 |
Paul Mankins, FAIA, LEED AP is a graduate of Iowa State University (BA 1985) and Yale University (March 1991). Prior to forming substance in 2005, Paul worked with Smith-Miller + Hawkinson in New York City, Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz in San Francisco, and Herbert Lewis Kruse Blunck Architecture where he was named a Principal in 1999. Paul has directed the design of projects recognized with over thirty-five Honor and Merit Awards for design from the central States Region, Iowa, and San Francisco Chapters of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Major projects include the Meredith Corporation Expansion in Des Moines, winner of a national 2002 Honor Award for Architecture, Des Moines’ Central Library, and significant interiors and residential projects nationwide. In Addition, he has served as a Lecturer at Iowa State University’s Department of Architecture for over a decade and is a frequent academic and professional design awards juror. In recognition of his contributions to the profession, Paul received the Design Achievement Award from Iowa State University in 1998.
|
 |
Todd Garner, AIA, LEED AP has over 20 years of experience leading the design team efforts on projects of varying scales and complexity. His deep understanding of the construction process informs his approach to design and has allowed him to lead significant projects for Wells Fargo Financial, ING Insurance, Barr Nunn Transportation, as well as other private and public sector works throughout Central Iowa. In addition, Todd has designed a number of small-scale, award winning interior projects including offices for ZLR Advertising and a retail space for Avon. Educated at Kansas State University, he returned to Des Moines in 1989 to start his professional career with Herbert Lewis Kruse Blunck Architecture where he was named Principal in 2002. In 2005 he and his Partners formed substance. Todd currently leads the design team for the new Des Moines Area Regional Transit (DART) facility and recently completed the restoration of the Federal Courthouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. |
 |
Steve McDowell, FAIA, LEED AP is Principal and Director of Design at BNIM and earned a Bachelor of Environmental Design at the University of Kansas. As Director of Design, Steve leads studio directors, associates and designers at every level to produce architecture that celebrates site, environment, technical exploration and the joy of human life. His originality is creating a new definition of architectural practice in his city and across the country. Above all, he motivates others to go beyond their expectations. His design approach focuses on the space between buildings, the use of innovative materials and technology, and how to serve end users best. As a practitioner of holistic design, Steve looks at the totality of a space, its interior and exterior, and how this symbiotic relationship interests the user. With his workplace functioning as a laboratory, he is instituting a practice that is founded on collaboration, with virtually no boundaries to peer critique, open exchange of ideas and free initiative. His unique way of harnessing creativity within the firm’s projects has caused him to push the envelope of technical investigation. Steve’s leadership by design is setting new ground in cutting-edge projects at the University of Georgia, the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the North Charleston Noisette Community Development in South Carolina, just to name a few. |
 |
Amy Slattery, AIA, LEED AP is an Associate at BNIM and was recently named a 2011 AIA Young Architects Award recipient. In recent years, Amy served as a Project Architect for the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri as design coordinator with project designer, Moshe Safdie & Associates. Amy is now serving as Lead Project Architect of the new state-of-the-art WIN-GEM building for the School of Engineering at UCLA, a collaborative project with Los Angeles architecture firm Moore Ruble Yudell. Through her involvement with the AIA at local, regional and national levels, she has emerged as a national voice advocating for diversity and emerging professionals. Within her industry, Amy is perhaps best known for her role in creating Women in Design Kansas City, a flourishing organization that advances the work women are doing and improves the way our lives intersect that work. |
 |
Andrew Wells, AIA, LEED AP is responsible for the design leadership of the Dake Wells Architecture firm. He possesses an uncanny power to recall exceptional works of architecture, music, pop culture and other seemingly useless bits of information. Andrew has twenty years of architecture and project management experience. He received his Bachelor of Architecture from Hammons School of Architecture at Drury University in 1991, which included study abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland. In addition to his strong design and project management experience on a wide range of project types, Andrew possesses an uncanny power to recall exceptional works of architecture, music, pop culture and other seemingly useless bits of information. Andrew is responsible for the design leadership of the firm. Following graduation, Andrew joined a relatively small architecture and engineering firm in Springfield, Missouri. As the firm grew to over seventy employees, Andrew emerged as a leader in all aspects of design; garnering local, regional and national awards on projects ranging from loft apartments to performing arts facilities. In 1996, he was recognized by the Central States Region of the AIA with the Young Architects Award for the Nixa Public Works project. Andrew has an extensive portfolio of educational, commercial and cultural projects, notably several projects for College of the Ozarks, Missouri State University and Drury University. His experience with evangelistic churches is one of the most extensive in the region. In addition, he serves as an adjunct professor at the Hammons School of Architecture teaching upper level design studios. In 2004, Andrew co-founded Dake Wells Architecture, an ideas-driven practice with an emphasis on innovation through collaboration. Each project is analyzed and conceptualized afresh, with rigor and a healthy dose of wit. Rather than following the trend toward specialization in a particular project type, the practice specializes in design as a discipline, applicable to a variety of architectural challenges, including those of sustainable practices. Andrew is NCARB certified and licensed to practice architecture in the states of Missouri and Arkansas. He is a LEED Accredited Professional, a member of the Society for College and University Planners and the American Institute of Architects. |
