3.26.07 | David Mourning is a swell fellow and ostensibly an easy-going guy, but in fact he is always rummaging around in his mind to find new ways to expand the reach and capabilities of the firm he founded in 1984, IA Interior Architects. Now, when firms everywhere are searching desperately for people to handle the plentiful work, and when firms are elbowing for position to gain the enticing projects in the resurgent Los Angeles and Southern California market, Mr. Mourning has again severed the Gordian knot, announcing that IA Interior Architects (IA) has signed a letter of intent to acquire the Los Angeles-based firm of Wolcott Architecture-Interiors, said to be the strongest independent design firm in Southern California. The closing of the merger is expected to take place in 60 to 90 days, but the two firms have already begun integration and the pursuit of joint marketing opportunities. 

11.13.06 | Look over your shoulder, you Genslers and HOKs and other American design giants: There’s another competitor gunning for the plum jobs. Toronto-based IBI Group has 1,300 staff in 17 offices in Canada, 16 in the U.S. and nine internationally. The aggressive powerhouse is on the acquisition trail south as well as north of the 49^th Parallel. Its rapid growth is being fueled not by the slow and painful, traditional route of the owners patiently deferring their own compensation, or by a big line of credit at the bank, but by the deep pockets of happy, independent, outside investors.

10.16.06 | Design talent can do things that dazzle our minds and brighten our days, as talent in any field can do to those not similarly blessed. It makes the world a better, and often much healthier place to live.