We believe architecture is about more than designing a structure, it’s about balance. Between form and function, requirements and vision, innovation and tradition. Between the building, the environment, and the community it serves. We enhance these relationships with compelling design solutions.
Founded in 1983, our leaders set out to create an architecture firm defined by diversity, balance, and a commitment to client needs. Over the past 30 years, the Eckenhoff Saunders team has expanded to nearly 50 architects and interior design professionals. Together, we have built a strong reputation for exceptional design and outstanding service.
Designing for our clients, not our portfolio.
From a project’s inception through its completion and beyond, every phase of the design process is a collaborative effort between our clients and the ESA team. This approach has rewarded us with client relationships that are unusually prolific: ESA’s first client still works with the firm.
While our work has won many awards for design excellence, perhaps our most significant accomplishments lie in the many ways our buildings improve the lives of those who live and interact with them.
Design Approach
Program. Place. Craft. Art. Science.
Architectural design is more than a building’s aesthetics. It is how a building interacts with its surroundings, is used by its inhabitants, enhances productivity, and creates a sense of place.
Good architectural design balances the elements of program, place, craft, art, and science. But it also understands that the relationships between these elements will vary from project to project. Our clients’ needs are always the starting point for developing a design. Prior to the program, a site is a blank slate. The owner’s functional requirements, employee base, and aspirations—all of these shape the final design.
In addition to the owner’s program, our work must address the interests of the surrounding community, comply with code and legal requirements, meet demanding technical specifications, consider the building’s orientation and scale, and integrate the art and science of engineering.
Our design approach is based on listening, collaboration, and problem-solving. Our objective for every project we undertake? Enhance the lives of the people who experience the buildings we design.
Services
The expertise of our design team allows us to offer a wide range of architectural services and specializations while our size ensures close client contact at every project phase, from pre-design through construction administration. ESA’s services include:
Architecture
Sustainable Design
Site Analysis
City of Chicago Self Certification
Masterplanning
Historic Preservation
Programming Studies
Interior Design
Facility Assessments
LEED Certification
Building Information Modeling
Space Planning
Feasibility Studies
Eckenhoff Saunders is a
registered USGBC Silver LEED Member
BIM Integration
Eckenhoff Saunders utilizes three-dimensional building information modeling (BIM) programs early in the design process to enable greater pre-visualization of conceptual design elements and spatial relationships. With BIM, all members of a design team—including architects, MEP/FP engineers, structural engineers, civil engineers, cost estimators, and contractors—speak the same language through a single model, to which each discipline contributes its specific knowledge. Each three-dimensional model contains essential data not only on the building’s design but also on its performance capabilities, logistics, and constructability.
We have found that combining the BIM programs Autodesk Revit Architecture and Navisworks during the construction documents phase helps us identify and correct potential problems across design and engineering disciplines early on, resulting in more coordinated documents and a smoother construction process. As contractors continue to shift toward practices rooted entirely in BIM, our ability to provide a high-quality model is a valuable tool that helps our clients save time and money.
BIM is the next generation in documentation for architects. As such, we want to ensure we maximize the software’s capabilities to deliver the highest-quality documents to our clients. Our BIM Quality Assurance Team comprises architects with extensive technical experience. It dedicates significant time and measures to instating and reviewing our BIM standards, as well as leading continuing professional development for the office.