HOUSTON, TX  FKP announces the hire of Senior Associate Robert Lawyer as the firm's newest Senior Project Manager. With 20 years of industry experience, Lawyer will oversee and manage healthcare projects of sizes including pediatric and oncological specialties.

Lawyer comes to FKP with a holistic educational background and two decades of project experience in healthcare, corporate, hospitality, and mixed-use facility design. Throughout his career, he has built areas of expertise in healthcare programming and innovative BIM practices. Lawyer enjoys team building with large project teams, collaborating and sharing ideas, and promoting information sharing, factors which will benefit the teams and projects under his management.

"As FKP continues the rapid growth we've experienced in the past year, project management is the most important role to ensure we're delivering quality projects," said Tim Conroy, Principal. "It's critical both for our clients and for our internal teams, to make sure QA/QC remains paramount at every phase of the project. Robert has managed large teams and can jump right in. He'll be a strong advocate for the client, while also being an effective leader and mentor for the project team."

Working for a large healthcare firm will provide Lawyer the opportunity to build on his expertise to serve clients. His portfolio includes projects for Parkland Hospital, Baylor Cancer Center and John Peter Smith Hospital in Dallas, Texas, Forest Park Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, as well as national healthcare projects for NCH North Naples Hospital in Naples, Florida; BHVRL Health Center-Indian River Medical Center in Vero Beach, Florida; and designs for the West Kauai Medical Center in Kauai, Hawaii.

From urban spaces to software innovation, Lawyer's educational background includes several areas of emphasis. He studied architecture and computer science at the University of Arkansas - Fayetteville, Arkansas, and urban design at the Universidad de Anahuac in Mexico City, Mexico. He has also completed coursework in computer science and mathematics at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas.

Joining Lawyer and the firm's Houston team is Jan Madey as Senior Project Manager and Laboratory Planner. FKP Architects is strategically expanding its Science and Education studio with Mady at the helm. With more than 30 years of experience, Madey has specialized in project and team leadership for research and healthcare design, including design and management for 6.4 million square feet of hospital and research center space in Saudi Arabia.

Madey's focus in laboratory planning and design includes labs for bio-containment, animal research and life sciences. He has been a grant reviewer for several National Institutes of Health grants for animal research and clinical facilities and a presenter at the Labs 21 National Conference (now known as the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories.)

"Jan is the rare architect with multiple talents and vast experience in planning, technical design and project management for both healthcare and research projects", said Cynthia Walston, FAIA, Principal in charge of FKP's Science and Education studio. "Within our studio, we focus on life sciences design that promotes health, so Jan's experience is a perfect fit. He also has an amazing international perspective on the learning process that can take place when the surroundings foster it. Across all of our specialties - education, research and healthcare - discoveries are the key to success. Our planning and design revolves around creating the optimal environment for the intellectual collisions that lead to great discoveries."

FKP's Science and Education team portfolio includes the new Texas A&M Heath Science Center Bryan Campus Master Plan and the first two buildings built there, along with the Rice University Bioscience Research Collaborative and Texas Children's Hospital Feigin Research Center.

Madey earned his Master's Degree in architecture with a Town Planning Specialization from Gdansk University of Technology in Poland. He also played volleyball for the Polish and American national teams.

New Vision, New Leaders for FKP Architects' Dallas Office

As part of a planned reorganization in the Dallas office, FKP Architects continues to add staff at the executive level.

"I have walked a mile in your shoes" may be the mantra of Holly Ragan, FKP Architects' new Managing Principal. Ragan rejoins the firm after serving eight and a half years as the Director of Planning and Design at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. In her role at FKP, Ragan will have final accountability for all projects produced in the office. Ragan is also charged with developing a new strategy for the firm in central Texas, working collaboratively with FKP's other offices in Houston, Texas, and Columbus, Ohio, to optimize client services, market penetration, and quality deliverables.

Ragan's background spans 18-plus years and encompasses more than $2.1 billion in projects. At UT Southwestern, she oversaw expansion of the new William P. Clements University Hospital, a 460-bed replacement facility that opened in December and had a construction budget of $800 million. She managed healthcare programming, master planning, planning and design for the project as well as all other new construction and renovation projects, including Moncrief Ft. Worth Cancer Center, and satellite clinics located in Richardson and Dallas, Texas. She also internally represented clinicians and administration throughout the planning process.

Prior to working on the client side, Ragan built a significant planning and design portfolio of healthcare projects throughout Texas. As the previous Healthcare Planner and Designer for FKP, Ragan delivered successful projects for M.D. Anderson, Children's Medical Center of Dallas, UT Southwestern Medical Center, and Texas Children's Hospital.

