Casa Casillas: a Dream Come True
Former YMCA Office Transforms into Maker Space. Former Chula Vista, Calif. Mayor Mary Casillas Salas spent years advocating for an artists’ maker space that would be available to the public. We are proud to be part of Kimley-Horn’s (Prime Consultant’s) team that’s now making her vision a reality. Origin Story Named in honor of Paula […]
Teaching Toward an Inclusive Architecture Industry
Yolanda Velazco, a top-notch designer at Platt/Whitelaw, is more than just an architecture instructor teaching at Southwestern College. Having grown up in Mexico, and even having attended Southwestern College herself, Yolanda knows that navigating a college experience in a different country comes with a learning curve. Many of her students at Southwestern Co
Designing a Better Way for Behavioral Health Services
By Sandra Gramley, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C The County of San Diego provides crisis stabilization units to deliver services in community-based or hospital settings for people experiencing a mental health or substance-use crisis. For people in the midst of a crisis, being taken to a jail or hospital may not constitute an appropriate level […]
Platt/Whitelaw Pays Tribute to National Hispanic Heritage Month
Platt/Whitelaw Architects has always embraced the beautiful diversity of our region’s population, and it’s consistently been reflected within our staff. Collectively, our team speaks five languages and represents heritage from countries around the world. In this spirit, we’re paying tribute to National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15)
Aspects of Creativity in the Architectural Design Process
Architecture is unique for its blend of art and science. Architect Antonin Gaudí, for example, is world famous for his unconventional shapes, colors and textures. But, at the end of the day, his designs for the Sagrada Familia, Parc Güell and other noted structures had to be technically sophisticated enough to reach into the sky […]
Teaching Future Generations of Building Professionals
Our long history as a firm includes decades of volunteering our time to teach students and young adults about the building and design industry. For many years, our staff was involved with B.E.E.P. (Built Environment Education Project), where we worked with school children to design imaginary projects. Topics ranged from designing animal enclosures for a [&he