News   

November 01, 2009

Westlake Reed Leskosky Opens New York City Studio Thomas Gallagher, AIA, As Principal And Director

FAIA, managing principal of Westlake Reed Leskosky, architects and engineers, announces the opening of the firm's New York City studio. Expansion of the practice in New York, one of the country's leading cultural and institutional centers, enhances the firm's national, integrated design practice and award-winning specialty in performing and cultural arts facilities design.

Accompanying the news is the appointment of Thomas Gallagher, AIA as Principal of Westlake Reed Leskosky and Director of the New York studio. In leading the New York studio, Tom brings twenty-two years of experience in architectural, exhibit and lighting design, as well as museum planning, for over thirty leading cultural arts entities including prestigious museums in New York.

According to Paul Westlake, "Westlake Reed Leskosky is a significant leader in planning and design of cultural and performing arts centers. We have all the diversity imaginable in a cultural and performing arts portfolio, from new, historic and repertory theatres, amphitheatres, academic conservatories and performing arts facilities, to museums and interpretive centers."

He continues, "The opening of a New York City studio provides a great opportunity for our firm. We will be able to tap into the resources in specialized disciplines such as lighting, acoustics, audiovisual, and theatre technologies that reside here in the nation's cultural capital as we continue to compete nationally." Westlake considers the New York studio a "boutique of specialists" that will enhance the firm's work on cultural projects across the country, as well as serve institutions based in New York with facilities nation-wide.

Westlake states, "In Tom Gallagher, we have a highly respected professional and superb designer. His prior work at our firm and recent experience on the East Coast bring depth and a vast network of resources. Tom's specialty in architectural lighting design is highly refined. His knowledge of our people, practice, and protocols is critical to launching the studio and its success. His appointment is tremendously fortuitous, and his leadership will have a very important impact on our firm moving forward."

Tom has prior experience launching design practice studios and developing cultural arts projects. The vast majority of projects with which he has been involved are in the cultural arts, an arena with which he is very comfortable.
Tom notes, "Serving clients in the arts is often a very rewarding collaboration to reach high standards for design excellence while meeting other challenges such as budget and schedule. Working on prestigious cultural projects has been very rewarding personally. Returning to Westlake Reed Leskosky to open a New York studio is an extremely exciting opportunity to expand on these experiences."

Tom adds, "Following Westlake Reed Leskosky's success in both Washington DC and Phoenix, we expect that the New York studio will further enhance the already diverse capabilities of the office as a whole, and better serve clients in this area. The opportunity also brings the versatility of being able to work with different blends of talents that are strategically assembled to best serve a given project, wherever they may be around the country."

Thomas Gallagher had worked for Westlake Reed Leskosky in the Cleveland office from 1994 to 2002 as a project director, designer, and an associate of the firm. He was responsible for the design and management of cultural architectural projects that included the Clemens Center in Elmira, New York; ArtsBlock Performing Arts Center in Wausau, Wisconsin; the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in Portsmouth, Virginia; and the Crawford Museum of Transportation and Industry in Cleveland.

Most recently, Tom has served as a senior designer and architect providing consulting services to architects, public and private museums and galleries, and specialized in museum planning and programming, exhibition and lighting design. Through other recent experience, Tom Gallagher worked on the lighting design for projects with Westlake Reed Leskosky, the Bethel Woods Performing Arts Center and the Akron Art Museum (Coop Himmelb(l)au Architects). In addition to developing designs for electric lighting systems, Tom is deeply interested in integrating daylighting design strategies that enhance the aesthetic experience of spaces as well as the building's sustainability.

Tom Gallagher received his Bachelor of Architecture Cum Laude from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects and the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. Tom has lectured at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and has been a guest critic at the Parsons New School of Design. He has taught a lighting class as part of a museum studies program at New York University.

Widely published, the firm has been recognized with over 200 design awards in the past ten years, including numerous American Institute of Architects chapter awards, several honors from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, United States Institute for Theatre Technology, and International Downtown Association for cultural arts projects, a General Services Administration Design Award, the National Endowment for the Arts Federal Design Achievement Award for work with the National Park Service and design and industry publication awards.

Westlake Reed Leskosky's work in cultural and performing arts facilities began with Blossom Music Center, the summer home of the Cleveland Orchestra, acclaimed as the world's finest outdoor concert pavilion. This specialty has grown to encompass design work on more than 150 performance facilities nationwide and for four of the nation's five largest and most active performing arts centers: the historic PlayhouseSquare in Cleveland, the Denver Arts Center, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The firm's expertise in the cultural arts includes the recent award-winning Balboa Theatre in San Diego, the Peoria Center for the Performing Arts, Arizona, Hanna Theatre at Playhouse Square, and the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts and Museum in Bethel, New York. Cultural arts facilities under construction are: the new Phyllis Litoff Building for jazz studies at Oberlin College in Ohio, the Auditorium for the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement ("The Mob Museum"); and under design are: the Yorktown Victory Center Museum in Williamsburg, Virginia; the Lauderhill, Florida Performing Arts Center and Library, Lonetree, Colorado Performing Arts Center and three new theatres in PlayhouseSquare for the Cleveland Playhouse and Cleveland State University.