In an exciting move for both companies, The Clarient Group, a smart building technology consulting and design firm, has joined CannonDesign. One of the largest architecture design firms in the country, CannonDesign’s addition of The Clarient Group further bolsters the firm’s commitment to growing its diverse consulting services. “The addition of The Clarient Group will strengthen our collective efforts to elevate the human experience through intelligent, future-ready environments that redefine what smart buildings can achieve,” explained CannonDesign CEO Brad Lukanic.
The Clarient Group is recognized for its technology integration capabilities, having shaped solutions for iconic developments including One World Trade, Central Park Tower and Hudson Yards, and partnering with clients like Northwell Health, Hines and Clifford Chance, among others. They will continue to operate under their own name for the foreseeable future.ARCHITECT caught up with Lukanic and The Clarient Group’s Founder and CEO, Charlie Buscarino, to further understand the motivations that fueled the merger.
Let me start with what fueled this merger. Why did each of your companies see value in coming together?
Brad Lukanic: The Clarient Group stands out as a company that thinks and reaches beyond expected limits. They’ve built an incredible client roster; they’ve achieved transformational solutions, and they’ve built future-focused services. We saw a partnership as a means to accelerate that bold impact.
Moreover, joining forces with The Clarient is completely aligned with our focus on adding services that allow us to help clients before, during and after the traditional design process. They add to our growing suite of strategic design and consulting services that include Blue Cottage of CannonDesign, sustainability, digital products, software and experiential graphic design, among others. Together, we can redefine what’s possible with smart buildings and what it means to be an architecture design firm.
Charlie Buscarino: The Clarient Group, has always aspired to have greater impact across the country. We’ve acted on that ambition, but we recognize that we can accelerate our reach and our capabilities in partnering with CannonDesign and its deep resources. Plus, we saw how our mission naturally fits into CannonDesign’s vision for the future. There’s mutual interest in working together as designers, engineers, technologists and data specialists to create new opportunities. Both The Clarient Group and CannonDesign grow exponentially stronger through this decision.
Can you share an example of a project where smart building strategies significantly enhanced design outcomes?
CB: There are numerous projects from our portfolio that people will recognize. Our team contributed more than 2.5 million square feet of technology design to Hudson Yards in Manhattan, including projects for Coach Headquarters, Third Point, Boston Consulting Group, all focused on enhancing workspace experiences in this renowned neighborhood.
Elsewhere, we provided our full suite of technology services – network systems design, technology infrastructure master planning, security systems to name just a few – to American Dream in New Jersey. The building is a one-of-a-kind entertainment and retail destination, and our technology enhances all those experiences.
BL: As I said earlier, The Clarient Group’s expertise is incredible, and their standout projects speak for themselves. But, to your question of what smart buildings can be, I think our partnership will help us redefine that vision. So often, architecture, smart building technology, and these other consulting services, operate in silos or get treated as “add-ons.” We know that’s not the most effective approach, and we now can help clients fully maximize their goals and vision for smart building technologies from day one.
What does this mean for the future of architecture? Are we heading toward a new practice model?
BL: CannonDesign is intentionally trying to create a new kind of architecture practice. It’s not just this move, it traces back to our investment in creating our own facilities management software, our own job order contracting software, our merger with Blue Cottage of CannonDesign, we are boldly trying to become a new type of architecture company entirely. We do not just want to create incredible buildings; we want to do that and then help those buildings operate, function, and evolve for the people who use them via every dimension. That’s a different mindset.
You pair that ambition with the rapidly accelerating change in technology and smart buildings, and the moment is ripe for this level of integration. Our clients are looking for more holistic solutions, and the addition of The Clarient Group allows us to go much further in pushing technology planning and other advisory services more upstream.
What’s the biggest misconception about smart buildings in the architecture world?
CB: I love to tell people that smart buildings really aren’t about technology. It’s about experience and that’s why our team at The Clarient Group spends so much time engaging our clients. We need to understand their real needs; the opportunities they can seize to enhance user experience. Smart buildings are really a byproduct of integrated solutions attuned to an organization’s unique needs.
It could be parking, it could be wayfinding, and once we identify the specific use cases, then we can build a sophisticated technology solution that achieves their goals. This is not just about adding technology or buying new tech, it’s about aligning technology with specific uses and needs. And I think that’s a misconception we sometimes run into, and one that we counter by investing in client and user engagement.
Where do you see the most untapped potential for smart systems in architecture — beyond the typical energy and automation lenses?
BL: Talking to our internal teams, we see opportunities to infuse smart building approaches into our work in healthcare, workplace, education, research and civic spaces. Opportunities are everywhere.
But beyond just opportunities, this is part of helping our clients prepare for a future that requires investments in systems that are interoperable and rely on advanced data strategies, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Some of our clients in healthcare and other markets operate thousands of individual technologies that would ideally function as a unified system where these technologies are communicating and responding to each other seamlessly. There is so much opportunity in helping them achieve that reality.
This is another merger in a string of mergers CannonDesign has made in recent years. What's the vision guiding this growth?
BL: This is another crucial step in the execution of our company's strategic framework. We are purposely expanding beyond the definition of a traditional design firm that only focuses on a single building project. Now, with consulting services, with facility software, with smart building services, we can help organizations for decades and through entire building life cycles. That vision is driving our growth, and I think you will continue to see mergers and acquisitions as part of our growth strategy.”
What’s one future innovation you’re both excited about — and designing for today?
CB: I’m really focused on how we develop a literal digital integration layer in our built spaces. That layer isn’t an add-on, it’s seamless, intentional and wholly focused on enabling data sharing, business processes and continuous improvement of the built world.
BL: Seamless augmented experiences. Right now, there’s the physical and virtual worlds, and we try to bridge them with digital twins. We can foster a much more unified experience that can empower our buildings and the people who use them in exciting new ways. We want to be at the forefront of creating that reality.
