1980s
Decade of Diversity
A diversity of strengths and integrated services helped to define the practice’s value proposition at a time when other firms focused on specialized niche areas. Work came from as far off as the U.S. Embassy in the Middle East to the Government Center in uptown Charlotte, which involved a new master plan, eight major buildings and Marshall Park.
Master planning for some of the area’s most prominent projects involved not only the 35-acre Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center complex (for a second time following the original plan), but also University Research Park. This 3,200-acre business park is home to many internationally known tenants and Pease buildings such as the Allstate Customer Information Center, Electric Power and Research Institute and IBM Building.
Justice projects spanned from the Mecklenburg County Courts facilities and Onslow County Jail in North Carolina to the Morgantown Public Safety Center in West Virginia.
The telecommunications market thrived, with more than 258 projects for Southern Bell, including the award-winning 375,000-SF Corporate Data Center in Charlotte and numerous renovation projects nationwide. Research and university facilities were strong areas of practice, with the Underwriters Laboratories in Research Triangle Park, Charles River Laboratories’ flagship animal laboratory in Raleigh, and medical schools at Duke University, East Carolina University and UNC Chapel Hill.
