The Walton Family Foundation has chosen a group of 36 design firms comprising architects and landscape architects to be part of their Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program in a bid to boost the standard of architecture in the up and coming area of Northwest Arkansas.
A smaller, more refined group of practices from this pool will be chosen by a selection committee at a later date for three pilot projects announced early in September. Those pilot projects are: TheatreSquared in downtown Fayetteville; a 28,000-square-foot adaptive reuse building for the Rogers Historical Museum in downtown Rogers; and a new 35,000-square-foot facility and half-acre playground for the Helen R. Walton Children’s Enrichment Center (HWCEC) in Bentonville.
The announcement wraps up a two-month, country-wide search for designers that will shape the new urban landscape in Northwest Arkansas.
“We are extremely pleased with the level of talent exhibited by the architecture and landscape architecture designers chosen for the program’s first year,” said Walton Family Foundation Home Region Program Director Karen Minkel in a press release. “Our extensive review process, led by reputable industry professionals, will give our grantees access to high-caliber design that meets the needs of these public-use buildings and enhances Northwest Arkansas’ urban fabric.”
| Anmahian Winton Architects | Cambridge, MA |
| Alta Planning and Design* | Davidson, NC |
| Bing Thom Architects | Vancouver, BC |
| Brian Healy Architects | Somerville, MA |
| Brininstool + Lynch | Chicago, IL |
| David M. Schwarz Architects, Inc. | Washington, D.C. |
| De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop | Louisville, KY |
| Deborah Berke Partners | New York, NY |
| DLAND Studio Architecture and Landscape Architecture* | Brooklyn, NY |
| Duvall Decker Architects | Jackson, MS |
| Ennead Architects | New York, NY |
| Eskew+Dumez+Ripple | New Orleans, LA |
| Grimshaw | New York, NY |
| GWWO, Inc./Architects | Baltimore, MD |
| HBRA Architects | Chicago, IL |
| HGA Architects and Engineers | Minneapolis, MN |
| KieranTimberlake | Philadelphia, PA |
| Lake-Flato | San Antonio, TX |
| Louise Braverman Architect | New York, NY |
| LTL Architects | New York, NY |
| Marlon Blackwell Architects | Fayetteville, AR |
| Martinez + Johnson Architecture | Washington, D.C. |
| Marvel Architects | New York, NY |
| Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle | Minneapolis, MN |
| Michael Van Valkenburgh Architects* | Brooklyn, NY |
| Modus Studio | Fayetteville, AR |
| Overland Partners | San Antonio, TX |
| Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects | Little Rock, AR |
| Rice+Lipka Architects | New York, NY |
| Robert A.M. Stern Architects | New York, NY |
| Robert Sharp Architects & Massengale Architecture PLLC | Fayetteville, AR | NY, NY |
| Schwartz/Silver Architects | Boston, MA |
| Spackman Mossop Michaels* | New Orleans, LA |
| Stoss Landscape Urbanism* | Boston, MA |
| Trahan Architects | New Orleans, LA |
| WXY Architecture + Urban Design* | New York, NY |
- * denotes a landscape architecture firm.
