AIA SD Convention

As the world changes at an ever-increasing pace, designers are charged with the duty to continue to innovate, learn, and improve their processes and projects to keep up with the health, safety, and well-being expectations and hurdles facing the human race today. In this explorative, interactive and eye-opening session, learners will be given a chance to reflect upon what has been the way of life, what currently is the way of life, and how society and human behavior is changing and will continue to evolve over time. How can the AEC industry and its key players remain relevant, safe, and valuable to end users over time? As the needs of humans’ change, so must our practices and so must our approach to the way we design. Discuss proven ways to leverage tools such as energy modeling, virtual reality, machine learning and artificial intelligence to achieve impactful design outcomes. These outcomes should include designing beyond the physical plane, equal access, improved health and well-being of the community, and designing to flex to multiple uses in response to crisis and to extend building life. We must learn to understand, predict, and adapt to human behavior changes to adequately serve the needs of our communities. Through design, we WILL impact positive or negative change and we must take that responsibility seriously, remaining laser focused on improving lives in measurable ways. In the age of COVID-19, we have all learned the hard way that adaptability is key. Following this deep-dive session, you’ll walk away with some tangible strategies to improve your organization’s ability to be flexible in design, culture, policies and procedures, visualization of designs, researching occupancy outcomes and more. 1 LU/HSW

SESSION SPEAKER BIO

• Dan Noble, FAIA, President and CEO at HKS Architects — Dan Noble was born in Chicago but grew up in Aberdeen, South Dakota. After graduating from North Dakota State University in 1982 with a dual Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in Architecture, he moved to Texas. Prior to his appointment as CEO in January 2014, Dan’s leadership as Global Director of Design significantly elevated the quality of the firm’s work and the reach of its influence. A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and American College of Healthcare Architects, Dan is LEED certified and registered to practice in Texas, Florida, North Dakota, and South Dakota, as well as Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Alberta. His projects have been honored by the Texas Society of Architects, Progressive Architecture, Architectural Record, Texas Architect and the Dallas Business Journal. A board member and former National President of the Academy on Architecture for Health (AAH), Dan is also a trustee for the Foundation for the AAH and national chairman of the AIA/AAH regional initiatives. He is a member of the Board of Regents of the American College of Healthcare Architects, Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Dallas Inc. and Y Dallas. He is a past president of the Dallas Architecture Foundation and has served as design commissioner, editor and awards program chairman of AIA Dallas.
  Major Achievements: Under Dan’s guidance, HKS has expanded its global reach; developed state-of-the-art research around the neuroscience of design’s impact on health and productivity; demonstrated profound impact in environmental conservation and sustainable design; worked in cities across the globe to improve urban design and resilience; donated design services and financial support to major charitable initiatives; and worked with other members of the design community to elevate the profession. Dan is personally responsible for leading more than 125 projects including Sanford Health Medical Center representing over 50 million square feet, and $10 billion in construction cost. HKS is ranked as one of the leading design firms in the world by BD World Architecture, Architectural Record, Architect, Building Design+Construction and Interior Design. Over its 83-year history, HKS has won hundreds of awards for design excellence. Among the most prestigious recognitions was Fast Company placing HKS among the World’s Most Innovative Companies in 2022. The firm has enjoyed record revenue years under Dan’s leadership and 2022 is on track to be the firm’s best year ever.

