Schwerdt Design Group and Schwerdt Contract Interiors make their union official and present new name and brand.
In 1996, Greg Schwerdt was a ten-year veteran and partner at a small Topeka architecture firm. When its namesake principal announced his retirement, Schwerdt was presented with a decision – join an established practice or take a leap and set out on his own. With encouragement from colleagues, family, mentors, and friends, he launched Schwerdt Design Group (SDG), which he now describes as a firm that reflects his vision and surrounds him with people who expand it further than he imagined.
“Opportunities to work on projects across the Midwest and with visionary clients have allowed us to grow in extraordinary ways and to offer deeper services, especially in areas like interior design and space planning. When we started SDG, we never imagined we’d create a second firm to fulfill our clients’ interior design needs, but the demand was high. Under Megan Schwerdt Williams' leadership, Schwerdt Contract Interiors (SCI) emerged to deliver work in tandem with SDG’s architects, and to serve SCI’s exclusive clients,” explained Schwerdt.
"The firms’ evolutions," Schwerdt Williams observed, "have come full circle as SCI now joins SDG officially. We’ve been in an integrated relationship since SCI’s beginning, and we collaborate on the vast majority of projects, so joining them on paper removes any element of confusion. But our company names, paperwork, and a half-wall have been the only things separating us, so I think it’s great to operate as one official unit, under one name, providing one remarkable client experience.”
For Schwerdt, the new name and rebrand reflect more than a visual identity update, though he admits he’s excited for its launch. “I was teased once by a client friend who observed that SDG’s logo hadn’t changed since we’d started working together two decades earlier, but that our hairlines had. He was right on both counts, of course, but it made me think about the big changes in the architecture and design professions even just in the last ten years. More tools, greater knowledge at our fingertips, and technology that can put the client into life-like, virtual environments – it all opens doors wide for the imagination, and we’re all about that at SDG. I’m excited about the new name and branding because it reflects forward motion and points to the firms’ combined strengths.”
SDG Architecture + Interiors is headquartered in Topeka and has served clients ranging from corporate leaders to retail developers to healthcare executives. Joint projects that decorate Midwest skylines include Washburn University’s Indoor Athletic Facility, Sunflower Foundation’s philanthropic headquarters, Arrowhead Senior Living of Osage Beach, Missouri, and Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka. The firm will officially celebrate the merger this spring with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Reach out to Sherri Hartter with any questions or for more information.
785.230.0688 | slh@sdgarch.com
