February 3, 2004

The market is flooded with qualified colored glass fabricators and installers.

IHS Studios is not among them. Twenty years of design experience and over 600 realized projects, sets this organization of artisans far above the offerings of the common and banal. The consistent caliber of fresh creativity and attentive service delivered by IHS Studios elevates them into a class all of their own; true excellence.

In addition to their main media of glass, the in-house talents available to the client include specialties in metal, wood, and stone. Care is given to working with the client to ground the design in the vocabulary of the existing architecture or space. The pieces are at once, a departure from the known, and a timeless extension of the existing environment. Once installed, the pieces seem as if they were always a part of the initial guiding design concepts.

While achieving amazingly brilliant works of art, HIS Studios is also aware of the importance of and committed to the manner in which these pieces are delivered. Dennis and his team are involved early and in great detail with a project’s goals for quality, content, budget and schedule. He endeavors to balance these seemingly contradictory constraints to produce pieces that meet all aspects of the client’s expectations.

I had the pleasure of working with Dennis on a recent project in Garland for Baylor Medical. The new Central Pavilion will house a “free floating” crystalline chapel. It is to be “suspended” out in the main atrium entry and accessed from a second level bridgeway. Dennis has designed the focal panels to be a non-denominational abstract of Creation and New Creation. The complete design also encompasses a series of (16) sidelights surrounding the entire chapel envelope, creating a true place of respite and pause.

Dennis came to the early design meeting to specifically listen and learn the culture of the client. He came prepared beautiful examples of his work that showed the cross complexity of his talents, from the very traditional, to the extremely abstract. He culled adjectives and descriptions from the client about what this space should feel like, what this place should convey, and about what this place should be. Much time and focus was given to these early sessions; and this enabled him to return very quickly with concepts and sketches that were approved for further development.

His contact with the team did not stop there. As he enhanced the images and detailing for the panels were refined, the client was brought back in for reviews and comments, always a part of the creation in progress. Simultaneously, Dennis worked with our team to provide construction document level attachment and framing details so that coordination with the architectural drawings could be completed and bid in a timely manner. He never loses sight of the “small pieces” while creating “the big picture.”

IHS is a collaborative art studio, comprised of skilled craftsmen who are dedicated to extracting the client’s specific vision and then transforming that into a unique and engaging expression of light, of color, of celebration.

It is without hesitation that I recommend you take advantage of the rare opportunity to work with such a consummate design team as IHS Studios.

Regards,

Gin Kappler-Peeler, AIA

Associate

Interior Design Manager

FKP Architects, Inc.