Ennead Architects joining CannonDesign to deepen design’s impact on society

Our firms are uniting to advance our shared commitment to bold design vision and to expand the possibilities and impact of design. 

Together, Ennead and CannonDesign are building a practice with the ambition to approach design solutions differently — shaping the full arc of how places are imagined, built, activated and experienced, and carrying design thinking into contexts far beyond buildings. 

"Some of my most vivid memories with my family are weekends at the American Museum of Natural History's Rose Center for Earth and Space, an Ennead project that captures exactly what purposeful design can do. It connects people and creates space where everyone belongs,” said CannonDesign CEO, Brad Lukanic. "Our firms share a deep commitment to enriching the public realm, and that common ground is what brought us together. Now we have a profound opportunity to improve civic life at a much greater scale, shaping not just buildings, but the way people experience the world." 

CannonDesign, with our global network of nearly 1,600 designers, consultants, experience strategists and technology leaders, has long been recognized for expanding design’s impact on the world — we’ve been named to Fortune’s Change the World list and repeatedly recognized by Fast Company as one of the most innovative architecture firms. Ennead is a 160-person practice renowned throughout the profession for its uncompromising creative vision, technical sophistication and commitment to realizing a more robust and vital public realm. 

Going forward, Ennead will be a distinct studio within CannonDesign, practicing as Ennead, a CannonDesign company. It will continue its work as an integrated design collective with teams in New York, Los Angeles and Shanghai. Its unique identity, design culture and leadership will be strengthened by CannonDesign’s broad capabilities and complementary portfolio. 

A new chapter for both firms, and the design industry  

Driven by a shared belief that architecture, at its highest expression, is a civic act that creates connections between people, institutions and communities, Ennead and CannonDesign have delivered boundary-pushing projects across every scale and sector of our now shared portfolio: 

In healthcare, reimagining patient experiences: seen in the Kenneth C. Griffin Pavilion and David H. Koch Center at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Mayo Clinic’s transformation of its Rochester campus and the Alice L. Walton Foundation’s Bentonville Healthcare Campus. 

In education, reinventing how learning happens: like California Institute of Technology’s Resnick Sustainability Center, Princeton University’s Environmental Studies and School of Engineering and Applied Science, Stanford University’s Denning House for the Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program and multiple projects for New York University (NYU) spanning decades. 

In the places where living, working and gathering intersect: reflected in The Standard on the High Line and LinkedIn’s Toronto HQ to workplaces for Square, Cboe and Showtime, and commercial projects across mixed-use, entertainment and sports. 

In culture, creating places that carry identity and meaning: such as the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, Richmond Olympic Oval, Edelman Fossil Park and Museum of Rowan University and multiple projects for the New York Public Libraries. 

In science, pushing the boundaries of discovery and understanding: evident in CHOP’s Morgan Center for Research and Innovation, the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact at the University of Oregon and Building 201 at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. 

Our firms' combined influence extends across the global commercial and institutional landscape, encompassing a defining body of work throughout Asia where we have shaped a new generation of internationally oriented, civic-minded development. Projects range from the Shanghai Astronomy Museum and Blue Sail HQ Campus in Shanghai to the ByteDance Houhai Center in Shenzhen and CJ Blossom Park in Suwon, South Korea. 

Both firms have spent the last decade pushing beyond traditional definitions of design and what it can do. CannonDesign has expanded into consulting, software, experience design and branding, bringing a design lens to challenges that were not previously considered design problems. Ennead is equally powerful in its focus on transforming institutions and shaping dynamic urban growth in rapidly expanding cities around the world.  

This partnership also reflects an unrelenting commitment to shaping what comes next technologically. Individually, we have been advancing the boundaries of computational and parametric design, exploring the implications of quantum computing for the built environment and shaping how AI is transforming architecture and client industries alike. Now with shared focus, the goal is not just to improve technologies entering the design marketplace, but to also invent them. 

“One of the things that struck us about CannonDesign, even before we began talking seriously, was their culture of innovation,” said Molly McGowan, AIA, Managing Partner at Ennead Architects. “They move fast, think creatively, make smart investments and get things done. For a firm of their size, that’s rare. What’s really exciting to us is what happens when you layer that with our own deep investments in new design technologies and building systems. The combination unlocks something neither of us could have reached alone.” 

Together, Ennead and CannonDesign reflect what a design practice looks like when it never stands still.  Our united team is positioned to partner with the most ambitious clients to take on high-stakes challenges of all types, using the full force of design to positively improve communities, the planet and our shared future.