Forum Studio was established in 1999 in St. Louis, Missouri. It is wholly-owned subsidiary of Clayco, Inc., a real estate, architecture, engineering, design-build and construction firm. In 2010, Forum added a second office in Chicago.

Forum Studio offers architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, engineering and interior design services. The company founded the design firm to bring together all of the capabilities of the master builder in a collaborative, creative and inclusive process, convening the needed expertise when needed.

Providing the landscape architecture expertise for Forum Studio is senior principal Chip Crawford, RLA, FASLA, LEED GA, with more than 30 years of experience leading some of the world's most complex planning, landscape architecture and urban design projects. Mr. Crawford is past president of the Landscape Architecture Foundation, and a Kansas State University Fellow.

 

Gateway Plaza, McGuire Woods Corporate Headquarters, Richmond, Va.
Forum Studio is providing site design services for Gateway Plaza, a soaring, multi-tenant office tower. The project is situated between the historic Richmond State Capitol Building and the James River, at the crossroads of two major highways, and a portal to downtown.

On street parking and inviting plaza and terrace spaces enhance the ground level retail spaces and encourage pedestrian activity. Sculpted landscape areas provide oases for quiet respite, while mitigating the impacts of stormwater runoff and urban heat island effect.

Forum Studio collaborated with artists Carol Mickett and Robert Stackhouse to develop a design centered around the concept of "flow." The flow of water, ideas and commerce are embodied in lines that trace their path across the site and through the building's lobby, drawing visitors in and reinforcing the notion of the gateway. The undulating landscape planters echo the forms of nearby islands carved by the James River. These planters provide generous seating spaces and showcase native flora from the Piedmont and Coastal Plain regions that meet along the Richmond fall line.

North Riverfront Park, St. Louis
Forum Studio was commissioned by the Great Rivers Greenway and city of St. Louis to create an open space and redevelopment plan for the 180-acre North Riverfront, and capitalize on the opportunity to create a vibrant urban community at the point where the city meets the river. The firm's role was to create a world-class Riverfront Park that would be a catalyst for the creation of a mixed-use neighborhood. The plan had to ensure flexibility, respond to the specific local context, and leverage the city's sustainability plan. This was accomplished through an inclusive planning process that resulted in implementable strategies. The plan incorporates four development districts organized around existing assets: Laclede's Landing, Lumiere Place, the Creative District, and the Innovation District. A flowing Riverfront Park that connects the Arch Grounds to the North Riverfront Trail links each district.

Reinsurance Group of America Headquarters, Chesterfield, Mo.
The proposed development on this 17-acre site comprises two linked five-story office building. The parking and loading docks are an attached three-level parking structure with two levels of below-grade employee parking, a double height loading area, and a landscaped top deck with guest parking for 1,412 vehicles. The buildings are integrated into the landscape to minimize the impact of the development on the land. The outdoor spaces for the employees include a private backyard, a restored woodland and prairie landscape with framed views. The corporate campus entrance has a formal landscaped arrival plaza that provides clear and easily understood access and circulation for visitors, staff, service and emergency vehicles.