Q: How long have you worked at LPA?
A: 27 years. I was hired during my fourth year at Cal Poly Pomona.
Q: What do you love most about your job?
A: The people. LPA is
a firm with great people working together to do great work. I am often as
ked about the best project and, to me, those are also defined by people—the principal, parent or board member that cares enough to challenge the team and find delight in the solution. Engaged people will always create a rewarding project together!
Q: What does a day in the life of Wendy Rogers look like?
A: Jam-packed, collaborative and different. My days vary a lot – and so does the location. Whethe
r I am presenting to a client in Atherton, working on an interview with a team in Irvine, or online with a team across offices and disciplines to develop a project in design – I want to foster an environment where everyone is contributing to the design solution. Every day I have the opportunity to learn something new and share something I’ve learned – I knew this would be a rewarding career – I never imagined it would be this fun!
Q: What project are you working on this minute? What does it entail?
A: Tarbut V’Torah Community Day School. Our team is renovating and expanding the School to address how students learn and engage in the 21st century. In 1995, LPA designed the original campus as a K-12 School. In 2000 they expanded to share a campus with the Orange County Jewish Community Center, and we created a discrete Upper School. Both projects won AIAOC Design Awards so renovating the campus is a special opportunity and a challenge. Our design is focusing on enriching the amenities for the students – creating wellness/fitness studios, maker spaces at both the lower and upper school campuses, an engineering studio, and sound stage for their film institute. This work builds on the successful construction last year of LPA’s first ecological playground—an innovative exterior environment for learning and play for Tarbut’s youngest students.
Q: What do you love most about sustainable design?
A: The opportunity for innovation. LPA is a leader in sustainable design, one of the most important issues of our time. Our projects save water and energy, and provide healthier places for students to learn, and our communities to work and play.
Q: What are your thoughts on LPA’s 50th anniversary this year?
A: My immediate thought is that this year both LPA and I celebrate the same milestone, and how proud I am to have been a part of this great company for more than half of my life. The work we do, especially in education, makes a difference. Design matters and this is our legacy. From the very beginning of the company we believed that good design makes a difference and created a culture where design was valued. That premise became our mission—to create places and spaces that enrich lives. When we look at the next 50, our integrated teams will invest in research, share our expertise, build relationships as we create value for our clients through informed design.