Growing Detroit Architecture Firm Named Entrepreneur of the Month

Jan. 5, 2012 - PRLog -- Detroit - MI - As many architecture firms down-sized or even folded during the Great Recession, Centric Design Studio, a three-person firm in Detroit, Michigan, has found a formula for growth and success. Collaborating with larger, more established firms and incorporating emerging technologies such as building information modeling (BIM) has “helped us make it through the recession,” says Saundra Little, AIA, the firm’s COO. In December, Centric Design Studio (CDS) was awarded Entrepreneur of the Month from TechTown, the business technology park where the firm’s office is located and where it participates in the business acceleration program.

Leslie Smith, TechTown’s president and CEO, wrote in a congratulatory note that the Entrepreneur of the Month recognition was given “in celebration of your accomplishments and pursuit of entrepreneurial excellence.”

CDS specializes in education and healthcare projects and has collaborated with three firms listed on Architectural Record’s Top 250 Firms:  Harley Ellis Devereaux and Ghafari Associates, both headquartered in Michigan, and Fanning/Howey Associates of Ohio. CDS acted as program manager for the Detroit Public Schools construction project which included eight newly constructed LEED Silver schools and 10 renovated school buildings. The firm used BIM while developing construction documents for the new Cardiovascular and Multi-Specialty Building for the Detroit Medical Center. BIM uses three-dimensional, dynamic building modeling software to increase productivity during the design and construction of buildings.

Centric Design Studio CEO, Damon Thomas, LEED AP, says the firm is now transitioning to taking the lead on projects themselves. “We’re strengthening relationships with client-owners, and looking to bring on other firms as our partners.”


Media Contact:
Saundra Little, AIA, LEED AP, COO
Centric Design Studio, LLC
440 Burroughs, Box 62
Detroit, MI 48202
PHONE: 248 943-7177
slittle@centricdesignstudio.com
htttp://www.centricdesignstudio.com
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cds-press/

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About Centric Design Studio, LLC – Centric Design Studio’s mission is a merger of architecture, graphic design and sustainable practices as they all relate to one another. Centric Design Studio captures our client’s vision for their designated space, which will include the architectural (space) and the brand experience. Our method of practice gives structure and communicates the relationships between a client’s organization as a whole, its image, services and its products. This is accomplished all with the objective of giving design value. “Good design is good business”.

Centric Design Studi is a Michigan Smart zone company in the Smart Start business incubator program at Wayne State University’s TechTown in Detroit Michigan. The company was founded ten years ago by three Lawrence Technological University Alumni with a cutting edge philosophy toward sustainable design. CDS partners pride themselves on their work ethics and the understanding of their clients’ needs.