Firm
History, 1933-2004
Herman Gibans Fodor, Inc. - Architects (HGF) is one of
the longest-established architectural firms in Ohio. Since
its founding in Cleveland in 1933 by Joseph L. Weinberg,
FAIA and Wallace G. Teare, FAIA, the firm has been in
continuous practice, interrupted only by the founders’
government service during the Second World War. During
this period, the firm has received countless national,
state and local awards for outstanding design, its work
has been widely published and its principals continue
a history of actively participating in professional and
community affairs.
Pioneers in Multi-Family Housing Design
HGF’s roots go back to the mid-1930’s when
the firm’s founders, Joseph Weinberg and Wallace
Teare joined to design Lakeview Terrace
in Cleveland, one of the first public housing developments
in the United States. This project has long been cited
as a model housing community and it established the firm
as a pioneer in the design of multi-family housing. HGF
is currently designing the rehabilitation of Lakeview
Terrace, which is now listed on the National Register
of Historic Places.
Throughout its history, HGF has designed numerous other
housing projects, including: The Chesterfield,
1966, Cleveland’s first downtown luxury apartment
house and urban renewal project; six lakefront high-rise
apartment buildings on the Gold Coast in Lakewood; and
nearly thirty other significant housing developments totaling
over 5,800 units of federally assisted housing and over
2,750 privately financed units.
Today, HGF continues its long involvement of providing
respectable living environments for families that promote
community pride. The firm is currently directing the Comprehensive
Modernization of Outhwaite Homes for the Cuyahoga
Metropolitan Housing Authority. This project, which has
become a model for future public housing rehabilitation,
has received Urban Design and Preservation Awards from
AIA Cleveland and a Preservation Award from the Cleveland
Restoration Society.
Innovation In Housing and Care Environments for the Aging
The design of environments for the elderly has been one
of HGF’s primary areas of practice for over forty
years. The firm’s long involvement designing supportive
housing and care facilities has established HGF as a nationally
recognized leader in this field. Throughout this period,
HGF has endeavored to further the aesthetic, practical
and social aspects of designing environments for the aging
through its built work and community activities.
HGF’s work in this area began in the early 1960’s
with the design of The Westerly in Lakewood,
the first federally subsidized housing for the elderly
in Ohio. This seven-story, 499 unit senior living community
is one of the largest and most active centers in the region
and was described by the National Council on the Aging
as “an exemplary facility.” Throughout the
1960’s and 1970’s, HGF completed several major
senior housing projects in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
The majority of these were completed as part of the HUD
Section 202 Program for non-profit sponsors or for local
public housing authorities. In all cases, HGF approached
these projects as an opportunity to create environments
that elevated the residents’ dignity. This is especially
true in the firm’s projects for residents with low
and moderate incomes, where design objectives had to be
met within extremely modest budgets and HUD guidelines.
Of the projects completed during this era, Riverview
Plaza in Elyria perhaps best exemplifies HGF’s
abilities to maximize design opportunities within the
rigid physical and economic HUD regulations. This thirteen-story
public housing building is located along the edge of the
Black River and provides excellent views from the cantilevered
first-floor balcony and from a majority of suites. The
combination of poured-in-place concrete columns, floor
slabs and spandrel beams with contrasting brick in-fill
panels, together with its unique site, gives the building
a high-quality residential appearance seldom found in
low-rent housing.
HGF continued designing independent senior apartments
through the 1980’s and 1990’s, including both
HUD financed units and market rate housing in established
retirement communities. In 1971, with the design of The
Sherrill House for the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts,
HGF’s work in senior housing environments was extended
into the design of skilled nursing facilities. Since that
time, HGF has established itself as a leader in the design
of long-term care facilities.
Over the intervening years, the firm has completed several
nursing homes that challenged preconceived notions about
providing care for the most frail elderly. Many of the
firm’s recent designs present innovative solutions
to the problem of maximizing staff efficiency while at
the same time creating a “home-like” environment.
This sensitivity to the needs of the elderly, as well
as, HGF’s understanding of the complex functional
and regulatory requirements surrounding nursing homes
has resulted in several nationally recognized projects.
These include the Bruening Health Center at Judson
Park Retirement Community in Cleveland, Kethley
House at Benjamin Rose Place in Cleveland and
The New McGregor Home in East Cleveland.
In recent years, HGF has focused on the design of assisted
living facilities. These supportive housing environments
provide residents with assistance in the activities of
daily living within a residential setting. The firm’s
design for the Renaissance Assisted Living
in Olmsted Township was awarded publication in The AIA
National Design for Aging: 1998 Review
and the Society for the Advancement of Gerontological
Environments (SAGE) and Nursing Homes Magazine’s
Design ‘98. HGF also
developed a prototype assisted living facility designed
specifically for residents suffering from Alzheimer’s
Disease and other forms of Dementia. The first two of
these prototypes to be implemented, Kemper House
Strongsville and Kemper House Mentor, have received
local and national awards for their design innovation.
Office Buildings & Retail Architecture
Over the years, the firm has completed several multi-tenant
and single tenant office buildings and office/warehouse
structures. One of HGF’s major office building clients
over the last twenty years has been Progressive Insurance,
for whom it has completed several major projects including
the $32 Million Tampa Call Center and
the National Association of Industrial/Office Parks (NAIOP)
Award winning Progressive Alpha Buildings
rehabilitation. In addition to corporate offices, HGF
has also designed branch bank buildings for National City
Bank and has completed several medical office building
projects for the University Mednet system.
HGF has also developed a successful retail design practice.
In recent years, the firm has completed numerous stores
throughout the United States for Revco Drug Stores
and Rite Aid Drug Stores. In most cases,
HGF’s drug store designs attempted to integrate
the buildings into the surrounding community and respond
to the neighborhood context. The firm’s adaptive
re-use of the 1940’s Beechwold Theater
in Columbus into a Revco Drug Store (now CVS) was cited
by the National Trust for Historic Preservation
as an exemplary way of introducing new drug stores into
an existing urban fabric.
Other notable HGF projects include: the O’Neil
Sheffield Shopping Center in Elyria; the renovation
of Stouffer’s Tower City Plaza Hotel
(now Renaissance Cleveland Hotel); the Van Sweringen
Arcade and Landmark Office Tower,
Cleveland; Jewish Community Federation Building,
Cleveland; Fulton Branch - Cleveland Public Library;
Monarch Centre Office Building, Mayfield
Village; and the Point East Condominiums,
Beachwood. HGF also played an important role as associate
architect with RTKL for the rehabilitation and preservation
of Cleveland’s Union Terminal into Tower
City Center and worked with RTKL on the Wyndham
Playhouse Square Hotel.
Community & Professional Involvement
The principals and staff of HGF have a long tradition
of committed service to the profession and community.
Founders Joseph Weinberg and Wallace Teare were both Presidents
of AIA Cleveland, Presidents of AIA Ohio, AIA Ohio Gold
Medal Winners, Fellows in the AIA and instructors at the
School of Architecture at Case Western Reserve University.
HGF’s current Principals continue this legacy with
active participation and leadership in a wide range of
community organizations. HGF has long encouraged and supported
its staff’s participation in AIA activities. Several
firm members have served on the Executive Board and Committees
of AIA Cleveland and have consistently volunteered their
time, leadership and energy to Chapter programs. These
efforts were recognized in 1999, when HGF was presented
with AIA Cleveland’s Firm Award. |
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