Healthcare Design Master Planning Panel

In this panel, four healthcare facility directors from across the state will engage in a conversation about values, priorities, and challenges of master planning across their facilities and maintaining the facilities to provide care for patients throughout South Dakota. They will discuss the environmental and health challenges communities in South Dakota face and how architects are part of solving these issues. 1 LU/HSW

SESSION SPEAKER BIOS

• Kris Denevan, Sanford Health, Executive Director for Facilities and Support Services — Kris Denevan has spent her career supporting and motivating teams and for the last 18 years at Sanford USD Medical Center in the Sioux Falls, SD region.  Since 2018, she has served as the Executive Director for Facilities and Support Services, leading the successful addition of over one million square feet of new construction and renovations including the Surgical Tower, Heart Hospital, Ava’s House, and Imagenetics to name a few. The aggressive growth in the Sioux Falls region has allowed Denevan to fuel her passion for facilitating the construction of patient-centric spaces and support efficient workflows that allow for a positive patient, guest and employee experience.
• Lt. Commander Chris Peltier — Lt. Commander Chris Peltier is a Deputy Director of Facilities Management in the Indian Health Service, Great Plains Area, with experience in program management and a passion for supporting the delivery of health care to American Indians.  Chris graduated with a B.S. in civil engineering in 2010.  Upon graduation, Chris started working for the IHS as a junior field engineer in the Sanitation Facilities Construction Program.  Since then, he has accepted various challenging roles which has led him to his current position.  He is currently a part time graduate student working towards his Master’s in Public Health degree with a specialization in Indigenous Health.   
• Garrett Peters, AIA, ACHA, MBAH, Avera Health, Vice President of Facilities — Garrett Peters is a graduate of NDSU with a B.A. in Architecture, B.S. in Environmental Design and holds a Masters of Business Administration in Healthcare from USF. He has been with Avera since early 2004 and worked on numerous projects including the new Behavioral Health Hospital, Avera Prairie Center and Avera Specialty Hospital, as well as many remodels of hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and assisted living facilities throughout the Avera System in South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. Prior to his time with Avera, Peters worked for the Good Samaritan Society as a construction and design consultant, covering regions of Minnesota, New Mexico and Arizona.
• Allison Dvorak, AIA, CPHC, NCARB, AIA South Dakota President — Allison Dvorak, AIA, CPHC, NCARB is an architect in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and active member of AIA South Dakota, currently serving as 2022-‘23 President. She received her M.Arch from NDSU in Fargo, ND and continues to develop her thesis by advocating for human centered design of publicly occupied spaces. She utilizes her architectural skillset through speaking engagements, design practice, and client education for the implementation of equitable, inclusive and sustainable design practices.

Over the course of 32 years, JLG Architects’ Midwestern firm has taken ambitious steps to become a carbon-neutral operation, completing a carbon footprint for their 2019 and 2020 operations. The firm has invested in renewable energy and verified offset credits and is a signatory to the UN Global Compact and has a JUST label. Over the past two years alone, JLG has reported over 300 projects and 15 million gsf as a Signatory to the AIA’s 2030 Commitment. Their Principal Sustainability Officer, Patrick Thibaudeau, has been proactively leading the charge to achieve outcomes that were once considered impossible. These efforts include changing the approach and point-of-view, practical action, company policy, and qualitative and quantitative measurements of outcomes, procedures, and plans to implement sustainability principles. His work is centered around ending what he refers to as the “Syrup Syndrome,” a concept that aims to change how the profession starts projects, integrating sustainable design principles into the batter at the beginning of every design. This approach starts at zero, rather than pouring sustainable features onto projects while in progress or near completion. Thibaudeau has published a Sustainability Action Plan, is implementing the AIA Framework for Design Excellence and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In 2021, he was invited to be an NGO delegate to COP26 in Scotland where he collaborated with nearly 200 nations, resulting in The Glasgow Climate Pact that builds upon the ambitions of the Paris Climate Accord. In his presentation, Thibaudeau will discuss the global and local impact of this Pact, as well as his influence in the AIA Large Firm Roundtable to develop a Sustainability Playbook, adopted for use throughout the profession. He will also discuss his firm’s philosophy to educate the next generation and design “Beyond the Building,” integrating human experience, positive performance, and financial prosperity into the design process. 1 LU/HSW

