SchenkelShultz recently achieved LEED certification for the Signature Flight Support�s Executive Terminal in Boston.

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Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, SchenkelShultz was founded as a two-person partnership in Fort Wayne, Ind. Originally focused on residential design, the company has since expanded into the aviation, justice, education and commercial markets.

Today, SchenkelShultz has offices in Fort Wayne; Indianapolis; Raleigh, N.C.;  and Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, Fort Myers and Naples, Fla. Gouloff says education makes up 60 percent of the projects the company designs throughout the country, but each office has its own niche within its community. Owners have been demanding green and sustainable designs from architects for the last few years. But SchenkelShultz Architecture has led its clients toward green architecture since 2000.

SchenkelShultz has 50 LEED-accredited employees on staff and encourages every one of its 90 architects to earn LEED accreditation. The company supports this by paying for the courses required and offering training of its own for sustainable design.

“We have been a leader in the green design initiative,” CEO and partner Mike Gouloff says. This experience began in 2002 with the firm’s design of the first LEED-certified building in the state of Florida, the Stetson University, Lynn Business Center.

Since then, SchenkelShultz has maintained a commitment to green design by incorporating sustainable principles into every project. These include:
•    Construction waste management systems
•    Low volatile organic compounds products
•    Renewable resource materials
•    Mechanical, electrical and plumbing strategies that reduce life cycle building cost
•    Energy saving mechanical, electrical and plumbing equipment

Most recently, the firm achieved LEED certification on the Florida Atlantic University Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and Signature Flight Support’s Executive Terminal in Boston. In addition, SchenkelShultz is currently designing 10 projects to be LEED certified.

Growth Plans
SchenkelShultz is driven to offer its clients the best solutions possible. To this effort, the firm has worked to build alliances that combine strengths and talents that will take their business to the next level. In July of 2005, after identifying many shared values and philosophies, SchenkelShultz and CSO Architects announced a national strategic alliance. This partnership developed out of a joint venture to design the Indianapolis International Airport’s new terminal, which involved both SchenkelShultz and CSO Architects.

In addition, in the spring of 2006, SchenkelShultz and KSGW Architects in Atlanta formed a regional strategic alliance to pursue justice and educational projects throughout the Southeast. When it comes to growing SchenkelShultz, however, Gouloff says the partnership route has been more successful than straight acquisitions.

“Acquisitions are very awkward unless you’ve been through the process of learning how each other works,” he adds. “You only really learn about a firm when you work with them, and that’s what’s been successful about both relationships.”

Architecture as a Product
SchenkelShultz is committed to creating designs that address the specific needs of its clients. “We don’t have a specific style,” he says. “The firm has taken on the perspective of our clients and we continually create designs that meet the unique goals of each client and have done what they want to do.”

This is why SchenkelShultz looks at architecture not only as a service, but also as a product. The best example of this philosophy is the firm’s success in the education market with the introduction of the innovative prototype approach to K-12 school design.

In 1996, Winter Springs High School in Seminole County, Fla., opened as the first school to implement the SchenkelShultz prototype. Since then, the firm has created prototype middle and elementary school models that have been built more than 100 times.

Over the years, many other schools have adopted the prototype because of its adaptable and flexible design. Benefits of the model include SchenkelShultz’s willingness to learn from past experiences and their efforts to continually refine and improve their product.

The prototype design has introduced countless students to small-scale learning communities rich in technology and flexible enough to accommodate a variety of academic, extra-curricular and community uses. Since first introduced, the SchenkelShultz prototype has evolved to meet the latest design and performance expectations.  

Harmony Elementary School “J,” which will open for the 2008-2009 school year, is the culmination of the firm’s elementary school design experience and knowledge, creating a true elementary school of the 21st century.

Blessings in a Backpack
A large part of the culture at SchenkelShultz is focused on giving back to their local communities. To this effort, employees of the firm have donated their time and talents to non-profit organizations such as Ronald McDonald House Charities, United Cerebral Palsy and the Boys and Girls Club.  

In 2007, the firm became involved in an initiative called “Blessings in a Backpack.” Through this program, the company has partnered with Fort Wayne Community Schools to tackle hunger in community. Started at Adams Elementary School, each Friday, students are sent home with a backpack full of food to eat over the weekend. The students then bring the backpacks back Monday morning.

According to numbers provided by FWCS, this district serves the highest concentration of hungry children in the area. Also, 269 of its approximately 32,000 students were homeless in the 2006-07 school year. In May, the program grew to Orange County, Fla., where students at Grand Avenue Primary Learning Center now receive backpacks full of food every Friday.