Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)

“There’s never been a more important moment to work together in solving the most pressing challenges facing our cities and, as designers, to truly advocate for holistic solutions that address planetary health,” said Urban Design & Planning Partner Doug Voigt during his recent conversation with Ross O'Ceallaigh, host of the Green Urbanist Podcast. Their discussion centered on the concept of “rewilding” urban ecological systems with the Wild Mile—a collaboration with Urban Rivers—serving as a key example. This floating eco-park features vibrant gardens, walkways, and kayak docks, creating a thriving habitat along the North Branch of the Chicago River for both people and wildlife. With the recent completion of its second phase—nearly doubling its green space—the Wild Mile has gained international recognition. Highlighted by Azure Magazine for its role in revitalizing the Chicago River and featured in WBEZ Chicago’s profile of Urban Rivers Co-Founder Nick Wesley, the project has become a globally celebrated model for sustainable urban waterway restoration, overcoming early challenges to inspire cities worldwide. Tune in to the recent press coverage below. Green Urbanist podcast → bit.ly/3ZnC6n0 Azure’s article → bit.ly/3OnoJwX WBEZ Chicago feature → bit.ly/4125wIA Photos: Nick Wesley © Urban Rivers

Our Hong Kong studio opened its doors in 1974, marking a pivotal moment in SOM’s global expansion. From the sleek lines of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre to the most recent sustainable design of Tung Chung East 21st Century Business Hub, our projects have exemplified our commitment to pushing the boundaries of what architecture can achieve. We’re proud to have celebrated this 50th anniversary milestone with our clients, partners, colleagues, and friends in our Hong Kong studio this week. Thank you to everyone who joined us to reflect on our journey and celebrate our achievements over the past five decades. Together, we explored our past, embraced the present, and envisioned a future filled with innovation and excellence in architectural design. Here’s to continuing our legacy and shaping the future of our built environment together. 📷: Siuman Photography, Getty Images, TIPTOP

Our inaugural line of urban furniture has debuted! Manufactured by NERI SpA, our Nebula collection is a family of complementary outdoor products, which fill a need for high-design street furniture versatile enough to enhance both vibrant main streets and historic urban corridors. The Nebula collection continues a collaboration between SOM and Neri that began with an outdoor lighting system. The expanded collection offers contemporary products for urban environments—bench seating, stools, tables, a bicycle rack, and more. “This is a collection born of necessity,” said Carlos Madrid III, Senior Associate Principal at SOM, who led the design. “Our firm has a long history of working at the urban scale, and we have consistently found a dearth of products in the marketplace that are flexible enough to work at the scale of the conversation, as well as the scale of the city.” MORE → bit.ly/nebula-lighting 📷: Dubo Visual & Strategy Communication

Last week, we topped out at 220 N. Ada in Chicago’s Fulton Market District. This multifamily development has reached 314 feet and, once complete, will bring 308 rental apartments to the neighborhood, 62 of which will be affordable units. The concrete structure will soon be enclosed with a gridded glass and metal façade, complemented by dark brick cladding around the retail podium—a design that draws inspiration from the site’s industrial past. Congrats to our partners Shapack, CRG, KMW COMMUNITIES, Clayco, and Gensler Chicago for reaching this milestone—we look forward to sharing more updates as the project progresses. 📹: Dave Burk © SOM

This week, Sustainability Director Mina Hasman will present SOM’s latest innovations around decarbonization during COP29 Azerbaijan, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Hasman will provide an update on the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard (“the Standard”), which SOM has helped to steer in response to the market demand for a clear and unified definition for net zero carbon-aligned assets in the UK. The event will be followed by a panel discussion featuring representatives from the Standard, RIBA, CIBSE, UK Green Building Council (UKGBC), and RICS, which have been instrumental in the development of the Standard. Hasman will also partake in two other sessions, including a panel discussion exploring complex challenges in the built environment, such as climate change, social inequality, and resource overuse with a focus on indigenous knowledge, resilience, and equitable design. See the schedule below. MORE → bit.ly/3YNeG8Y #COP29 #COP29Azerbaijan