SESSION SPEAKER BIO

• Patrick Thibaudeau, LEED Fellow, ILFI — Thibaudeau is Principal Sustainability Officer at JLG Architects, an experienced architect, and a nationally recognized thought leader with over 30 years of experience inspiring individuals, groups, and organizations to elevate the impact of architecture beyond the building. Thibaudeau has pioneered an approach centered on human experience, positive performance, and financial prosperity – yielding invaluable human benefits and hundreds of millions of dollars in avoided cost and revenue. He is a research partner with UC Berkley Center for the Built Environment and was an original member of the national large firm roundtable group that introduced the AIA commitment for carbon-neutral design by 2030. He led a working group that produced the "Playbook for Sustainability Action" and is currently working on the re-write of the AIA Framework for Design Excellence. His efforts have resulted in hundreds of projects achieving net zero energy, and third-party certifications such as LEED Platinum and Living Building Challenge. His influence has transformed the way we live, work, learn, and heal by shifting the focus to individual wellbeing and resilience so people can thrive, and organizations can prosper. Thibaudeau’s game-changing approach starts sustainable design at zero impact and ends what he refers to as the "Syrup Syndrome." Thibaudeau’s work has subsequently led to firm-wide recognition in acceptance of JLG’s 2021 Environmental Stewardship Award from Construction Specifications Institute, and an invitation to participate as an NGO delegate at COP26 in Scotland, a worldwide gathering of nearly 200 nations. Here, Thibaudeau and representatives of eight billion people achieved a first-of-its-kind agreement by consensus: The Glasgow Climate Pact. This Pact builds on the Paris Climate Accord and accelerates progress with many firsts, including specific targets for emissions reduction, net zero, renewing forest lands, social justice, and significant private sector funding. The Pact also specifically identifies fossil fuels as a key contributor to the climate crisis with commitments to accelerate a transition to green, clean energy, along with other precedent-setting promises. In 2021, he also led the firm’s effort to become a signatory in support of the implementation of the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact on human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption, confirming the firm’s local and global commitment to leverage collaborative efforts advancing their 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Patrick is a LEED Fellow and active member of the International Living Future Institute. He earned his Bachelor of Environmental Design in 1987 and his Master of Architecture from the University of Minnesota in 1989.

SESSION SPEAKER BIO

• Jeffrey L. Day, FAIA — Day is Professor of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, founding principal of Actual Architecture Company in Omaha, Nebraska, and formerly, principal of the San Francisco and Omaha-based firm Min | Day. Day is a graduate of Harvard College and U.C. Berkeley where he received his M.Arch degree. At UNL Day runs FACT, an interdisciplinary design-build studio that engages non-profit clients and communities in collaborations that span design and construction. Day has garnered numerous awards including a 2019 Progressive Architecture Award, the Architectural League of New York’s 2016 Emerging Voices, Architectural Record’s 2009 Design Vanguard, the 2007 AIA California Council’s Emerging Talent award, New Practices San Francisco 2009, Residential Architect’s 2010 Rising Star, over 70 national, regional, and state AIA design awards, 9 ACSA design awards, 3 IDEC creative scholarship awards, and more. FACT has won numerous design awards including ACSA’s first Design-Build Award in 2013. Day’s work has been exhibited at the Nebraska History Museum, Museum of Design Atlanta, Sheldon Art Museum, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (4 shows), Kaneko (2 shows), little gallery (Omaha) Luggage Store (San Francisco), Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum (East Lansing), Ide@s Gallery (Shanghai), AIA San Francisco Gallery, Smart Museum (Chicago), Center For Architecture (New York), Harvard University Carpenter Center for Visual Arts, and numerous other university galleries. Day’s projects have been published widely and he speaks frequently at venues worldwide.

Juror sponsored by South Dakota State University; Design Awards sponsors: Journey Group, Syverson Tile and TSP, Inc.

