News
HCM News:
September 2010
Hord Coplan Macht Expands Independent School Portfolio with Three New Commissions
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September 2010
HCM's Mobile Hospital Wins Top AIA Award
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July 2010
Peterson Joins Hord Coplan Macht as Marketing Coordinator
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July 2010
Community Excited About Newly Renovated Cockeysville Library
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July 2010
Jim Albert Receives Prestigious Healthcare Certification
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June 2010
HCM Wins 2010 City Sand Contest
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May 2010
HCM's Jim Determan Testifies Before U.S. Congress
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May 2010
HCM Ranked as Baltimore's Fourth Largest Landscape Architecture Firm
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March 2010
HCM Ranked among Nation's Top Healthcare Design Firms
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March 2010
HCM-Designed Friends School Achieves LEED
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February 2010
HCM Projects Honored by American Society of Landscape Architects
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February 2010
Zolna Russell Honored as USGBC Member of the Year
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January 2010
HCM Hires 13 New Employees
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December 2009
Om Khurjekar Named Morgan State Alumnus of the Year
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December 2009
Western Maryland Opens New $268 Million Medical Center
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November 2009
Chris Schein Named Chair of Maryland Board of Examiners for Landscape Architects
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October 2009
Hord Coplan Macht Honored by Home Builders Association of Maryland
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October 2009
HCM Takes a Leap for Charity
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September 2009
Ed Hord Named Member of AIA Trust
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August 2009
Hord Coplan Macht Expands Public Education Portfolio
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July 2009
Hord Coplan Macht Promotes Six Team Members
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July 2009
Tammy HaQuang Earns Professional License
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July 2009
HCM Staff Achieve LEED Accreditation
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July 2009
Sinai Hospital South Tower Opens
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June 2009
HCM Submits Innovative Proposal for Open Architecture Challenge: Classroom
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June 2009
HCM on Twitter!
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May 2009
HCM Project Awarded Historic Preservation Award
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May 2009
Chris Harvey, AIA Promoted to Director of Design
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April 2009
HCM Employee Earns Professional Architectural License
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April 2009
HCM Project Awarded ENERGY STAR Certificate of Achievement
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March 2009
HCM Designs Sustainable Modular Offices
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March 2009
Avondell selected as Finalist in the 2009 Best of 50+ Housing Awards competition
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January 2009
HCM leading Audio Conference for Facility Care: Designing for Diverse Specialist Collaboration and Creating a Center of Excellence
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December 2008
Hord Coplan Macht Names Peter Winebrenner VP, Promotes Tim Barnhill to Principal
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October 2008
Hord Coplan Macht Receives National and Regional Recognition for its Design Work
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September 2008
HCM Projects win Land Development Council Awards
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September 2008
HCM Receives Two AIA Honor Awards for Design Excellence
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July 2008
HCM on the The Drawing Board
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June 2008
HCM Healthcare Studio Leaders Speaking at 2008 Healthcare Facilities Symposium in Chicago
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May 2008
Wilson Point Park recognized by for Landscape Architecture Design
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May 2008
Modular MRI
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April 2008
Historic Preservation Awards: Railway Express and St. James Place
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April 2008
Century Engineering Headquarters
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March 2008
Railway Express in the News
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March 2008
Washington DC Mayor Fenty kicks off Walker Jones School Construction
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December 2007
HCM Wins Two Maryland ASLA Awards
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October 2007
Friends Community School Featured in AIA Article on Strawbale Construction in Large Scale Buildings
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October 2007
HCM on Winning Team for Westminster High School Renovation
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October 2007
Western Maryland Health System and HCM Featured in the Daily Record
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October 2007
HCM Wins AIA Maryland Design Award
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October 2007
HCM Wins Home Builders Association of Maryland Awards
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October 2007
HCM Expands Team, Adds Scott Davis
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September 2007
HCM Selected to Design Walker Jones School
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September 2007
HCM Continues Growth Trend with Promotion of Four Team Members to Ownership Team
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August 2007
HCM Grows Team with Addition of Veronika Horvath
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July 2007
Barrie School Selects HCM to Provide Master Planning Services
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July 2007
Hunt Valley Headquarters First in Baltimore to Earn LEED Gold
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June 2007
Hord Coplan Macht named Small Business of the Year Finalist
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May 2007
Hord Coplan Macht Sponsors "Most Likely to Become an Architect Award"
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May 2007
Hord Coplan Macht Promotes Four Employees
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March 2007
HCM Awarded Dorchester School of Technology
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January 2007
HCM Award Winning Modular Design Featured in Urbanite Magazine
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December 2006
Baltimore's West Shore Park Wins Award
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November 2006
HCM Architect Receives "Outstanding Service of the Year" Award
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October 2006
HCM Expands Education Practice with Three Hires
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October 2006
Groundbreaking Set for Western Maryland Health System Regional Medical Center
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September 2006
Brightview Senior Living to Break Ground on New Bel Air Retirement Community
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September 2006
New Hunt Valley Building Showcases Eco-Friendly Innovations
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August 2006
Two HCM Entries Recognized in Sustainable Design Competition for New Orleans
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HCM's Jim Determan Testifies Before U.S. Congress
May 2010
The major issue facing America’s architectural profession continues to be the lack of access to financing even as the rest of the economy signals a recovery, one Baltimore architect testified today before the House Financial Services Committee.
