Ralph Bicknese Email & Phone Number

Hellmuth & Bicknese Architects is a small firm that does big things by integrating design excellence with exemplary environmental performance; evoking positive impact and enriching life for our clients & the communities they serve. H+B was one of the first firms in the Midwest to fully embrace sustainable & regenerative design, (opening 1/2003). We remain on the bleeding edge through experience & continuous improvement; as an early adopter, integrating these principles throughout our practice, conducting ongoing research, educating ourselves, maintaining high credentials, advocating, presenting, & volunteering in the sustainable community. We seek climate positive solutions with high energy, water, wellness, & human performance goals on all projects & have achieved some of the highest performing buildings in the world. We have been involved in over 50 LEED projects & 12 Living Building Challenge projects including the Living Learning Center, tied for the first building in the world certified to LBC. We were co-architect on the Berea College Deep Green Student residence which uses approximately 1/3 the energy of a typical dormitory, is LBC Materials Petal certified and LEED Platinum certified, having received the highest LEED point total of any dormitory at the time. The Cincinnati Zoo Painted Dog Valley Exhibit became our third project to be LBC Certified, making H+B the first architectural firm to achieve three LBC certified projects.Recently we have served as LEED Consultant to owners, other architects & contractors on many of the major cultural and educational institutions in our region including; The Gateway Arch National Park Visitor Center & Museum, The Saint Louis Zoo Destination Discovery (Children & Family Zoo), The Missouri Botanical Garden's Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center, St. Louis University, Washington University in STL, St. Louis Community College, Lincoln Trail College, and Sustainability Master Planning for Principia.

Seved in numerous capacities including Chair, Immediate Past Chair, Program Committee Chair, Government Advocacy Chair, Green School Advocate and served on various committees.

Washington, Dc, Us

Collaborating with committee members and AIA staff to bridge efforts of the AIA's board level Committee for Climate Action and Design Excellence with the AIA's Materials Pledge Working Group and vice-versa.

Washington, Dc, Us

• Advise and provide guidance to the AIA Board on a range of issues to support transformation of the day-to-day practice of architects to achieve a zero-carbon, equitable, resilient, and healthy built environment as defined in the Framework for Design Excellence. • Coordinate activities between related committees and advise on program prioritization. - Ensure Sustainability & Resilience programs meet the goals of the Climate Action Plan and build awareness and adoption of the Framework for Design Excellence. - Realign and hone existing work within the context of the Framework for Design Excellence• Provide expertise and influence to align and utilize external messaging to leverage support of peers, clients, policy makers, and the public at large.

Washington, Dc, Us

Collaborated with AIA staff and fellow committee members to review the AIA's Framework for Design Excellence, perform gap analysis of critical missing strategies, and further integrate zero-carbon, resilience, equity and health in the built environment throughout the framework

Washington, Dc, Us

The AIA MKWG brings information about healthful, low-carbon, environmentally responsible and socially just use of building materials to the AIA membership.

Washington, Dc, Us

AIA Committee joining the leaders of all the AIA's sustainability committees to leverage the power of leadership & address improve coordination committee-wide.

Washington, Dc, Us

Bringing information regarding healthful, low-carbon and low-environmental impact building materials to the members of the American Institute of Architects.

Spring City, Pa, Us

Advisory role on content development for mindfulMaterials, a portal and resource for deeper sustainability on building materials; bridging manufacturers accomplishments with the ability for designers and specifiers to search building products across 5 buckets of sustainability attributes across a Common Materials Framework. The new searchable mM Portal is now live in Beta: bringing the Common Materials Framework to life. The Portal connects and aligns sustainability information to drive consistency across the building ecosystem.

Improving sustainability within the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District.

St Louis, Missouri, Us

Emphasis on education, religious education, sports & recreation, legal office interiors, and hospitality (country club facility) projects.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Us

Projects include the 21 story Bank Menatep office building in Moscow, Russia, the Lewis Interpretive Center near Alton, IL and the 300,000 sq. ft. Lennox Distribution Center in Marshaltown, IA.

Bicknese was involved with the design of approximately 100 community banks and credit unions throughout the US.

Emphasis on educational projects and sports and recreation projects. Projects include South Lyons High School in Niles, Michigan, Girls Prepararatory School in Chattanooga, TN and Breamhauser Sports Complex at Gettysburg College.

Emphasis on retail, food service and entertainment industry ptrojects.

Emphasis on legal office interiors, general office interiors retail interiors and specialty entrance and mosic projects for the St. Louis Archdiocese.

Ba, Architecture

Planning, Political Science, Fine Art