ABOUT FORM

Since inception in 2003, FORM has continued to invest in quality over quantity, providing staff with year-round educational opportunities through our FORM University program. Opportunities for designers to flex their creativity are abundant and continue to result in strengthened services. Our ‘work hard, play-harder’ mantra landed FORM on the Washington Business Journal’s Best Places to Work list and has led to the development of various annual events that include family, friends, and clients. It is hard to pick a favorite event, but one thing our team can agree on is that Judy knows how to throw a party! Outside of the office, our community outreach program, Warm with FORM, has aided more than 25 local organizations that benefit causes important to our industry, clients, and individual employees. Similar to our project approach, regardless of whether we are running in a charity 5K or making sandwiches for the homeless, we work as one team, always focused on people.

ABOUT
FORM
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TIMELINE
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THE TEAM

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"I find inspiration for my designs in textures."

MinJae Chong, LEED AP ID+C
Principal, Technical Director

“I’m inspired by nature. I love to be out in it, or to bring it inside – whether just an open window or a fresh and fragrant bloom.”

Judy Shaffer, SHRM-CP
Principal, Chief Operating Officer

"I find design inspiration in patterns and geometry."

Ronza Rebert, NCIDQ
Senior Associate

"I am inspired by people. Listening and helping clients solve design problems and creating a truly unique experience."

Katherine Cramer
Senior Project Designer

"Being surrounded by intelligent, proactive problem-solvers inspires me to always put my best foot forward. Laughter doesn't hurt either."

Matt Gannon
Associate

"I'm inspired by my everyday surroundings and how I can do something different to push the design industry to the next level."

Nicole Blunt, NCIDQ, LEED Green Associate
Senior Associate

"The influence of fashion within design inspires me. It drives creativity beyond typical limits to help foster the creation dynamic and timeless environments."

Machele Sanders, NCIDQ
Senior Project Designer

"I'm inspired by solving problems. I like to face challenges head-on and find creative solutions."

Kimberly Davis
Marketing Manager

"Travel inspires me and opens my eyes to different perspectives, unique experiences, and creative solutions in the lived environment."

Jessica Simon
Designer

"My inspiration comes from life itself. Designs are ever-evolving, and I continue to learn from new experiences as I take in a world of inspiration."

Michael Cipriani, AIA
Principal, Owner
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CASE STUDIES

Apex Clean Energy Headquarters

DESIGN CHALLENGE

Located within the most sustainable, multipurpose mass timber building in the United States, Apex Clean Energy challenged FORM to think beyond Cradle-to-Cradle and provide the safest space possible for their employees.

GOAL

Apex wanted their space to not only inspire minds today but educate those for tomorrow.

SOLUTION

Interior designers used space planning and materials to tell Apex’s story.
To help illustrate Apex’s mission, a grey granite wall in the atrium, representative of fossil fuels, parallels True North, which represents the mission that Apex orients themselves around. The story goes, that the wall is the barrier Apex must overcome, and there are different ways to break through – using the stairs, the portal, or the hallway. This represents Apex’s daily challenges and the many ways they work to overcome them.

 The reception desk shows the juxtaposition of fossil fuels (grey granite) and clean energy (white portion). It shows breaking through traditional energy sources). The white portion also aligns with True North.

 Designers collaborated with the building architect, William McDonough + Partners, to create a lobby skylight which illuminates a stainless-steel, ‘True north’ line across the floor when the sun is overhead.

 

To ensure its success, every piece, down to the sprinkler heads, were modeled using BIM software.
Designers found this step to be crucial as Mass timber construction is still a new concept with few examples to model after.

95% of the interior products specified beyond that were BIFMA or Cradle-to-Cradle certified. To ensure air quality and healthy circulation, more offices, wider hallways, a near hospital grade filtration system, and easy-to-clean surfaces were prescribed.

 

Revealing as much timber as possible while hiding the infrastructure, designers conjured an atmosphere of quiet remove.
While many solutions were deployed, one of the most significant was the team’s response to the above-beam chases being value engineered from their original design. Collectively, the team determined that the infrastructure could still be hidden by running bulkheads around the perimeter at a perfectly calculated angle.

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