Colin Craig

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Colin Craig

Colin N. Craig AIA, LEED AP BD+C

Senior Architect Colin Craig focuses on issues related to the feasibility and construction of the firm’s projects around the world.

His responsibilities include energy balance management; coordinating with consultants and contractors; working on specifications, bidding, documentation, lighting design and project assembly; analyzing and critiquing construction drawings; and, as he puts it, “pushing the job forward.”

At AS+GG, he is currently working on Kingdom Tower, the world’s next tallest building. His past efforts include Grand Boulevard, Function Island at Burj Khalifa as well as Masdar Headquarters and the Masdar HQ interior fit-out.

Prior to joining the firm in 2008, Colin worked for Powell/Kleinschmidt, Optima Development, DeStefano + Partners and Gensler, all in Chicago. His major roles included serving as project architect at the Optima project in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he documented the building; assembled bid packages; negotiated with subcontractors and vendors; managed MEP engineers and the LEED documentation process; supervised and reviewed submittals and onsite work of the electrical subcontractor; reviewed 10,000 doors; and supervised and coordinated acoustical testing. As project architect at McCormick Place West in Chicago, he managed a team of architects and engineers; led meetings with the owner and facilities management; facilitated meetings with user groups to critique the design; met with general contractor and subcontractors on a daily basis; directed mockups of all lighting in the building and worked with manufacturers to provide lighting that met the client’s expectations; and worked onsite for several months.  

Born in Michigan and raised in Northern California, Colin traveled for a year in the Mediterranean and the Middle East as part of the University of Minnesota study abroad program. He has a working knowledge of Italian and Spanish. He lives in Oak Park, Illinois.

Education

Bachelor of Architecture, College of Architecture, University of Minnesota, 1995

Affiliations

American Institute of Architects
LEED AP Building Design + Construction
NCARB

Awards + Honors

2012 AIA Housing Award, Multifamily Housing, Optima Camelview Village(while at Optima)
2011 Chicago Anthenaeum, International Architecture Award, Best New Global Design, Camelview Village (while at Optima)
2010 AIA Chicago, Citation of Merit, Camelview Village (while at Optima)
2010 Arabian Property Award for Architecture, Mideast Region, Masdar Headquarters, International Property Awards
2009 AIA Arizona, Honor Award, Camelview Village (while at Optima)
2008 Construction Week Awards, Sustainable Design Award, Masdar Headquarters
Environmental Award, Cityscape Architectural Awards, Masdar Headquarters
2008 Green Project of the Year, Middle East Architect Awards, Masdar Headquarters
Sustainable Design Award, Construction Week Awards, Masdar Headquarters

Presentations + Publications

International Association of Lighting Designers Judge, January 2009
"Taming the beast of bigness" (review of McCormick Place addition by architecture critic Blair Kamin), Chicago Tribune, August 2007
"How do you define 'escape'? Perhaps a space that provides a sense of peace rather than duty," Chicago Tribune, May 2004

Major projects at Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture:

Kingdom Tower
The next tallest building in the world, this multi-use Tower will feature a luxury hotel, office space, serviced apartments, luxury condominiums and the world’s highest observatory. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Hilal Tower
138 m mixed-use tower includes four levels below grade for retail, parking and support areas. The tower features residential, office and retail at ground and higher levels. Sustainable elements include district cooling, solar hot water, energy-efficient lighting and equipment, a greywater system and highly efficient HVAC and MEP Systems. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Ahlamana
Mixed-use 74.5 m and 105 m residential and office towers consisting of 5,612 sm of area. The program includes four to five below-grade levels for partial storage, parking and support areas.  Sustainable elements include district cooling, solar hot water, energy-efficient lighting and equipment, a greywater system and highly efficient HVAC and MEP Systems. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Private Chicago Residence
Renovation and addition of single family home, based on the reversal of natural light relationships between the interior and exterior spaces.  Material section based on life cycle assessments which yield more durable and VOC free materials for the life of the project . Chicago, Illinois

Kellogg School of Management
Competition design for new global center for Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Scheme features state of the art learning environments, grand gathering spaces with views of Lake Michigan and a number of faculty and administrative offices. Evanston, Illinois

Jinan Pullman Competition
Interior design concept for Jinan Pulimen Super High Rise Competition. Interiors promote a modern, active lifestyle by providing a high level of amenities, including a swimming pool, fitness center and multipurpose entertainment room. A light-filled plaza at the base of the atrium provides access to all units. Jinan, China

Beijing Franshion Development
Master planning, architectural and interior design of mixed-use  development in Beijing’s Central Business District featuring residential, retail, educational and recreational facilities along with extensive landscaping. Beijing, China

Masdar Headquarters
Positive energy building (generating more energy than it consumes) in zero-carbon, zero-waste city outside of Abu Dhabi. Project includes office and residential space, retail, transit circulation and incorporates landscaped green space. Masdar City at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

The Grand Boulevard
Residential complex, part of Burj Dubai development, includes luxury residences, retail and office space. Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Function Island
Event space for the Armani Spa Hotel at Burj Khalifa development. Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Federation of Korean Industries
50 story, 240 meter tower in downtown Seoul will provide the headquarters for the Federation of Korean Industries. The Class A office building also includes dining facilities, theater and conference center and rooftop garden. Seoul, Korea

At previous employers:

Camelview Village
Scottsdale, Arizona - 1,700,000 sq. ft. Multi use Residential condominiums with dedicated health club and commercial spaces. Project is composed of 11 all glass buildings with floating stone panels and cantilevered green roofs at every unit. The 14 acre project site just north of downtown Scottsdale includes retail and office spaces at grade, a health club that includes an indoor 75 foot swimming pool, exercise room, basketball and racquetball court. The development includes a sales center, management offices and a business center for unit owners. Exterior features include multiple water features, 2 outdoor swimming pools and a dedicated public right of way promenade. All parking for this project is completely underground.

