ForeSite, A New National Planning Firm Launches

Jan. 22, 2010 - PRLog -- ForeSite, A New National Planning Firm Launches


(New York, NY, January 13, 2010) -- ForeSite, a new national planning firm with an expertise in facility programming, master planning, and environmental stewardship founded by Debbi Waters, LEED AP, former principal at Holzman Moss Architecture (HMA), opens today.

In the current economy, planning is vitally important and clients more than ever need to spend wisely.  As a planner with more than 16 years experience working at Holzman Moss Architecture and at Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates, Waters believes that the timing is right for a new practice that focuses solely on the pre-design phases of projects, giving clients specific building type expertise with a pragmatic approach to defining and implementing their vision.  She is joined with partners Malcolm Holzman, FAIA, Douglas Moss, AIA, LEED AP, and Nestor Bottino, AIA.  This new partnership of planners and architects provides clients with a strong conceptual framework for the development of capital projects. Its focus on planning for the future in a sustainable way underscores the firm’s philosophy that concern for the environment is more than a necessity, it is an ethical responsibility.  

ForeSite views qualitative analysis of each project's physical, social, cultural, historical, political, and economic conditions as instrumental to creating spaces that resonate with the people who use them.  The firm’s approach is also influenced by an appreciation of the many ways environmental psychology guides the relationships between people and their physical surroundings.  

According to Waters, “Understanding how the physical and natural world affects individuals and organizations is the first step in creating environments responsive to human needs, which make a positive difference in people's lives.” “ForeSite offers a more qualitative approach with a more intense focus on sustainable land planning strategies. We don’t just rely upon national standards and rules of thumb, we help clients figure out if there is a real and justifiable need to expand, renovate and/or build new, and how to best go about this.“

Unlike other planning firms, ForeSite provides both a comprehensive knowledge of the built environment and of sustainable practices.  There is an emphasis on practical and affordable solutions. Past planning experience across the country among the partners includes the Barnard College Master Plan; Dover Public Library Building Program and Site Plan; Delaware Art Museum Expansion Master Plan; University of Houston University Center Master Plan; Cedar Hill Government Center Building Program and Site Plan; New Mexico State University Arts Complex Building Program and Site Plan; and Kansas City Music Hall Improvements Master Plan, among others.

According to Douglas Moss, AIA, LEED AP, “Almost every architectural firm will say they can do programming and master planning but many are missing a certain expertise. Our role as partners at ForeSite is to provide clients with an extensive background in both the planning and design of public buildings. As an independent firm, ForeSite will provide full-service planning and programming that promotes sustainability prior to the design phase. We believe that planning for a better environment ultimately creates a better quality of life.”

Founded in 2010 by Debbi Waters, LEED AP, in partnership with Malcolm Holzman, FAIA, Douglas Moss, AIA, LEED AP, and Nestor Bottino, AIA,  ForeSite is national planning and programming firm whose areas of expertise – student life facilities, performing and visual arts centers, libraries, learning commons, and civic buildings – are places that embrace public use. Hallmarks of the company’s approach are a commitment to providing objective, qualitative analysis, proactive environmental stewardship, and keen insight on the variety of ways in which people interact with the built world. When planning for the future, ForeSite plans for people.

Press Contact:  Cecilia Bonn, 212.734.9754                        
Cbonn@nyc.rr.com
Cecilia Bonn Marketing and Communications

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Cecilia Bonn Marketing and Communications is a full-service international public relations firm specializing in visual arts media relations, which represents clients including architecture firms, art foundations and galleries, universities, and museums.