Jim Determan, AIA, an architect with Hord Coplan Macht of Baltimore, Maryland, and a former board member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), told lawmakers how the credit crunch in late 2008 contributed to the demise of his prior firm, CSD Architects. As lenders broadly refused credit to the design and construction industry, many CSD projects came to a halt.
In Determan’s case, he and his partners were left with no choice but to close their 60 year-old firm that had successfully weathered previous recessions. As a result, more than 100 people – many of whom had been with the firm more than 30 years - lost their jobs.
“The pendulum has swung so far in the direction of restricted credit that even worthy, well-secured projects by clients with impeccable credentials and proven track records are being denied access to financing,” Determan testified. “The mentality (of lenders) appears to be: ‘since financing everything didn’t work, let’s finance nothing,’ ” he added.
This thinking, in turn, has led to a vicious circle in which construction client financing evaporates. That leads to financing disappearing for architectural firms. Today, nearly one in four architects are out of work and many have been working without pay for as long as 18 months.
“If you ask architects across the country today why conditions are so bad, you will inevitably hear the same two responses: one, firms are unable to secure credit to keep operations going; and two, clients are unable to secure the financing needed to get construction and renovation projects started,” Determan testified.
Determan expressed support for several specific pieces of legislation that would help solve this dire situation:
H.R. 5297, the Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2010, introduced by House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA), would provide access to capital for small community banks to lend to small businesses, including for owner-occupied non-residential real estate;
H.R. 5249, the Capital Access for Main Street Act of 2010, introduced by Reps. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and Mike Coffman (R-CO). Over the next three years, $1.4 trillion in commercial real estate debt are estimated to become due. This legislation would help lenders and borrowers as they attempt to work out their loans under terms that are mutually acceptable, avoid large sums of commercial foreclosures, and free up credit that can be used more constructively.
H.R. 4884, the United States Covered Bond Act of 2010, introduce by Reps. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) and Paul Kanjorski (D-PA). Covered bonds are a type of bond that is far less risky than other kinds of investments that can attract investors back into the real-estate market and worthwhile projects can find the financing they need.
H.R. 5302, the State Small Business Credit Initiative Act of 2010, introduced by Representative Gary Peters (D-MI), promotes state-based partnerships with financial institutions to give small businesses and manufacturers with access to credit.
“Architects are job catalysts – they are the first workers to be involved in the construction process when they develop designs,” Determan said, noting that 95 percent of architecture firms employ 50 or fewer people. “Hiring an architect leads to employment in other construction-related fields, from engineers and manufacturers, to steel and electrical contractors.”
About The American Institute of Architects
For over 150 years, members of the American Institute of Architects have worked with each other and their communities to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings and cityscapes. By using sustainable design practices, materials, and techniques, AIA architects are uniquely poised to provide the leadership and guidance needed to provide solutions to address climate change. AIA architects walk the walk on sustainable design. Visit www.aia.org