1 LU

County Commissioner Panel

Featuring Angie Boersma, AIA, Brookings County Commissioner; Jim Schmidt, Lincoln County Commissioner; Jean Bender, Minnehaha County Commissioner. Moderator, Tom Hurlbert, AIA, LEED AP, CO-OP Architecture.

SESSION SPEAKER BIOS

• Minnehaha County Commissioner Jean Bender — Jean Bender, an employment lawyer at Davenport Evans in Sioux Falls, has served on the Minnehaha County Commission since 2015. She is extremely active assisting clients with employee benefits issues and all areas of employment law. Jean counsels clients on issues involving harassment, race, sex, age, national origin and disability discrimination, wrongful termination, wage and hour issues arising under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and leave issues under the Family and Medical Leave Act. She is past president of the Brandon Valley School Board and chair of the Brandon Valley Booster Club. She is also the former president of the board of directors for Volunteers of America, Dakotas and previously served on the CASA Board of Directors. Jean is a frequent volunteer for Junior Achievement and is active in her church.
• Brookings County Commissioner Angela Boersma, AIA — Angela Boersma, an architect and interior designer, is the founding principle of ID8Architecture in Brookings, South Dakota. Boersma is a founding partner and CEO of Linchpin, Incorporated (which is a designer-driven development company), and co-founder Shelter Community Housing Corporation, a 501(c)3 focused on the creation of financially attainable workforce housing solutions in predominantly rural, industrial, and tribal communities. Beyond that, Angela is also a former South Dakota State University professor, a mentor and an advocate for her profession and the designed environment. In all of these roles, her “why” is very broad to develop creative solutions to optimize the use of resources for clients and communities, and educate and advocate for a future vision for our rural communities that we can all be proud to help create. She’s incredibly strategic and action-oriented, and has built her career on making things happen, rather than waiting for or relying on others to do so. That commitment to action has helped her build multiple successful businesses that serve not only the Brookings community, but have a 5-state regional impact. She is tenacious in the pursuit of her dreams and goals, her passion and enthusiasm are undeniable, and she is unapologetically committed to standing her ground in advocating for the public good.
• Lincoln County Commissioner Jim Schmidt — Jim Schmidt holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Augustana College and a Master’s Degree from the University of South Dakota. His volunteer leadership has included numerous boards including Forward Sioux Falls, Downtown Rotary, Great Plains Zoo, Leadership Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls Promise, United Way, The Glory House, Southeastern Council of Government, Interlakes Community Action and the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce serving as President. His community involvements include past chair of the South Dakota County Commission Association, the Multicultural Center of Sioux Falls, Sales and Marketing Executives and the Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Advisory Board.  Jim is also a County Commissioner for Lincoln County, South Dakota. Some of his prior professional positions include being a high school Social Science teacher, Guidance Counselor, High School Principal, President of Killian Community College of Sioux Falls, President of the American Cancer Society for South Dakota and the President of the Sioux Empire Housing Partnership. Having been born and raised on a farm near Lennox, South Dakota, he continues to farm the land, which has been in his family since 1891.  His hobbies include antique cars and tractors, public speaking and golf.
• Tom Hurlbert, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB, moderator — Tom Hurlbert is principal architect and founder of CO-OP Architecture, with offices in Aberdeen, Rapid City and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He has served on the AIA South Dakota board since 2012 and was the organization’s president from 2020-2021. Hurlbert holds Bachelor of Environment Design and Master of Architecture degrees from Montana State University.

