[ BUILDING HAWAII ]
"Go where the action is." Sky’s no limit for
local architectural firmThe convention center and an
orbiting hotel are among its designsBy Gary C.W. Chun
gchun@starbulletin.comThat was, and continues to be, the phrase that has propelled the local architectural firm of Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo to its current international status.
Don Goo, who joined the firm in 1959 and was made a partner in '71, said it was a business retreat in 1978 that determined the company's direction. No one's looked back since -- except perhaps to reflect on a local history that stretches back to the mid-'40s.
The firm has designed such current and former landmarks as the First National Bank building in Waikiki (since demolished), Canlis restaurant and the Tahitian Lanai (both just fond memories now), the Hawai'i Convention Center and the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
A major portion of the Hilton is being redesigned by the firm. Goo said that permits approved by the City Council will allow an addition to the hotel to be built on land that used to be the site of the Waikikian. He said the concept and schematic is finished for a 350-foot time-share apartment building.
This company has weathered the local economic doldrums. "When the recession hit Hawaii in 1981, that same year, in response to growing expansion east of the islands, we opened a Newport Beach, Calif., office. We had won the competition to design the Ritz Carlton's Laguna Niguel hotel, and one of the conditions of getting the design is that we had to have a California office."
STAR-BULLETIN / 1999
The convention center, shown in an aerial view, and the Hilton Hawaiian Village rank among the firm's enduring designs.
Seeing growing opportunities further east, the firm decided to expand into Europe in 1990, choosing London in particular. Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo then went westward to establish a Singapore office two years later.
In November 1995 the firm grew to 200 professionals, with work in more than 50 countries. Two years later, the local office started offering interior-design service, on top of hospitality and leisure planning and design. In 1998 the interior-design group expanded to the London office.
Although busy abroad designing hotels, resorts, golf clubhouses, spas, entertainment venues and casinos, the firm is taking care of business at home. Goo himself has been concentrating since the beginning of the year on new local opportunities, although a major source of revenue has been the firm's activity in China.
"Architecture reflects the society -- whatever social and economic changes happen will affect and mold whatever's required, design and building-wise. For example, baby boomers, with more disposable income, become major purchasers in things like second homes and travel. Those are the influences on the architecture we create."
PHOTO COURTESY OF WIMBERLY ALLISON TONG & GOO
Wimberly Allison's international projects include the Palace of the Lost City in South Africa.
That includes anticipating the future, with such visionary ideas as an underwater hotel, an airship hotel, a low-orbit space hotel and the world's largest cruise ship hotel, with twin towers erected on its immense deck. (That last one's actually being designed for a client.)
As Goo says, "Until financing and the market makes the funding available, everything we plan could be considered 'long term.'"
But the firm's track record has been good, Goo says, "starting from designing Sheraton hotels to the Four Seasons to the Ritz Carltons, and to hotel-casinos like the Palace of the Lost City near Johannesburg, South Africa, the Atlantis in the Bahamas and the Venetian in Las Vegas."
Founded: 1945 Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo
Architecture, Design, Planning & ConsultingFounders: George J. Wimberly and Howard L. Cook
Originally named: Wimberly and Cook
Number of employees: Around 275 worldwide (60 in the local office)
Number of offices: Six, including Honolulu; Newport Beach, Calif.; London; Singapore; Los Angeles; and Seattle. Also acquired Interior Design Network International in Singapore, along with Pamela Temples Interiors and the Interiors Purchasing Group in Orlando, Fla.
