It’s been quite a year at LPA. Not only has our firm grown a great deal since the beginning of the year—we’re now at more than 300 employees—but we’ve been busy celebrating our 50th anniversary as well. While our firm has evolved since 1965, our 50th anniversary is a testimony to two important constants at LPA: great clients and great people. This significant milestone speaks to our distinct history and commitment to sustainable design practices and completing projects that enhance the lives of those who use them every day.
To commemorate our 50th anniversary this year, we accomplished several events and created new platforms for us to recognize our people, places and communities:
in+site
Our in+site page was launched on our website this year to expose the public to our company culture and keep people up-to-date on our latest news. Filled with new employee announcements, press mentions, project highlights, blogs, video and more, this new platform is an ongoing collection of information that will capture where we’ve been and where we are going.
The page is also an extension of our monthly e-newsletter. We send out one e-mail a month with articles and information about the latest design trends and ideas.
Open Houses
Throughout the year, we hosted open houses at each of our five office locations to celebrate our clients and local communities. These events included live music, complimentary food and drink and plenty of mingling among guests. We opened our doors to share insights into LPA’s office environment and show gratitude to those that have supported our company along the way to reach our 50th year.
Tree Plantings
Taking our sustainable approach to the next level, LPA volunteers planted 250 trees—50 in each of our five office locations—in concert with regional and national Arbor Day dates and Earth Day. In collaboration with local schools, parks and non-profit organizations, the tree plantings took place at select sites to improve the surrounding area and bring much-needed forestation to the community. This was an opportunity to provide education to fellow community members about the benefits of sustainability and environmental stewardship.
LPA Foundation
Our firm has a history of charitable donations to organizations that exemplify and match our values. To commemorate our 50th anniversary and continue our tradition of community involvement and outreach, we launched the LPA Foundation in 2015. The purpose of the Foundation is to formalize our longstanding commitment to education and sustainability issues. The foundation will focus on funding research in education and sustainability that looks to improve learning environments and increase the sustainability quotient of the places and spaces that we build.
This year, the LPA Foundation funded tree plantings at each of our five office locations, the AIAOC Student Design Competition and the Pedagogy-Environment Fit Project—a collaboration between our firm, San Diego State University’s National Center for the 21st Century Schoolhouse and The University of San Diego’s Center for Education Policy & Law.
LPA+U
It is no secret we value education at LPA. To encourage ongoing education and showcase our passion and expertise in the industry, we introduced a quarterly webinar series this year: LPA University. Each live webinar presentations covered research-driven design topics carried out by a specific project type. From repositioning to structural engineering, the methods used to design our projects are shared with actionable ideas as takeaways.
We celebrated this year by thanking those who have supported us along the way, giving back to our local communities and creating a culture of innovation and education—which we plan to take with us into the next 50 years and more.
