SGA Adds 10 Design Professionals in its Boston and New York City Offices

SGA, a national firm whose work spans architecture, interior design, planning, branded environments, and virtual design and construction, today announced that it has hired 10 design professionals at its Boston and New York City offices.

SGA’s new batch of hires are: Claës Andreasen, AIA, LEED® AP, Senior Designer; Amy Berry, Operations Manager; Nicolas Castaneda, Senior Designer; Hadiza Djibring, Lab Planner; Benjamin Epstein, LEED AP BD+C, Project Designer; Bill Hoey, Senior Designer; Erin Howley, Interior Designer; Shawn Liang, Project Architect; Torin Jacob Perry Mizuno, CPHC, Associate AIA, Designer Level 1; and Mian Wang, Designer.

“We are delighted to welcome these 10 design professionals in our Boston and New York City offices as our practice continues to grow in these markets and nationally,” said SGA Partner Adam Spagnolo. “They have a deep understanding and experience in architecture industry and will benefit our Life Sciences, Corporate and Academic clients tremendously.”

Here is more information about SGA’s newest team members:

Claës Andreasen, AIA, LEED® AP, Senior Designer

Claës is a Senior Designer with over 20 years of experience on a broad range of life science, academic, residential, and commercial projects. He plays an integral role in the design and communication of many of SGA’s planning and architectural work. He leverages his art and design background to create thoughtful and timely solutions. Claës is particularly interested in the use of media to effectively communicate design intent. He also brings prior work experience in both construction project management and historic renovation.

Amy Berry, Operations Manager

Amy excels at operations management, problem-solving, and cross-departmental collaboration, ensuring that efficiency keeps up with business growth. Her responsibilities at SGA are wide-ranging: She identifies areas of improvement, streamlines processes, facilitates coordination between departments, manages internal communications, and supports leaders of the firm to advance key initiatives. Amy’s previous positions prepared her well for this role: Most recently she served for more than four years as an office manager at Merge Architects, where she directed financial activities, supervised day-to-day logistics, coordinated IT operations, and handled a variety of HR tasks. Earlier she worked for more than 10 years at Gordon Brothers Group, a financial services firm.

Nicolas Castaneda, Senior Designer

Nicolas takes a pragmatic approach to design. Function is his top priority: He notes that beautiful spaces offer little value unless their layouts and programs match the needs of users. At SGA he applies this approach to life sciences projects as he works on lab design and construction documentation. Before joining SGA, Nicolas led his own firm, INSIDE OUT, for several years. Based in Lima, Peru, the company specialized in residential, office, and retail design. Nicolas earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences in Lima.

Hadiza Djibring, AIA, Lab Planner

Hadiza chose to specialize in laboratory planning because the field has a positive impact on the world. Her role at SGA centers on feasibility, schematic design, and design development. She meets regularly with clients and users to determine organizational needs and appropriate layouts. Every project requires a thorough analysis of equipment locations, environmental impact, and accommodation of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. Previously Hadiza served as a laboratory planner at Jack L. Gordon Architects. A native of Cameroon, Hadiza earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from CUNY College of Technology in New York City.

Benjamin Epstein, LEED AP BD+C, Project Designer

Benjamin, who loves to solve creative challenges, specializes in laboratory conversions. His day-to-day responsibilities require a holistic, interdisciplinary approach that combines conceptual design, test fits, and collaboration with his colleagues in SGA’s interiors practice. He also seeks out opportunities to apply sustainable design strategies to projects – a growing trend in architecture for life sciences. Benjamin earned a Bachelor of Science and a master’s degree, each in architecture, from Northeastern University.

Bill Hoey, Senior Designer

Bill is passionate about meaningful design and sustainability. He has ample opportunity to pursue both passions in his role at SGA, where he has multifaceted responsibilities, ranging from schematic and conceptual design to construction administration.

Bill earned a Bachelor of Science in architecture and a Master of Architecture from Wentworth Institute of Technology. His graduate thesis centered on “vertical architecture” as a means to reduce density.

Erin Howley, Interior Designer

Erin loves the schematic design phase of projects, when the overarching aesthetics and goals are established. She has experience in a variety of sectors, but she is presently focusing on life sciences and office interiors. For every project, she chooses materials and finishes that are environmentally friendly: Sustainability is a key consideration for her. Before joining SGA Erin served as an interior designer at MDF, where she completed office and higher education projects. Previously she worked at Shepley Bullfinch, where she developed her expertise in higher education and added healthcare to her portfolio. Throughout her career she has created numerous plug-ins and computations intended to optimize Revit, and she continues these endeavors at SGA. Erin earned a bachelor’s degree in interior design, with a minor in art history, from Suffolk University.

Shawn Liang, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, NCARB, Senior Project Architect

Shawn’s expertise in Revit, parametric modeling, and other technologies drives his approach to design documentation and construction documentation – his favorite project phases. In these stages he uses a variety of software tools to turn concepts into reality and ensure that construction is successful. At SGA, Shawn works on core and shell architecture and interior layouts for commercial and life sciences projects. He honed his skills at three firms: Most recently, he served as a project architect at SMMA, where he focused primarily on exterior envelopes for office buildings. Previously, as a designer at CambridgeSeven, he specialized in hotels. Earlier, at Safdie Architects, he worked on a project in China that comprised eight towers with a skywalk. Shawn, who is from the south of China, earned the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Architecture from Wentworth Institute of Technology.

Torin Jacob Perry Mizuno, CPHC, Associate AIA, Project Designer

Torin, who specializes in laboratories and life sciences, handles many aspects of construction documentation and coordination, but he also contributes to schematic design — his favorite phase of projects. He enjoys seeing a building’s evolution from concept to realization, and he supports this transformation with his BIM modeling and renderings. Before joining SGA Torin served as a draughtsman/architectural designer at Choo & Company in the Quincy area. There he worked on large-scale multifamily projects and on additions to single-family residences. Torin earned a Bachelor of Science in architecture and a Master of Architecture from Wentworth Institute of Technology.

Mian Wang, LEED AP, WELL AP, Project Designer

Mian enjoys designing spaces that create a sense of harmony and instill positive energy. She accomplishes these goals by carefully selecting finishes, materials, and colors that convey a strong first impression. The life sciences projects she undertakes at SGA benefit from this approach, which complements her work in conceptual design and production. Previously Mian served for three years as a designer at Arrowstreet, where her portfolio included laboratories and K-12 schools. Mian, who is from China, earned a Master of Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis and a Bachelor of Science in architecture from Ohio State University.