Forum Studio Looks to Leadership, Partnerships to Build Bandwidth

Appointment of Chip Crawford, FASLA, key to the firm’s goals of attracting top talent and mounting aggressive growth strategy

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Forum Studio, the design arm of Clayco, Inc., is aggressively attracting new talent, leveraging the company’s record backlog of large national projects and pursuing Chairman and CEO Bob Clark’s vision of becoming a “firm of the future.”

“As the name suggests, it’s the forum that we are creating that enables us to deliver outstanding results for clients. I am thrilled to be a part of that.”

Chip Crawford, FASLA, comes on board to Forum’s St. Louis office as senior principal leading a dynamic team of Planners, Landscape Architects and Urban Designers. In partnership with Chris Cedergreen, president and senior principal of Forum Studio, the new additions represent the diverse skillsets and expertise that will foster the integrated approach that Forum Studio sees as central to its future success.

According to Chris Cedergreen, “We are set to bolster our presence and build Forum Studio in to a leading design firm with global reach. Having an internationally recognized landscape architect like Chip Crawford is a key component to our strategy. Chip is a legendary leader in the industry for 28 years. His design vision, leadership and experience are critical differentiators that will help us deliver on our promise of expertise-driven, performance-based design.”

A Fellow with the American Society of Landscape Architects, past President of the Landscape Architecture Foundation and Fellow at Kansas State University, Mr. Crawford joins Forum Studio from HOK, where he built the HOK Planning Group, a global business unit of the renowned architecture firm.

“Forum Studio presents an exciting opportunity for me to design in a truly collaborative environment, where innovative design ideas meet real-world construction and implementation expertise,” says Chip Crawford. “As the name suggests, it’s the forum that we are creating that enables us to deliver outstanding results for clients. I am thrilled to be a part of that.”

Also joining Mr. Crawford at Forum’s St. Louis office are key associate moves from HOK, including:

-Neil Eisenberger, RLA, ASLA

-Matthew Maranzana, RLA, ASLA, LEED AP

-Matthew Snelling, RLA, ASLA

-Andrew Kilmer, RLA, ASLA, LEED AP

Together, this new team brings more than 85 years of design experience helping hundreds of clients, spanning 20 countries across the globe.

The information on Mr. Crawford and his team joining Forum Studio’s St. Louis office comes with the recent announcement of new hires in Chicago, where several associate appointments have been made, including the addition of Alli Chapman as principal, Associate AIA.

About Forum Studio

Founded in 1999, Forum Studio, Inc. is a single source design firm that creates great environments through responsive, responsible and respected architectural, interior design, engineering, landscape and planning solutions. With more than 110 diverse projects completed and built within the last 13 years by a staff of more than 70 professionals, Forum Studio works closely with clients and contractors to produce the highest quality collaborative designs. For more information, visit www.forumstudio.com.