Despite all the summer rain, impressive progress is being made on the Arive850 Student Housing project. The 2.7-acre site is in Tallahassee’s multi-modal transportation district. It's located within a half mile of Florida State University’s Doak Campbell Stadium. The project consists of eight townhouse-style 3-story, 4-unit and 5-unit buildings.

A group of ALW designers visited the Steelcase headquarters on June 8, in Grand Rapids, MI. Rodney Lewis, Alana Taylor, Lindsy Grosso and Breezy Adiano toured the company's facilities that are renowned for their research-focused creation of furniture and all things office environments. The largest office furniture manufacturer in the world, the company also designs and produces architectural products, textiles, wall surfaces, and ergonomic and technology tools for workspaces, education, and health care. "This was an amazing trip. We got to see firsthand all the research and technology that goes into producing the Steelcase products and understanding the depth of their research and commitment to creating furniture for the evolving workplace gave me a new appreciation for Steelcase. At ALW, we frequently select and incorporate their systems into our projects because their function truly matches their design quality” said Lindsy. The group also visited the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Meyer May House, which was bought and restored by Steelcase in 1985. It was an incredible experience to occupy a fully restored FLW residence at the small-scale intimacy of a dinner party.

ALW designers Sean Morgan and Ben Baylor traveled to Arkadelphia, AR to visit the Siplast Roof System Manufacturing plant. They extended their knowledge of roofing and waterproofing products, as well as the design of cutting edge envelope systems. They took a full tour of the manufacturing facility and product testing lab, and saw first-hand the time and precision involved in creating these products. Sean and Ben participated in several comprehensive classes on lightweight insulating concrete, modified bitumen roofing and PMMA waterproofing. They took away a greater understanding of what’s involved in producing quality products and how our firm can work with manufacturers and specialists to design better buildings for our clients.

The Tallahassee Chamber chose ALW to be the featured local company for the next GrowTLH video. Today, Chamber VP, Jay Revell interviewed our Principals Rodney Lewis, Cam Whitlock and Hays Layerd as well as our clients Lucas Lindsey from Domi Station and Ed Murray from NAI Talcor on the impact that ALW's projects and innovative design has had on our growing community.