Thorson Baker and Associates Inc.
A long-term approach to growth
Keeping clients and adding services makes Thorson Baker prosperous
Thorson Baker and Associates Inc. was founded in 1993 by Mike Thorson
and Gordon Baker as a structural engineering firm. After substantial growth
in the structural discipline, TBA added mechanical and electrical engineering
in 1996, civil engineering in 2001, and recently added landscape architecture.
The different engineering disciplines were added not only to compliment
the structural services offered, and as an additional service to their clients,
but also as an outgrowth of Mike and Gordon's interest in the many aspects
of building design.
TBA's growth is attributed to the firms commitment to quality and service
to its clients. TBA has numerous long-term relationships with many clients,
due not only to their expanded services but also adequate staffing to handle
the aggressive schedules required by today's marketplace. They've continued
to expand their client services in a variety of ways. Their current list
of over 70 clients nationwide includes the original dozen or so clients
dating from 1993.
Then and now
The firm's continued growth has enabled TBA to offer comprehensive engineering
services to its architectural clients. Today, the firm employs a staff of
68 and is registered in 49 states, providing structural, mechanical and
electrical engineering services on projects nationwide, and civil and landscape
architecture services on a more regional level. Thorson Baker moved from
Brecksville to Richfield in 1998, rehabbing former medical offices into
a spacious facility on a rural 12-acre campus. The headquarters doubled
in size in 2001 to 25,000 sf to accommodate the expanding services. Located
between Cleveland and Akron, their Richfield office is convenient to major
highways and draws staff from as far away as Canton, Elyria and East Liverpool.
Part of the draw: a fitness center and a strong benefits package.
The firm's projects are diverse and divided equally between traditional
full service projects and the retail sector. Full service projects include
medical, library, educational, university, community recreation centers,
and a full spectrum of public projects. Retail projects vary from small
tenant fit-outs for national retailers to large scale lifestyle centers,
regional malls and complex mixed-use centers
Another specialty is sustainable and high-performance projects, which
many clients are finding of interest. TBA's LEED-certified staff is able
to recommend energy efficient and environmentally friendly systems, as well
as value analysis, to assist clients in the decision-making process. Many
clients desire sustainable components but do not necessarily want to pursue
the sometimes costly and time-consuming process to achieve LEED certification.
The company handled 1,000 projects in the last year, an increase of 15%
over 2004. BXM
Meeting deadlines and respecting budgets
And it's all based on knowing your customer, careful supervision and
a coordinated company effort
Though TBA may be considered by some to be a large firm, it is divided
into six smaller studios, each headed by a principal of the firm. "We
offer clients a personal relationship, with principal involvement,"
says co-founder Mike Thorson, PE. "A principal of the firm takes an
active role in each project, and our clients learn they can trust us to
produce quality documents and still meet their aggressive schedules."
Thorson, Gordon Baker, PE, and Dave Nemeth, PE, each head a structural
engineering studio. Jeff Miterko, PE, heads the electrical engineering studio,
Jeff Zunt, PE, LEED AP, mechanical engineering, and Mike Stamas, ASLA, the
civil engineering and landscape architecture studio.
Principals are involved in every aspect of the project, from design through
construction. The firm's in-house quality control program compliments this
involvement and is based on this close contact between client, principal
and staff, Baker notes.
On-time, on-budget, quality design
In today's aggressive scheduling environment, TBA is a star. "Meeting
challenging deadlines is important to our clients. We've applied lessons
learned from our schedule-driven retail experience to all of our projects,"
says Thorson. Weekly coordination meetings on Monday mornings get everyone
on the same page.
Baker adds that meeting client deadlines with quality documents is one
of the company's fortes. "Everything now is fast-track," he says.
"Coordination of the various engineering disciplines is critical to
minimizing change orders and field issues during construction. As projects
grow in size, this becomes even more important in order to keep projects
on time and on budget."
"TBA appreciates good architecture," Thorson notes. "After
listening to client concerns and needs, we collaborate with the architect
to achieve the best and most economical project." Having the principals
involved up front also brings client needs more sharply into focus and assures
that budgets remain realistic.
