Nordyne, youth center show Gray Design's versatility - St. Louis Business Journal:

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and a building for in the city are the latest projectes that show the versatility of GrayDesignm Group. Gray Design, an architecture and interior design firm with officesin St. Denver and Ft. Meyers, worked with and on the Nordyne Larry Milles, architectural designer, led the team of Wendy Mike Ratliff and Micki Wehmeier, that worked on the building that will alloqw Nordyne to consolidate office space and R& D operations. The design combines high-tecu office space an area exposed structurweand ductwork. Started in 1998, the building is scheduled to be completed this summer.
The two-story, 20,000-square-foott multi-use building for the youth foundation is on South Grands between Cleveland and Flad in the Shaw Neighborhooxin St. Louis. Milles said McEaglw Development and Paric contacted Gray Desigmn Group and asked them to become part of their team for theNordynew project. Wendy Gray had worked on a previous projecftfor Nordyne, according to "We have a long-standing relationshil with this particular client," Milles said. Gray Desigb Group also has a long-standing relationship with McEagldeand Paric. "For these reasons it was a logical associationh that we keep players in tact who had workedstogether before," Milles said.
Milles said they sat down with all the key memberds of the team to deciphe and synthesizewhat Nordyne's requirements were for the buildintg to lead to a site plan and a building shell and then to the ultimatee interior design. Nordyne has two separatee facilities now at opposite ends of town for offics space and for researchand development. The original Milles said, was to put these two facilitiesx in two separate building onthe site.
After Nordynwe analyzed that design, it was decider to try to put the two buildings side by From there, the design developed into a two-storh building with office space aboved the research and development located on the lower "That is the interesting evolution of what is a uniquew project," Milles said. The Gray Design Milles said, bid the entire developmenft from a raw pieceof ground, searched for alternative ways to put this programj onto the site, from two separate buildings, two adjacen buildings to ultimately two stacked buildings. "The interestinvg aspect of allof this, is you get involved with what it is they (the do and how they do it.
" Milles said, "Obviously, you nevef learn how to do it as good as they do. But you do get caughf up into what their business isall about." "Wr bring to the table, as designers, our but the client has to identify what the problem is to be solved," Millesz said. "The key to this is you have to be a good listened when you are meeting with clients on projectslike this," he The second project, for the American Youth Foundation, is led by Mark His team includes Toby Heddinghaus, Don McAte e and Dara Mattingly. Gray Design Group is designing a headquarters and center in the Shaw historic districty adjacent to the ComptonHeights gates.
Througj a combined effort of the American Youth Foundation and thesurrounding neighborhood, Gray Desigj has incorporated the neighborhood's architectural materials and details with AYFs core work processes and mentoring programs. In keepinbg with AYF's environmental initiatives, Gray Desighn will maximize the major interior elements and finishes includingfloor cabinetry, ceiling materials, lightinf and plumbing, as well as an extensiv e recycling program. Herman said at the start of this he and his team literally met with everybodyu inthe company.
He said, "We talkedf to them about how they work, how they would like to work and probably it was about two weeks of brainstorming sessions to help understandtheir organization." AYF is a non-for-profigt youth development organization, headquartered in St. Louis. AYF administers national and internationalp on-and off-site programs to promote team skills, and professional development opportunitiees and the institutions that serve Herman said that since AYF works with city it was natural to locate the headquarterd inthe city.
"After looking at the site and looking at their needs," Herman said, "it was reallt an exercise in how do we take all these things they want to do and be and get it all on the Herman said they met with the different neighborhooed groups and got theie approval. "This design completely accommodatestheir growth," Herman said. "The buildin g has the potential and the flexibility to becomea multi-tenan building," he said. John E. Harper is a St. Louiw free-lance writer.