As an award-winning architect and Managing Principal at MG2 in Irvine, CA, Meghana Joshi is passionate about Affordable Housing and Senior Living projects. Not only is she adorned with prestigious awards, including SAGE Gold, PCBC Gold Nugget, SoCal, Argentum, and NAHB accolades, but her unwavering commitment to advancing Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Justice in architecture is evident throughout her work.
In 2015, Meghana took the initiative to establish the Women in Architecture Committee at AIA Orange County, providing a vital platform for regional firms to actively contribute to advancing professional conditions for women in architecture. She spearheaded the creation of the EDI+J Committee, dedicated to fostering mentorship opportunities for underrepresented minorities in the profession. Currently, her leadership extends to her role as Vice-President at AIA Orange County.
Meghana’s involvement extends beyond architecture circles; she is an active ULI-OC/IE’s Office and Commercial Product Council member. She also engages in initiatives to educate and empower underrepresented demographics and communities through programs like ULI’s Urban Plan.
Voltera, a leader in EV infrastructure, enlisted MG2 to pioneer their first-ever EV fleet charging station in Savannah, GA. MG2’s mission involved designing two standalone buildings one with dedicated office space for their operations team and one adjacent to a full-service maintenance facility building focusing on freight vehicles. This is complemented by a strategically designed fleet charging canopy equipped with photovoltaic panels across the site, all contributing to the creation of this groundbreaking charging facility.
To advance their electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure development initiatives, Voltera commissioned MG2 to transform an existing three-story parking garage into a state-of-the-art electric vehicle charging facility in San Francisco. Strategically situated near downtown, this facility will accommodate 40 fast-charging stalls, unique to the manufacturer, distributed across all three floors. Furthermore the site will include a revamped area from which on-site fleet management personnel will operate.
MG2 joined forces with Mercedes-Benz and MN8 to craft a sophisticated, dependable, flashy charging hub in Atlanta, GA. Complete with luxurious amenities and refreshments, this flagship charging location is the first step of Mercedes-Benz’s ambitious vision to deploy over 2,500 high-powered chargers across 400 hubs by 2027. MG2 was responsible for creating the US Prototype and standards and designing and delivering this first location.
ENR 2024 Top 500 Design Firms: Artificial Intelligence Ramps Up
Commentary from the Top 500 Design Firms in 2024 reveals a shift in the use of artificial intelligence to complement design services. Last year, AI was the exception more than the rule, but this year more design professionals aim to integrate tech into operations.
MG2 CEO and Chairman Mitch Smith summed up the proliferation of AI use among design firms as “exciting,” but says the technology is “daunting to comprehend.”
4 月 2024 / By Our Inaugural Sustainability Impact Report
MG2 is proud to share our inaugural Sustainability Impact Report for 2023. This annual report will measure our progress year-over-year towards meeting the AIA 2030 Commitmentto reach towards carbon neutrality by 2030. Taking this step helps us reach our goal of transparency and accountability to our clients, our industry, and the communities where we live and work. This report demonstrates our progress in design and project work and also calculates our corporate carbon emissions.
While sustainability has long been part of the MG2 ethos, we formalized our position in 2020 by joining the AIA 2030 Commitment and publishing our first Sustainability Action Plan. With this 2023 Sustainability Impact Report, we’ve taken the opportunity to refine our plan and take advantage of new tools and processes. As part of that plan, we have established four goals as a firm:
Goal 1:
Operating Energy
With a focus on building performance, we aim to reduce the amount of energy needed to operate buildings. In new construction, this involves building heating and cooling, lighting, plug loads, etc. For retail tenant improvements (TI), we primarily focus on the lighting power density which calculates the light output per square foot.
Goal 2:
Embodied Carbon
This goal represents all the building materials required for new construction or retail TI. Each material has an associated Global Warming Potential (GWP) number which considers the material’s extraction from the earth, manufacturing process, transportation to the building site, and building construction, called “cradle to gate.” We calculate the material quantities in the building (typically from a Revit model) and apply a GWP number to those quantities to determine the metric tons of CO2 a building uses. Reducing this number requires higher efficiencies in our designs and our materials.
Goal 3:
Material Sourcing
Many material manufacturers provide Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for their products. This goal emphasizes the importance of collecting EPDs when we procure or specify materials. In addition to the AIA 2030 Commitment, we are proud signatories of the AIA Materials Pledge. Our job as designers is to bring a deeper awareness of the material makeup and offer our clients “good, better, and best” choices when selecting materials.
Goal 4:
Water Conservation
Water is one of our most precious resources. We calculate and track water usage for irrigation as well as indoor water use. No matter where you live, water is becoming a scarce resource, and as designers we are responsible for implementing innovative solutions.
You can’t improve what you don’t measure, and as a firm we always challenge ourselves to do better. We are constantly tracking data for the above goals during each design phase of a project, from Concept Development through Construction Documentation. Each design team is responsible for collecting and evaluating data during the design process and looking for ways to improve efficiencies.
MG2 invites you to check out our 2023 Sustainability Impact Report and check back each year to see our progress. Enter your name and contact information below to gain access, then click on the report to read full-screen.
Extensive Green Roof | Costco Santa Fe Mexico on Detailed Podcast from ARCAT
If you missed the original episode of ARCAT’s Detailed podcast with host Cherise Lakeside and MG2 Associate Maribel Barba on Costco Santa Fe, Mexico, tune into this video version.