Diane Osan, Chief Visionary Officer, welcomes Ragan back to FKP. "This is a pivotal time for our Dallas office," said Osan. "Great opportunities exist in North Texas, and I'm certain Holly is the best person to lead teams to successfully achieve the potential. Holly's insight serving on the Owner side will be invaluable for all our clients, regardless of the project type. She understands the myriad and occasionally opposing demands inherent in every project. Holly can fill the tough role of advocating for the best interest of project goals without letting personalities get in the way."

In 2012, the Health Industry Council of the North Texas Region named Ragan one of the "Top 10 Women in Healthcare" in North Texas. She holds a Master's degree from the University of Texas at Dallas and a bachelor's degree from The University of Texas.

In conjunction with the recent hire of Ragan, Michael St. Clair returns to FKP as Vice President and Senior Planner. St. Clair worked with Ragan in facilities planning and design at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. In his new role at FKP, he will work closely with Holly to ensure quality healthcare facility design and planning services for clients in north Texas.

St. Clair brings 18 years of industry knowledge to the team. His accomplishments include serving two years as the Senior Architect for UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. In this role, he was responsible for planning, overseeing construction documents and construction administration of a new outpatient clinic and academic office expansions and renovations. He managed relations with clinical user groups, while achieving the financial goals for the system. St. Clair worked closely with Ragan on these projects.

"I am delighted to continue the synergy Michael and I developed working together," Ragan said. "We successfully delivered significant healthcare projects as a team - in large part due to Michael's passion for partnering with healthcare professional to develop healing environments and healthy communities. We continually push each other to be the best architects we can be on behalf of all the users projects ultimately touch."

Prior to his experience at UTSW, St. Clair served as Senior Associate and Project Planner for FKP.

"It isn't every day that we hire two professionals so closely linked as an experienced team," said Osan. "We are honored that Michael and Holly have returned to FKP to extend their careers into their leadership years. I look forward to seeing the results of their teamwork."

St. Clair's project experience includes multiple projects for Cook Children's Medical Center, Children's Health Children's Medical Center Plano, and Children's Health Children's Medical Center Dallas. He has a broad background in healthcare with a developed focus in pediatric facilities. His portfolio includes completed work throughout six U.S. states with a heavy concentration in Texas.

While many fear change, others embrace it for the potential it offers. FKP Architects recently reorganized its Dallas office with not only realigned project teams, but also a new position to oversee firm-wide improvements in operations and client strategy. Jonni Johnson, CPSM, joined the firm as Chief Reinvention Officer. She will work closely with Ragan and St. Clair.

Johnson has an established track record of more than 15-plus years in Dallas as a respected business development leader and growth strategist in the healthcare design industry. She brings an operational mindset to delivering on internal business goals and connects the business of design with clients' organizational goals. Johnson brings an extensive network of relationships in both public and private health institutions.

"We created this unique opportunity for Jonni to bring her into our Dallas office to work closely with Holly and Michael, and do what she does best," said Osan. "I believe strongly that her motivation and leadership talent will build the strategic direction for the success of the practice."

Johnson has a visible presence at health care and architecture industry events, board meetings, and on committee calls for a wide variety of organizations. Her involvement includes the American Committee on Healthcare Environments, the Health Industry Council, the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce, Society for Marketing Professional Services, and Construction Owner's Association of America.

She began her career in health insurance sales and then moved into business development roles for engineering and design firms. She also held a strategic leadership role with an entrepreneurial startup company.

FKP Architects Continues Growth of Columbus Office

FKP Architects continue to build their presence in the northeast United States. Their latest expansion comes with the addition of  Jennifer Weaver, AIA. Weaver joins the firm as a Project Architect and Senior Associate. She will work with Office Practice Leader Joseph Kuspan to provide project support on projects in all FKP offices, with a focus on pediatrics.

Weaver brings professionalism and excellence to healthcare facility design with more than 18 years in designing, documenting, and delivering medical facilities, most recently at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus. Her experience spans work on acute care facilities, medical office buildings, outpatient centers, and research laboratories. For FKP, Jennifer will initially work on completing the construction documents for Dayton Children's Hospital.

"Jennifer is highly skilled in what she does, because of the passion she holds for her clients and the patients they serve," Kuspan said. "She will quickly become a trusted advisor for our healthcare projects in Columbus."

Weaver is an avid participant in AIA Columbus; she is a member of the AIA Columbus Healthcare and the newly formed AIA Columbus Women in Architecture. Weaver is also an advocate for promoting best practices in BIM. She has been a Registered Architect in Ohio since 2001. She is also an alumna of Kent State University.