In our New York studio this week, we were pleased to host a delegation representing Singapore’s built environment sector, aiming to broaden their understanding of sustainability practices and innovations in the U.S. The visit was part of the Singapore Green Building Council and Building and Construction Authority Business Mission, which coincides with the annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo. Global leaders from our Hong Kong, Chicago, New York, and London studios guided tours and presented, including Laura Ettelman, Chris Cooper FAIA, LEED AP, Vram Malek, Kim Vanholsbeke, Joseph Chase, Preetam Biswas, Nicolas Medrano, AIA, Marzia Sedino, Mina Hasman, Shilpa Patel AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, Charles Harris, Stefano Tronci, Marti Gottsch, and Sigal Shemesh. Learn about the organizations below. Building and Construction Authority → bit.ly/4ewecKy Singapore Green Building Council → bit.ly/3UOoRcb 📷: Lucas Blair Simpson © SOM

Come work among some of the best and brightest! Across our global studios, we are looking to fill several Project Manager roles: 📍 New York Project Manager, Transportation → bit.ly/40En913 Project Manager → bit.ly/48JyAXg Project Manager, Higher Education Practice Lead → bit.ly/4fGOgNb 📍 Washington, D.C. Project Manager, Civic + Government → bit.ly/3AKvy8o 📍 Chicago Project Manager → bit.ly/3ADvl6W 📍 Los Angeles Project Manager, Spanish Speaking → bit.ly/3CrcRHx 📍 Hong Kong Project Manager → bit.ly/3Cl77Pj 📍 Melbourne Project Manager, APAC Region/Business Development → bit.ly/3UIrufW View all opportunities → bit.ly/4fEh8FK #hiring #jobs #architecturejobs #aecjobs

Beyond beautiful buildings, we pride ourselves in getting to know the communities in which we work. And in Washington, D.C., as part of our North Capitol Crossroads Vision Plan, we’ve taken it a step further, producing a podcast miniseries with the D.C. Office of Planning that shares the lives, ideas, and stories of the people representing D.C.’s communities. Through this podcast, we've broadened engagement with District residents, capturing elements of the area’s history and present-day life while offering a glimpse into its future. And for it, the “District Crossroads” podcast series won the Creative Community Outreach Award from Lambda Alpha International Land Economics Society's George Washington Chapter! The North Capitol Crossroads Vision Plan imagines a cohesive identity through planning, design, and development that will transform the North Capitol Crossroads and provide an interconnected neighborhood anchored by places to live, work, learn, and heal. Learn about our work and listen to the podcast below. MORE → bit.ly/3ChISSd 📷: Courtesy of D.C. Office of Planning Consultants: Prologue DC and Interface Multimedia #DistrictCrossroads #DCOfficeOfPlanning #LAI #LambdaAlphaInternational #CommunityVoices #oralhistories

This fall, three SOM studios offered insider views of our projects and practices during a series of architecture tours, including Open House New York, Open House Chicago, and Open House Festival in London. The annual events offer rare opportunities for behind-the-scenes access to architecturally, historically, and culturally significant sites. In New York, our team led tours of Manhattan West and the High Line – Moynihan Connector, Lever House, and the “Adaptations 2.0” exhibit at Governors Island. In Chicago and London, we opened our studios, allowing visitors a peek into the design process—check it out below. 📷: Francisco Lopez de Arenosa, Tiffany Truong, and Aydan Gasimli Chicago Architecture Center #OHC2024 #OpenHouseChicago #OpenHouse2024 #ohnywknd

Today at #BalREc, Bulgaria’s annual investment and real estate market conference, Partner Thomas Behr unveiled SOM’s competition-winning design for a new mixed-use development in the capital city of Sofia. Sofia Square is a new 345,000-square-meter development that draws inspiration from Sofia’s surrounding natural landscape to create new vibrant public spaces, as well as retail and residential buildings. The project centers on the reinvention of a historic industrial building designed by Gustave Eiffel. SOM was chosen as the winner of an international competition organized by GK Bulgaria, aimed at envisioning a new future for a brownfield site in the west of the city. MORE → bit.ly/3YCSChx 📷: © SOM