women of GFF who continually serve our clients and community through their varied roles and disciplines. "I joined GFF in 1997 as a temporary receptionist and over…
Glass Technology that Can Bring Value to Your Building
Developers typically find that one of the most expensive components of a ground up construction is the glazing systems. Natural light gives life to a building. Without it there’s no life and no demand for space. Insulated glazing was invented in 1865, and the technology slowly started to make its way into commercial development in the 1930’s, becoming commonly available in the 50’s. Glass has a major impact on the experiential quality of a space and is often a primary component of the overall design concept. Glass technology has shaped and repeatedly redefined architecture, and its most recent evolution offers a broad spectrum of options.
Learning and Learning Space
For the last twenty-five years, one of my primary areas of focus both in practice and in research has been the ways people learn and the design of environments to facilitate that learning. In the sincere hope that students of all ages will be back on campus soon, the design of learning space is a…
Church Design: SoupMobile Church Food Pantry Gets a Home
Missions-minded architects and contractors help design and build a new worship space and food pantry for the homeless in Dallas.
Locally Sourced Kindness
We have asked our employees which organizations they supported this year and would like to encourage our readers to support them too! In a year when we have often felt powerless to change things around us, we’ve found strength in the work that these organizations are doing (and have been doing for a long time) to improve the lives of the most vulnerable in our communities.
GFF 2021 Promotions
At GFF we are all excited to welcome the start of this New Year (good riddance 2020!) and we are pleased to kick off 2021 with the announcement of 21 well deserved promotions for members of our team. Each of these individuals has made significant contributions to GFF, demonstrating professionalism, perseverance and professional growth through…
Church Design: Materiality in Interior Design — Question 1: Can You Deep Clean It Easily?
“A patio expansion-turned-atrium gathering space at First United Methodist Church (FUMC) in Dallas features interior design elements conducive to people congregating and passing through, but not germs.”
GFF Church Works Design Maxims
As we reach the end of the year, GFF has defined a set of principles that we believe will continue to influence our work for many years to come. We are excited to share these principles, or Design Maxims, and are eagerly looking forward to exciting new ventures in 2021! The GFF Church Works Studio…
GFF CAN(e): A Design Competition for a New Animal Shelter
Ultimately, this building will provide a safe and healthy environment for animals on their journey to finding their forever homes. Before the pandemic took hold, GFF made career offers to six extremely talented graduates around the country. Unable to move to Dallas or begin working in our temporarily closed offices as COVID-19 became a national…
Next Generation Student Spaces
In recent years there has been a growing trend among churches to place extra emphasis on well-designed, impactful space for junior and senior high school students. It makes sense: this is a very vulnerable age group. Teenagers are living through an awkward stage of life and are close to leaving home and navigating the world…
Portrait of a GFFer: Faiza Tayyab
Meet Faiza Tayyab. Faiza graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a Professional Bachelor of Architecture and joined the GFF Austin Office in February as a Team Member. Read below for more about Faiza! I was born in Iowa City but (thankfully) have been an Austinite for 20 years now. And yes, I…
Catching Up with Alix Rios
Alix Rios has returned to lead GFF Interiors. We had a few things to ask her.
CANstruction 2020
While it was an unCANventional summer, our interns were able to still participate in a work from home program – GFFCAN.
Post-Pandemic Landscapes
As a lasting result of the ‘Shelter-In-Place’ orders, our greenspaces may possess increasingly vital roles in our daily lives. As outdoor spaces continue to fill expanded roles, they also may adapt and change.
Renovation and Historic Preservation for Education
One of the most common triggers for planning and design projects in K-20 education is that existing campus facilities and resources no longer meet the needs of the institution. As education evolves to meet the needs of the twenty-first century, changes in pedagogy are driving changes in facilities for teaching at all grade levels, as…
Decoding the Effects of COVID-19
A few weeks ago, we asked our clients, consultants, contractors, and friends of the firm to share their experiences during the current pandemic. We are excited to share our findings and some of the excerpts from our generous survey volunteers.
An Atrium of Light
Perhaps most important, this project put us on a path to dream even bigger about how our physical church building can be leveraged to serve an urban mission field in profound new ways. Nicholas McWhirter, AIA GFF Church Works’ Fiedler Atrium project at First United Methodist Church Dallas was featured in the Summer 2020 issue…
D Magazine – Details, Renderings Unveiled For Uptown High-Rise Redevelopment
“The tower will have floor-to-ceiling glass with planes to extend past the floor slabs at each end. The two retail buildings will be positioned on either side of the office tower with one building designed for several fast-casual restaurants and the other building planned for one upscale eatery. An activated park in the middle of the site will include a variety of seating and pedestrian-friendly pathways to enhance walkability and connection with the surrounding community.”
Dallas Morning News – Striking new Uptown Dallas tower will include restaurants and park space
“Designed by Dallas architect GFF, the 623,624-square-foot office tower is one of the largest new buildings on the way in Dallas’ booming Uptown district. Developer Granite Properties has been working on the development for almost two years and is pushing ahead with final details and a hunt for business tenants. The high-rise in the works will take almost three years to complete.”
Church Design Post COVID-19
GFF Church Works is honored to have our recent COVID-19 discussion on the church re-entry process featured in the following publications. Please follow the links to learn more about strategies for re-entry and contact us if you would like to further discuss specifics for your facility! What Will Church Design Look Like in a Post-Pandemic…