"When we design, we remember that it is the owner's building and
the owner's money," adds Baker. "Our systems are designed to meet
their needs and their budgets. We make a concerted effort to understand
their needs, and we know they are most satisfied when they are not surprised."
Bring it together
These design challenges are where TBA shines: "We benefit by all
the different disciplines we have in-house," says Baker. "They
better understand the inter-disciplinary design problems and issues and
can work together more closely to resolve any issues." He adds that
quality drawings are a key to the company's successful service, as the different
disciplines each contribute to a coordinated set of plans. "Our architectural
clients appreciate the talent and dedication of our staff, and we appreciate
each opportunity our clients give us to demonstrate the quality we can bring
to a project." bxm
A close-up look at success
Thorson Baker has excelled in a wide variety of market niches
Thorson Baker & Associates works primarily for architects and in
all market niches, on projects of all sizes, from minor fit-outs to complete
design services on large mixed-use projects. TBA boasts a project in every
state in the United States.
Education
College and university work includes significant projects for Kent State,
Case Western Reserve, Cleveland State, Ohio State, the University of Akron,
Ohio University, Tiffin University and Ursuline College as well as K-12
schools for a dozen Ohio school districts, including five Akron schools.
Among the many projects for the University of Akron is the North Campus
Parking Garage and Pedestrian Bridge, a five-story, 1,050-car garage that
won the Builders Exchange Craftsmanship Award and International Masonry
Institute Special Recognition Award. The latter award was also given to
the Landscape Portals, a series of three masonry and terra cotta arches
that have quickly become a focal point of the campus.
H. G Wood Building addition and renovations at the Case Western Reserve
School of Medicine is a $20 million, seven-story, 40,000 sf addition for
medical research. The structural design addressed complex considerations
to isolate ferrous materials from the magnetic field of nuclear magnetic
resonance spectroscopy devices.
Head Start at Windermere. This $4 million educational facility serves
300 children; five integrated canopies provide covered access to the Stokes-Windermere
Rapid Station. This project won the Design Share Award for Innovative School
Design.
The Gilmour Academy Middle School is a two-story, 30,000 sf school with
partial basement, while the school's chapel is a 30,000 SF space with vaulted
ceiling, exposed trusses, timber framing and decking.
Healthcare
TBA's many projects for Aultman Hospital in Canton include a four-story,
$56 million, 325,000-sf heart center, emergency services, and women's services
expansion with heliport. Other work includes several linear accelerators,
a three-story addition and renovation to their medical school, an ICU addition
to both the Canton and Massillon facilities, and a sports medicine clinic
to name a few.
Akron General Hospital's cardiac catheterization lab, heart and vascular
center, oncology renovation, outpatient care renovation and Wabash Avenue
expansion.
Summa Health System's new six-story Critical Care Tower, Surgery Center,
and the new Women's Cancer Center which is currently in design.
Office buildings
Progressive Insurance East Campus with its four office buildings with
visitor center and amenities building totaling 927,000 sf.
MTD corporate headquarters is a three-story, 132,000-sf building with
a 44,000-sf shop area and 16,000-sf testing facility.
Federal Express offices in Green is a $24 million complex with two 2-story
wings joined to a 3-story center for 260,000 sf with full basement.
The Suncrest Executive Office Buildings in Morgantown, WV, include a
five-story, 78,000-sf multi-tenant building and a two-story, 18,000-sf building.
Public institutions
Akron Zoo work includes engineering services for a $3.5 million Visitors
Welcome Center. The heavy timber framing emulates a structure indigenous
to the rainforest, meeting the challenge to disguise the steel beams necessary
to achieve the spans and spaces. Other projects: the Animal Holding Center,
Clinic Expansion, Penguin Holding Center, Nature's Classroom Octagon House,
Wild Legends and others.
The McDowell Branch library, whose new construction won an AIA Chapter
Design Award, was part of a complete overhaul of the Akron-Summit County
library system. TBA was involved in the work at the Tallmadge, Mogadore,
Maple Valley and East branches. The $57 million Main Library renovation
and additions project is featured in the December Architectural Issue of
Library Journal magazine.
