A Remodel Inspired By A Remembrance

Invivogen, San Diego

A couple of years ago, Florence Tiraby, from Invivogen, connected with McCullough after the completion of the remodel to their San Diego headquarters facility in Sorrento Valley. The building they purchased and remodeled was originally designed as an equilateral triangular building positioned on a circular water fountain. On the west side of the building, the fountain spills down the hillside which forms an iconic site-arrival experience as viewed from Vista Sorrento Parkway and the 805 freeway beyond. Florence and her two sisters, (currently residing in France and running the corporate headquarters for the company) had inherited Invivogen from their late father Gerard Tiraby who started the company in 1997. Today, Invivogen supplies many local and international biotech companies with the materials they need to do their research. Materials like cell lines, cell culture, antibodies, genes, and many of the tools used in the study to fight COVID-19 — just to name a few.

The building they remodeled is iconic and truly one of a kind; however, over the years, it had become dated and worn, Florence and Invivogen modernized the building with a ground-up remodel and in doing so, modified the south edge of the water feature to disconnect it from the larger fountain system and prepare the area to become a much needed garden patio, directly accessible from the building interior. The purpose of this new garden space was two-fold: Invivogen needed functional outdoor space for staff and visitors but it also was an opportunity to dedicate a garden addition to the late founder, Girard Tiraby, who had passed in 2017.

Inviv

Studio Design Leader Naby Miller and the McCullough team were honored to work with Florence and others at Invivogen to see this goal come to life. The garden experience extended around the side to include an updated entrance along the front of the building and now includes a shade canopy seating area, two specimen Olive trees, an outdoor kitchen, a hardwood deck, a lower turf gaming area, a firepit seating area and smaller, more intimate gathering spaces.

David McCullough, PLA, ASLA
Principal


Client of the Month:
pgal 

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McCullough is pleased to announce PGAL as our May Client of the Month. Headquartered in Houston, Texas since 1946, PGAL is a multi-disciplinary firm with 13 offices representing different regions of the United States. They provide services including architecture, interiors, engineering, and planning for a diverse portfolio of public and private sector clients. 

For more than 75 years, PGAL built their success on three pillars: Legacy, Design, and Service. They are well known for their outstanding client service and attention to detail; innovative, responsive design solutions with a pragmatic, cost-conscious approach; and lasting relationships earning many years of repeat business from clients.

In 2018, the San Diego office of PGAL was born with the acquisition of the established architecture firm, Bluemotif. Husband and wife partners, Matthew Ellis and Teresa Nieves Ellis started Bluemotif in 2002, growing the firm from a client base of small, residential and tenant improvement projects, to an excellent service provider well-known for innovative problem solving, coupled with strong technical skills in a diverse amount of project types.

McCullough’s relationship began with PGAL San Diego Principal, Matthew Ellis, many years before the acquisition — during a time when both McCullough and Bluemotif were building upon their client service-oriented success. David McCullough and Matthew Ellis, both principals of their respective firms, consider themselves place makers in the urban environment. Matthew also shares with David the same interest of sustainability, as well as the approach to PGAL’s projects as an opportunity to explore each project’s unique characteristics. Matthew strives to maintain personal involvement with every aspect of each opportunity, from technical to project management, as well as business development. He prides his leadership of the PGAL San Diego team as having innovative design solutions without compromising service. Working as Principal of the San Diego office, he is now able to collaborate with the 300 architects, engineers, designers, and planners across the company’s 13 regional offices, allowing the firm to create landmark, award-winning projects — all while satisfying the client’s goals.

McCullough and Bluemotif/PGAL have worked on a variety of project types together, such as The Alexandria for Alexandria Real Estate Equities (their San Diego headquarters), the Crack Shack Southern California restaurant portfolio, a pursuit for a ComicCon museum, The Bridge District, a mixed use/multi-family development in Sacramento, and a commercial seacoast restaurant in Imperial Beach. The collaboration of McCullough and PGAL has continued to evolve into mixed-use and other retail projects around San Diego County.

One notable project currently in-design is in Mission Valley, a mixed, workplace, and retail environment located near the San Diego State University stadium site. This property was originally developed as a Class A office campus but today it spans the gap between Fenton MarketPlace and the coming San Diego State West campus site. The property owner is now looking to better utilize the property, create better neighborhood connections, and activate a garden plaza that is currently under-utilized. McCullough and PGAL are looking at the site for the owners with a goal of understanding the possibilities. Recently, the City of San Diego has enacted code updates that could offer the property newfound potential.  Two of which include a new mixed-use ordinance and a “Complete Communities ''-hold potential. At the end of the process, the goal is to help the owners understand the possibilities which, in the long run, may only add more value to the already-valuable property. 

If you’d like to learn more about PGAL, please visit their website at https://www.pgal.com.

Catherine McCullough, CPSM
President/CEO/CMO


Meet McCullough’s New Marketing + Creative Manager: Nikki Holloway

A creative at heart, design has always been at the root of everything Nikki does. She is an alumna of CSU San Marcos, where she earned her B.A. in Art and Technology. However, it was in a Palomar College Photoshop class that she first discovered her love for graphic design. Having strayed from her original, childhood dream of becoming an architect, her career somehow landed her smack dab in the middle of the Architecture, Engineering, Construction (AEC) industry, when she began working at a branding and marketing agency in 2017. It was there that she first began working with AEC firms, one of which especially struck her passion: McCullough.

During her three years at the agency, Nikki worked closely and collaboratively with the McCullough team to develop strategic, creative marketing campaigns while also spending ample time learning about the industry through business development and networking. In early 2020, she was ready to dig deeper and took on a marketing role in Balfour Beatty’s California Division. After a year and a half there, she is excited to bring her hard-earned experience back to McCullough, this time as Marketing and Creative Manager, part of our in-house team. She looks forward to giving life to her many creative ideas for the firm.

Nikki is a member and volunteer of both the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) San Diego Chapter and San Diego Architectural Foundation (SDAF).

As a coastal California native, Nikki loves hiking and backpacking in our beautiful, local outdoors as well as promoting conservation and the safe enjoyment of outdoor activities through her volunteer work with the Sierra Club. She also enjoys practicing yoga, going to concerts, traveling, gardening, and photography. Little known facts about Nikki are that she has played xylophone and percussion and that she originally planned to become a psychologist when she first attended college.

Catherine McCullough, CPSM
President/CEO/CMO