Grand Blanc’s athletic facilities are going to be getting a huge upgrade in the sum of about $86 million in renovations. The upgrades will include new turf football field and moving the new football field to where the soccer field is located.
IDS is proud to partner with Grand Blanc Community schools on this exciting project. To read more about the district improvements, click here to visit ABC12’s website.
IDS architects Matt Showalter and Adrian La Tona are doing all they can to support a local effort to create face shields to donate to essential workers. Normally, IDS uses 3D printers to help communicate design and build prototypes of projects to share with our clients. However, during these critical times, 3D printing has been called on to create practical safety equipment for essential workers.
Operation Face Shield, headed by a BSN out of Ann Arbor Kevin Leeser, aims to create and distribute materials for face shields to any and all essential workers who can benefit from their protection. Procuring the clear shield portion of the equipment has been relatively easy but to produce easy-to-clean, safe, sturdy headbands is more difficult.
Led by Leeser’s efforts, this challenge has been met by numerous local volunteers and their 3D printers, producing thousands of face shield headbands to be donated to any and all in need. Once sanitized and ready to go, the headbands are distributed to any essential workers who request them with the goal of adding an extra line of defense for any and every essential worker during this time.
Showalter and La Tona have their 3D printers running during the work day, and are each able to produce about one headband an hour to donate to Operation Face Shield with the goal of making a delivery to Ann Arbor once a week. Last week, Showalter made the first drop of 150 headbands produced by La Tona and himself.
To learn more about Operation Face Shield and how you can participate or request shields for your organization or business, visit the official Operation Face Shield Facebook group.
Please join us in congratulating David DiCiuccio as he transitions from his long-time role as Director of Mechanical Engineering into the position of Principal Engineer.
As Principal Engineer, Dave will oversee our technical staff working on complex engineering projects. Dave’s vast experience and superior problem-solving skills will continue to be an asset to our projects and clients.
In this role, Dave will ensure the lessons learned on any given component of work will be translated to all other future efforts and aid in always improving cost benefits for our clients. As a single touchpoint for contact, Dave will be able to provide insight to our clients and partners from the highest level.
Dave will be succeeded as Director of Mechanical Engineering by Joseph Schwartz who has served as Assistant Director of the Department for four years. During this time, Joe worked closely with Dave to facilitate this transition and we are confident in Joe’s abilities to lead the Mechanical Engineering department going forward.
David DiCiuccio may be reached at ddiciuccio@ids-michigan.com and Joe Schwartz may be reached at jschwartz@ids-michigan.com.
For its first 87 years, the University of Notre Dame Stadium provided a spectacular venue on six gamedays each year. When those games ended, the stadium emptied, the gates were locked and this part of campus fell silent. The Indiana University sought to change that with Campus Crossroads; the project would bring academics and student life to the stadium while improving the gameday experience.
IDS was proud to partner with SLAM and UND on this exciting endeavor. To read more about the improvements to the Notre Dame Stadium, click here to visit Retrofit’s website.
Check out these pages to learn more about the Stadium Enhancements and North End Zone Renovation.
IDS has promoted ten team members into new roles within the company. David Giroux, Mark Reaves, Nicholas LaForest, Katy Litwin, David DiCiuccio, Joseph Schwartz, Scott Batzold, Greg Koenig, Josephine Horner, and Kate Dankovich all are stepping into new positions.
David Giroux, AIA, CDT is transitioning from his role as an Assistant Director of the Architecture Department. David has been and will continue to serve as Vice President and will devote his time to the growth of our Healthcare market.
Mark Reaves, AIA, LEED® AP BD+C, NCARB will be stepping from his role as an Assistant Director of the Architecture Department into his new position as Director of Athletics and Recreational Sports.
Nicholas LaForest, AIA, NCARB moves to the role of Assistant Director of Architecture and will serve as a consistent resource for everyone to aide in planning our documents.