Built on a landfill, Costco Santa Fe is a 524,549-square-foot building with a massive warehouse, parking structure, and loading bays, yet it is almost completely hidden from public view.
Hidden in Plain Sight: This Costco is One with Nature and the Community
Forget the $1.50 hot dog combo special. How about a pickup game of basketball or futbol? Or a stroll along manicured gardens? Yes, indeed this Costco Wholesale location is Mexico City is like no other.
Costco Headquarters Campus Addition is Seattle DJC’s Project of the Week
Costco Headquarters Campus Addition was the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce’s Project of the Week.
“Sustainability was a priority throughout the design of the new building. Sustainable elements include triple-glazing and a dedicated outdoor air system that efficiently recovers energy and reduces heating demands by using interior building heat to warm up outside air, reducing fossil fuel usage.”
Industrial Outdoor Storage: Tips for Making these Unique Sites Succeed
NAIOP’s Kathryn Hamilton, CAE, wrote an informative recap in Development Magazine about the Industrial Outdoor Storage panel moderated by Matthew Goelzer at I.CON West.
If you weren’t able to make the event, check out “Industrial Outdoor Storage: Tips for Making these Unique Sites Succeed” here.
Galvin Flying Services enlisted MG2 to develop the nine-acre site, known as Quad 7, for four hangars housing up to 25 private corporate jets. Maintenance, fueling, and corporate office space is also included in the project. The gated complex, catering to Seattle’s premier companies, features an aviation-themed campus environment enhanced with contemporary metal surfaces that unify the buildings. Wood accents reference a casual northwest business culture, while each hangar tenant has the ability to customize their space from layout to finishes.
Each of the client’s four optical labs were originally warehouse spaces before being converted into light industrial facilities. All labs feature multiple optical processing lines and can produce 10,000 pairs of eyeglasses daily. Additionally, an ISO Class 7 clean room was integrated into each facility. These remodels exemplify MG2’s ability to balance the needs of existing operations with the demands of efficiently phasing new construction. To support the various mechanical, electrical, and maintenance activities, MG2 created design solutions aimed at maximizing space utilization.
‘Elevating Voices’ Exhibit Features Black Northwest Artists
Bellevue joins partners to present Black History Month exhibit at City Hall
In celebration of Black History Month, the City of Bellevue, in partnership with Seattle architecture firm MG2 and Onyx Fine Arts Collective, is presenting the exhibit “Elevating Voices,” featuring the work of 17 Pacific Northwest Black artists.
The Holy Grail of Warehouse Design: Speed to Market and Energy Efficiency
MG2’s Doug Brookbank and Sarah Valluzzi have identified “The Holy Grail of Warehouse Design: Speed to Market and Energy Efficiency.”
“One of the most significant benefits of a PEMBs (Pre-Engineered Metal Building) is its ability to offer a shorter construction schedule. As a building system, it can reduce construction time by approximately 30% – 40% vs it’s conventional steel counterparts: concrete tilt and precast systems.”
Read more in NAIOP’s Development Magazine about this modern approach to warehouse construction and the transformative advantages of PEMBs.
In order to support their expansive sales growth, CWI partnered with MG2 and third-party operator Midwest Laboratories to design and build the first ground-up, large-scale microbiology poultry testing lab. The facility has space to monitor the nutrition and health of the flocks and includes an integrated office area for the CWI team. There were numerous high-priority strict requirements on this project, including the need to avoid cross-contamination, the ability to provide high visibility throughout the lab for tours while maintaining security, and support to operate 24/7.
We’re thrilled to share this news: Architectural Record has named MG2’s Shin Lopez a Runner-Up in their annual Cocktail Napkin Sketch Contest.
In 2018, The Grand Hotel Apartments in Yakima, WA caught her attention, and she’s never forgotten them. “Ever since I can remember, I’ve found buildings to be quite beautiful, and very often, when I walk by a building that I fall for, I can’t stop thinking about it. The windows I drew for my submission are similar to The Grand Hotel Apartments’; I couldn’t stop thinking about them six years later!”
Mitch Smith’s Philosophy of Transparency and Authenticity
“It’s incredibly important to our organization that we are very open about what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, what our strategy is, our finances, how we’re performing, and really promoting a mindset of radical transparency. What I’ve found is that it builds a tremendous amount of trust with our employees in the organization. It’s when they don’t know that there are issues.” Mitch Smith said to John Stearns of 425 Business.
Mercedes-Benz To Open Dozens of Electric Vehicle Charging Hubs at Buc-ee’s, Simon Property Sites
Mercedes-Benz plans to place its branded electric vehicle charging stations at some of Buc-ee’s convenience stores and Simon Property Group’s malls as the automotive industry gets ready for a potential wave of EVs. MG2 was the architecture firm and Kimley-Horn was the engineering firm for the Mercedes stations.
Uxin, a second-hand car refurbishment and storage center located in Hefei, Anhui Province, is the largest “supermarket” for pre-owned vehicles in China. The building houses a car storage center with space for 7,000 cars, a maintenance workshop, employee dormitories, a warehouse for spare parts, car wall with hydraulic conveyor belt, showroom, customer lounge area, and a restaurant.
Glass atriums help break up the building massing and glass curtain walls, parametric ceiling designs, and lighting contribute to the technological atmosphere. VR technology was leveraged throughout the design process to simulate both customer and car flows. The roof is equipped with solar panels, providing electricity for the building’s daily operations.
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