McCormick Place West
Chicago, Illinois - 2,300,000 sq. ft., $900,000,000
Meeting room and Exposition expansion for McCormick Place. The project included 128,000 sf of meeting rooms, a 100,000 sf ballroom, 470,000 sf of Exposition space and 2 restaurant spaces.

1212 South Michigan
Chicago, Illinois - 25,000 sq. ft., $2,000,000 - Building Renovation. Project Architect for this renovation of an existing 30 floor residential high rise. Public areas were upgraded and a canopy was attached to the existing structure over a re-configured car drop-off along Michigan Avenue. Other building design issues included re-painting the entire building, renovation of the elevators, addition of new interior & exterior signage and upgrading of finishes in the gymnasium space. Interior spaces have been reconfigured and consolidated to create a future restaurant space. Responsibilities included design, construction documentation, consultant coordination, permit review and construction administration.

Dearborn Center
Chicago, Illinois - 1,400,000 sq. ft. Architect for building roof, common areas, multi-tenant floors, and the building management office. Responsible for reviewing tenant improvement documents for owner approval.

Goyang Convention Center
Goyang, Korea. New convention and exhibition center for Suburban Seoul. The center includes five convention halls, numerous small meeting rooms, an information center, cafeteria, and a ballroom.

Chicago Park District
Chicago, Illinois - 120,000 sq. ft., $9,000,000. Relocation of the Park District's corporate headquarters to the Time Life Building. Responsible for the construction documents, permit process & review, field verification, consultant coordination, shop drawing review and construction administration. Project included extensive millwork, consultant coordination, and significant schedule constraints.

600 West Chicago
Chicago, Illinois – 1,700,000 sq. ft. – Exterior & Interior Renovation. Redevelopment of the former Montgomery Wards catalog warehouse into a hub for established high-tech companies. Scope of project included the development of office support spaces, retail, and river walk areas to be accessed by the public. Responsibilities included documentation of the building, coordination of consultants, historic preservation issues, design of the leasing office, demolition packages and project documentation.

Bang & Olufsen B1 Stores
14 locations throughout the United States– 1,000 to 2,000 sq. ft. - Retail Build Outs. Job Captain on the team that created a new retail image for Bang & Olufsen North America. Responsible for concept design that included the development of a "kit of parts" for all future stores. Responsibilities included store design, documentation, construction administration for several locations and marketing photography for Gensler.

Colin Craig on…

…design
It's got to look good, and it's got to function perfectly. I just like things that are beautiful and work well. And it has to last. When I worked with the facilities people at McCormick Place, they would say all the time, "What happens if a forklift hits it?" That's the approach I take: What happens if a forklift hits it? People look at me funny when I ask that question.

…where he finds inspiration
I find it just about everywhere; you never know where. It could be some odd little detail, like an iron stair in an alley—something you have a passing glimpse of. It could be in Chicago, it could be anywhere in the world. Once, I actually found inspiration in my children's letters stuck to the refrigerator with magnets. At McCormick Place, there was a 100,000-square-foot ballroom where there were going to be holes in the carpet for power ports every 10 feet on center, which would make it roll up. The facilities people said, "We're going to lose all this carpet." I said, "Let's put magnets on it." So we put magnetic backing on the carpet so it would lie flat on the steel access ports and not come undone. That idea was a great success.

…his favorite "moment" in architecture
It has to be the present—the architecture we're working on right now. We're engaged in it every day. Our passion is to make the best thing we can, so we're putting everything into it right now.

…his favorite city architecturally
Istanbul. It's a fourteen-layer wedding cake. You go down some stairs and all of a sudden there's Byzantine architecture. You go to the side of a hill and there's Roman architecture. You go on top of the hill and there's a modern highrise. You go into a back alley and it's 17th century architecture. You go from one side of the Bosphorus to another, and the architecture is incredibly different. The city is a fantastic blend of Turkish, Venetian, Byzantine and Roman architecture—the variety is amazing. Of course, you can say the same thing about Jerusalem, Cairo and Rome, too.

…his favorite thing about a collaborative design process
Making decisions as a team. Everybody's got something to bring to the table. The trick is that a problem can take a while to be resolved, or it can happen in three minutes. If everybody agrees, that's great. If not, it's not always great. Both scenarios happen on a daily basis.

…what he'd be if he weren't an architect
I'd take my camera, hop on my mountain bike and take pictures.

…what he does when he's not designing
I'm raising my children and working on my house.