Katy Litwin, AIA, LEED® AP BD+C, NCARB also is stepping into the role of Assistant Director of Architecture and her role will include supporting all teams to help with coordination of design.
David M. DiCiuccio, PE will be transitioning from his long-standing role as Director of the Mechanical Engineering Department to Principal Engineer. He will remain an Executive Vice president with IDS.
Joseph L. Schwartz, PE, CGD, LEED® AP BD+C is transitioning from Assistant Director of Mechanical Engineering to Director of Mechanical Engineering Department.
Scott Batzold, PE will join the management team of the Electrical Engineering Department as Assistant Director.
Greg Koenig, AIA, NCARB will be entering a new role as Manager of our Grand Rapids office to promote connection and coordination between our Troy Headquarters and West Michigan office.
Josephine Horner’s will now serve as Project Coordinator for the entire firm in which she will act as a resource to all project managers.
Kate Dankovich, CPA has stepped into the role of Business Manager, leading the accounting team as well as office management and human resources for both offices.
To our Valued Partners and Clients,
I wanted to take a moment to reach out to each and every one of you. In response to current public health concerns surrounding the COVID-19 virus and to help mitigate the spread, Integrated Design Solutions will close our physical offices as of 4:30 pm on Tuesday, March 17, 2020.
Our first priority is the health and safety of our employees. Considering the threat posed by exposure to the virus, this is the safest and most appropriate course of action. We want to ensure that our team has the ability and support to make the best decisions for the health and well-being of themselves and their families.
During this closure of our physical offices, IDS will be fully functional as a remote workplace and through our employees, we will continue to serve you. We are encouraging our staff and clients to utilize collaborative online methods to conduct meetings remotely, such as using video conferencing/teleconferencing technology as a substitute for all non-essential face-to-face meetings.
Please be assured that we will continue to serve you in every way possible as we navigate this unprecedented event together. During this time, it is possible that there may be temporary disruptions to our workflow due to unforeseen circumstances. We will do our best to minimize these interruptions and their impact on you.
If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to your Principal-In-Charge or Project Manager. You can also contact me directly.
We will get through this together.
Sincerely,
Chuck E. Lewis, AIA
President
Detroit Prep, the free public charter elementary school on Detroit’s East Side, has seen its ups and downs. But this renovated school building, formerly Anna Joyce Elementary (designed in 1916 by Wirt Rowland), hints at a brighter future for the community’s next generation.
IDS was proud to partner with Detroit Prep and the entire team to breathe life back into this historical building. To read more about the rebirth of this school, click here to visit the Architectural Digest website.
IDS attended the CAM Special Issue Awards to recognize the 12 CAM-curated, outstanding construction projects completed within the last year, three of which we were a part of. In addition, we are excited to announce that Shinola Hotel took home the 2019 Project of the Year award. A well-earned congratulations to all the partners who worked on this landmark project, Kraemer Design Group, Barton Malow, Bedrock, and Gachot Studios.
To read more about Shinola Hotel or the other projects on the CAM Special Issue, click here.
The Michigan Architectural Foundation is pleased to announce a new scholarship, in partnership with IDS, available to Michigan architectural students. The Paul Stachowiak & Integrated Design Solutions scholarship is available to Michigan students enrolled in architecture programs of Michigan universities.
Find more information on Michigan Architectural Foundation’s website here.
Members of the IDS team attended the groundbreaking Monday, January 27 for the new St. Joe’s Mercy Elite Sports Center. The new facility is a part of an expanding program at Schoolcraft College to encourage solving real-world problems in a hands-on environment and create market-viable experiences for students. Additionally, the goal of the center is to integrate the College’s professional academic programs with real-world experiences, offering opportunities to provide services for the athletes, including sports medicine and performance nutrition. In addition to the athletics facilities, the Sports Center features classrooms to support the Schoolcraft College Fitness Leadership Program. The St. Joe’s Mercy Elite Sports Center is expected to be completed in late summer 2020.
To read more about the this new facility, click here to visit Schoolcraft College’s website.