Mantua-Shalersville Fire Station and EMS. This two-story, 25,500 SF fire
station and EMS unit serves the safety forces of three political entities.
Recreational
New community recreation centers for the cities of Massillon (50,000
sf) and Cuyahoga Falls (109,000 sf) as well as several outdoor waterparks.
Geneva State Park Lodge & Conference Center is a $12 million, 113-room
state lodge and conference center on Lake Erie, with indoor pool, restaurant
and conference center.
Hospitality
Marriott Courtyard facilities in cities such as Altoona, Greensburg,
and Pittsburgh, PA; Mississauga, Ontario; West Palm Beach, FL; plus other
Marriott properties from Sarasota, FL, to Charleston, WV, to West Des Moines,
IA.
Over 100 Ameri-Suites hotels nationwide
Religious
The Chapel in Green is a new 144,000-sf facility that includes an classrooms,
administrative and program support offices, athletic fields and a track,
and a 21,000-sf worship space. It was featured in Structural Engineer magazine
and won a national Steel Joist Institute design award for the firm.
Fairmount Temple Phases I and II, with structural design for a classroom
addition, administration addition, new entrance and activity center, as
well as a clergy office addition and new skylight.
Federated Church Family Life Center in Bainbridge is a 22,000 SF facility
with gym, public area, classrooms, offices and a kitchen.
Housing/ Condominiums
20-story, 200-unit Icon at the Gulch center south of Nashville, TN, with
its 337,000-sf parking structure, 210,500-sf condo unit and $58 million
budget.
Liberty Harbor Planned Community in Golden Isle, GA, consists of 1,700
condominium units housed in 40 structures, ranging from 11 to 20 stories.
Avenue District Apartments on three city blocks east of the Galleria
in Cleveland, with 321 housing units as well as a three-level parking garage.
The Battery Park Power House project is a redevelopment of the 17,622-sf
former industrial Eveready Battery Plant in Cleveland to a community center,
with restaurant, retail, fitness and meeting spaces.
Bluestone Development in Cleveland consists of three 4-story loft buildings
with a total of 76 living units, and six 2-story cluster homes housing a
total of 39 units.
Slovene Home in Madison Township, OH, has 14 villas, a 3-story apartment
building, a 2-story assisted living facility, 35 health care suites, common
building and wellness center, pool building, and carriage house garage.
Retail and lifestyle complexes
The 650,000-sf Polaris Fashion Place in Columbus has seven anchor stores
and 150 specialty establishments. Structural engineering involved design
changes on site and meeting a very aggressive schedule of 12 1/2 months.
Legacy Village is a $130 million lifestyle center with office space,
retail and restaurants. TBA provided mechanical and electrical engineering
services for 7 buildings and coordination design for adjoining buildings
and an enclosed tenant parking level. Twenty miles of cable create a 60,000
sf snowmelt system.
The 1,500,000 sf Crocker Park lifestyle complex has multi-story buildings
from 70,000 to 90,000 sf and one-story retail buildings from 1,600 to 2,000
sf. Mixed-use buildings house retail, restaurants, multi-tenant office spaces,
and a 7-story hotel.
Hudson's First & Main development includes seven one- and two-story
structures totaling 150,000 sf of housing, retail, restaurant and offices
architecturally harmonious with the Western Reserve architecture of the
historic downtown.
Shops at Midtown Miami, FL, is a 55-acre mixed-use urban development
with 640,000 SF of gross leasable area. The development contains retail,
restaurants, residential units, and structured and surface parking.
Others:
Bolingbrook South, a 428,640 SF lifestyle center in Chicago with 17 buildings,
three of them two-story; Fallen Timbers in Maumee, a 241,941 SF, nine-building
retail main street with a 27,000 SF bookstore.
Retail buildouts
Burlington Coat Factory - 31 locations
Restaurant Depot - 9 locations
Abercrombie & Fitch - over 100 locations
Express - 75 locations
Jared Jewelry - over 50 locations
Kay Jewelers - over 100 locations
H&M - 80 locations bxm