This session will focus on the experience of the presenter and her team who have worked at the intersection of architecture and traumatic human experiences – creating spaces and places for people to serve their mission, often under high stress or long-term trauma inducing experiences. The presenter will share stories - some of them vivid client stories - that drove design, influenced her team’s application of trauma-informed design to science, and even museum and historic environments. She will define trauma, and the ways space, in combination with trauma, influences human behavior, responses and outcomes. The presenter will share stories from project experiences, highlighting strategies to designing in empathy and how the design process itself can promote physical, mental, and social health. There will be a brief introductory presentation of history of architecture to influence human behavior, then a dive into what is trauma, the responses of the brain, and the 10 areas that architects can impact. She will then share the personal stories of clients who have invited the presenter into their stories of personal trauma and the service of their mission to others experiencing stress, that have led to and influenced trauma aware design more broadly. Together, these stories and individuals have shaped her perspective and her teams’ strategies to understanding the impact of spaces on human behavioral responses and creating architectural spaces that are trauma informed. 1 LU/HSW

SESSION SPEAKER BIO

Cindy McCleary, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB — McCleary is an architect, planner, coach, real estate investor, rehabber, team-builder and business owner. Cindy’s career as an architect, over the past 24 years has given her the invitation to deep dive into her clients’ fields, needs and inner operations. In doing so, she has become fascinated with how architecture can elevate a mission and influence human behavior. From her role in leading the design or vision for libraries, museums, educational facilities, and emergency responder facilities, her approach is shaped by the believe that mission and empathy can come together, in architecture, in meaningful ways. That first spurred her interest in Trauma Informed awareness in space design, using those lessons in some way on each and every project she encounters. Cindy has spoken at conferences including as the Keynote Speaker for the Trauma Informed Care Conference, and at the national Homeland Security Conference as well as having written numerous articles. Cindy and her husband Scott and their two daughters reside in Minneapolis, with their two dogs Parker & Sadie (fury Berna-doodles). Cindy is the Managing Principal, leading the 80-person Minneapolis studio of Leo A Daly and in her free time, owns / operates multiple small, local businesses with her husband.

Blueprint for Better Mayoral Panel

The South Dakota American Institute of Architects are using their conventions to explore the resiliency of South Dakota’s communities post-COVID. Architects use their voice to protect the public and building owners, advocate for design and transform communities. As our communities continue to grow, building is part of this growth. What we build contributes to the economic development of our cities and public officials are faced with challenging questions: Where do we grow? Do we grow incrementally or all at once? How do we meet the needs of today while planning for tomorrow? During this panel, four South Dakota mayors from across the state will engage in a conversation about the value, priorities, and challenges of building for their communities’ current needs while planning for a brighter future. 1 LU/HSW

SESSION SPEAKER BIOS

• Rapid City Mayor Steve Allender — Steve Allendar is a native South Dakotan, and was raised in a military family. After his Father retired from the Air Force, his family moved to Belle Fourche, where Steve attended grade school through high school.  Steve began his career in law enforcement in 1983 working for the Belle Fourche Police Department. In 1985 he joined the Rapid City Police Department and spent the next 29 years serving as a patrol officer, detective, sergeant, crime lab director, lieutenant, captain and eventually chief of police. He retired from the RCPD in May 2014. In June, 2015 Steve was elected Mayor of Rapid City.  Steve holds a bachelor’s degree in management and has attended the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Shirley, and they have two adult children. 
• Fort Pierre Mayor Gloria Hanson — Gloria Hanson is a lifetime South Dakotan. She was raised on a Stanley County ranch, graduated from Fort Pierre High School and from National College of Business in Rapid City.  Since that time, she has lived, worked and raised her family in the Pierre-Fort Pierre community.  She owned a small business and held a variety of administrative positions in state government, private business, and non-profit organizations.  She retired from her job as Executive Director of Capital Area United Way to run for Mayor of Fort Pierre.  She served on the Fort Pierre City Council for two years and was proud to be elected in April of 2014 as Fort Pierre’s first female mayor.  She was elected to her fifth term in April 2022. Gloria considers herself Fort Pierre’s #1 cheerleader, and she is always happy to talk about the progress and growth in her hometown. 
• Hot Springs Mayor Bob Nelson — Bob Nelson has served as mayor of Hot Springs —a veterans’ town with a VA hospital, a health care facility and the South Dakota State Veterans Home — since July 2020. He previously served residents of the city’s Ward 4 as their councilman for multiple terms.
• Harrisburg Mayor Derrick Wenck — Derrick Wenck is a 2005 graduate of South Dakota State University. He opened a taxidermy shop in Harrisburg 15 years ago shortly after he and his wife, Melissa, moved to the growing community. Wenck served as a board member of the Harrisburg Chamber and Harrisburg Economic Development Corporation for four years before being elected mayor earlier this year.
• Jeff Nelson, AIA, NCARB, moderator — Jeff Nelson is the current president elect of AIA South Dakota. He is the owner of Falls Architecture Studio, a Sioux Falls-based firm dedicated to providing professional services in the area of architecture, planning and interior design.

