Company Profile
Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership
Company Overview
Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership (ZGF) is an architecture, planning and interior design firm with offices in Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. ZGF’s practice was founded in Portland, Oregon in 1942. The regionalized approach of the firm has given it a strong ability to look at the role of “place” in shaping how a project will be resolved. ZGF has received over 250 national, regional and local design awards, including the 1991 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Architecture Firm Award with recognition for “high standards, humanistic concerns and the unique ability to capture the spirit of a place and the aspirations of its inhabitants.” The firm has also received four Lab of the Year Awards from R&D Magazine, honors from Modern Healthcare magazine, as well as two Federal Design Achievement Awards, the Presidential Design Award, and numerous AIA awards. Several publications illustrate the firm’s work, including: Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership: Between Science and Art, published in 2001 by L’Arca Edizioni; and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca: Building Community, published in 1997 by the AIA Press and Rockport Publishers. The newest books, three in a series of four published by Edizioni Press, include: Building the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital (2001), Building the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Conference Center (2002), and The Evolution of the Portland International Airport (2003). Completing the series will be a monograph, FDA at Irvine, which is currently in production.
Notable Clients
NIH, FDA, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, University of California, University of Southern California, Cornell University, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Safeco, Microsoft
Notable Accomplishments / Recognition
The firm’s work represents a diverse mix of projects, ranging from airports, civic centers and regional transportation systems; to commercial developments and corporate campuses; to healthcare and research buildings, academic facilities, libraries, and museums. The firm’s approach is to look at the unique qualities of each place and to create buildings that respect the existing environment and strengthen, or even heal, the fabric of which they become a part.