Incite Design Studio hires leadership team for new Overland Park office

Incite Design Studio, LLC (iDS), a client-focused architectural design firm, has hired a new leadership team to open its third office.

The recent office addition, located in downtown Overland Park, Kan. at 7930 Santa Fe Drive, will join the firm’s two other offices in Kansas City, Mo. at 110 West 18th Street and in St. Louis, Mo. at 1800 Lafayette Avenue.                                                 

Brian Foxworthy, president of iDS, also recently announced his team for the new Overland Park office. Architect, Duane Cash will lead the team as office director to manage and grow the firm’s efforts in Kansas. Project manager, Mike Brown and job captain, Ariel Peisen Burow will join Cash.  

Foxworthy, who has built the firm from the grassroots into one of the largest education-focused firms based in Kansas City, says he is happy to have found someone with the same core values as himself (in Cash).

“Cash believes in forming relationships and building a practice based on quality service. When the opportunity presented itself to bring him and his team into the iDS family, I jumped at it. It’s not often you meet a group of like-minded folks that understand your vision of success and share your dedication to designing inspiring spaces for our future learners. We couldn’t be more excited to see what the future holds for our firm” Foxworthy said.

Following the firm’s tagline of “architects building relationships,” iDS has developed lasting relationships with school districts across the state of Missouri. The opening of incite Design Studio Kansas shows the commitment to forming relationships with districts throughout Kansas as well.

Cash says their goal is to better serve the Kansas education clients with a studio comprised of a few dedicated teams that can be focused on service.

“Our belief is that when firms get too big, they start to lose the agility, responsiveness, and dedication that our clients deserve. With this approach of three studio offices, we provide the muscle of a big firm, but with the individual guidance, creativity, and empathy of a smaller firm,” said Cash. 

“I’m exhilarated by iDS’s dedication to client service, progressive design, student focused learning, and the use of pioneering technology,” said Cash.

The firm is growing in all three offices. Besides opening the Kansas office, they recently hired Aaron Ledesma as a project manager and Connor Privett as an architectural designer in the KC office.  Marena Modica was hired to head up the interior design efforts in the St. Louis office.

SMSD Aquatic Center now open thanks to creative partnership

The Shawnee Mission School District (SMSD) Aquatic Center is now open for local students – as well as the entire community - thanks to a unique partnership between the school district, Johnson County Parks and Recreation District (JCPRD) and the City of Lenexa.

Planning the facility, which sits in the heart of the new Lenexa City Center in Lenexa, Ks., began in February 2015 as a result of a $223 million bond issue approved by SMSD voters.

The 54,000 SF building includes an innovative design, expansive seating and potential configurations for hosting competitive swim meets.

"Very early on we wanted the design of the building to emulate the sense of moving water. The rolling roof, the shimmering glass, the multi-colored metal panels and the light sculpture in the lobby are a few of the elements that are inspired by water in motion,” said Duane Cash, lead architect on the project with ACI Boland Architects.

The natatorium features a 100-meter olympic-sized pool with a deep end for diving; plus, two 1- meter and two 3-meter diving boards. The pool can be configured in many ways depending on the meet via two movable bulkheads.

The center was designed for education and instruction and includes an additional instructional pool with warmer water and a shallower depth. A third of the pool includes a movable floor that allows for a change of depth from zero inches to seven feet, depending on the activity.

“All of these elements and many more were all about creating a great place to be. Many aquatic centers are perceived to be dark, stuffy, closed off facilities and we wanted to push back against those notions. We wanted this building to be open and inviting, light-filled and healthy. We wanted to foster a sense of community, education, opportunity, athleticism and competition,” Cash said.

The design celebrates the spirit of competition with intentionally designed layers of transparency provided in each area of the building so that viewers, both inside and out, can see events happening within the building.

“We were excited to be a part of the great public plaza that the city had created. With that in mind we wanted (it) to be open and full of light. I envisioned pedestrians walking by or cars driving down 87th Street getting curious about the activities inside and wanting to become involved,” Cash said.

The land for the aquatic center was donated by the City of Lenexa to SMSD and the City also contributed towards the 220-stall parking garage, located adjacent to the aquatic center. JCPRD will operate and provide programming for the aquatic center.

Other partners on the SMSD Aquatic Center project include Counsilman-Hunsaker & Associates, ME Engineers, Bob D. Campbell, BHC Rhodes, Vireo and JE Dunn Construction.

City of Lenexa rides public project wave with Shawnee Mission schools aquatic center

Another public-use piece of the Lenexa City Center development district has snapped into place, thanks to Monday's approval by the Shawnee Mission School District Board of Education for a $27.8 million aquatic center and parking garage.  

Located just north of the Lenexa Recreation Center across West 87th Street Parkway, the state-of-the-art aquatic facility will be the primary location for district swim meets and various aquatic programs. 

"We are developing a brand new 21st century Downtown, and part of having a place where people will come is having good components that will bring people there," Lenexa City Administrator Eric Wade said at Monday's school board meeting. "It's going to be a wonderful place for people to be, with hotels, restaurants, and a new public market."

The project designed by ACI Boland Architects includes a mezzanine/spectator area overlooking a 50-meter competitive swimming pool, diving well and adjacent 25-yard pool for training purposes.  

"This aquatic center is a big building, but we tried to make the building feel as if you are connected to it," said Duane Cash, ACI Boland project manager. 

The project also includes a two-story, $4.4 million parking structure that will be paid for through a 50/50 cost-sharing split between the City of Lenexa and the school district. The Lenexa City Council is expected to approve the plan later this month.

Currently, the district holds swim meets in Olathe School District facilities through a rental agreement because existing swimming pool facilities at SMSD high schools are not large enough to accommodate high school swim meets, according to the district.  

When not in use by the district, the Johnson County Park and Recreation District will offer county swimming lessons and programs in the aquatic center.