SESSION SPEAKER BIO

James Garrett Jr., AIA, NOMA, 4RM+ULA — Born in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, to American parents who returned stateside when he was young, Garrett spent his formative years in St. Paul, Minnesota, where his interest in cities was sparked. Growing up in the post¬industrial era that gave rise to hip-hop culture and graffiti writing, he has made it his mission to reconnect art and architecture. His work as the founding partner of St. Paul's 4RM+ULA combines resiliency and dynamic expression in the form of vibrant color and diverse media. Founded in 2002, the firm has evolved into a full-service practice focused on transit design and transit-oriented development. James is a registered architect in Minnesota, New York, and New Jersey. He holds an A.B. Degree in Architecture from the College of Environmental Design at University of California (Berkeley, CA) and an M' Arch degree from Parsons School of Design (New York City, NY). He served for 7 years on the Metropolitan Council Livable Communities and Transit Oriented Development committees (LCDA) and now serves on the Minnesota State Capitol Area Architecture and Planning Board (CAAPB). In 2002, he founded 4RM+ULA (FORM + Urban Landscape Articulation), a full-service architecture firm focused on Transit Design, Transit-Oriented-Development, and urban infill redevelopment projects.James lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with his wife Paola Sanchez-Garrett and sons, Nikola and James. Significant Awards: 2015 AIA Minnesota Young Architect Award, 2019 AIA National Young Architect Award, 2020 AIA Minnesota Gold Medal Award.

Community Benefits of Skateparks: Skatepark Design and Construction - Kanten Russell, lead designer for New Line Skateparks
Sponsored by South Dakota Ready Mix Concrete Association

This course examines the history and culture of skateboarding, working with municipalities, the benefits of skateboarding, choosing a skateboard site, community engagement, the design process, design integration and sustainability. This presentation will also explore preferred materials and building methods of designing skate parks, as well as ways to make sure the park is ADA compliant for the use of beginners and skaters with special needs. 1 LU/HSW

SESSION SPEAKER BIO

Kanten Russell — A long-time fixture in the professional skateboarding world, Kanten Russell is a lead designer for New Line Skateparks. Growing up in Southern California—the birthplace of skateboarding—Kanten quickly became a leading figure in the region’s skateboarding scene and was a professional skateboarder for 12 years, traveling all over the world endorsing his pro model shoes and signature skateboards as well as appearing in several skateboarding videos and on magazine covers. Kanten has led the design process of over 300 skate parks across the country over the last 16 years including the world’s first sustainable skate park in St. Cloud, Minnesota; a skate plaza in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, which converted a brownfield into an active space to help combat childhood obesity; and the Alga Norte Community Skate Park in Carlsbad, California.

Cherapa Place expansion tour

Building on the momentum of growth on the Eastbank, this $225 million development calls for continued destiny along the beautiful river greenway and will extend back to the former railroad switchyard land. There will be plentiful options for living and working with apartments, condos, office buildings, retail and restaurant suites, parking structures, indoor and outdoor entertainment and more. A new 10-story office and retail building with condos on floors 9 and 10 will connect on the third floor to the original Cherapa Place tower. Two 6-story mass timber apartment and retail buildings will feature more than 230 residential units. 1 LU/HSW