Betsy Beaman, AIA, IIDA, SEGD, has resigned her position as Studio Design Principal in EYP’s Atlanta office, effective February 14, 2020. Betsy played a major role in developing the Atlanta office of EYP, an architecture firm with 11 offices nationwide serving clients in higher education, government, healthcare, science and technology, since its opening in 2017. She recently announced that her next career move will be to start her own design practice, which she is calling GOAT DESIGN. Although the new firm is still in its infancy and planning stage, it will focus on high-end contemporary residential design in conjunction with projects in healthcare, higher education and the arts.
GOAT DESIGN will represent the third act in a thoughtfully conceived career that began in 1992 when Betsy and two close friends and fellow architects, Kimberly Stanley, AIA, and Burn Sears, AIA, founded Stanley, Beaman & Sears in Atlanta. The three young partners set their sights high: to focus on projects which, in their view, represent civilization’s greatest institutions—healthcare, higher education and the arts—and to make the world a better place through design. In its 25-year span, SBS did indeed become a much-honored architecture, interior design and graphics firm whose inquiring, knowledgeable and innovative spirit was felt in all of their projects.
As Director of Design at SBS, Betsy led the design of the firm’s architectural projects and directed and oversaw the design of projects related to interiors and other disciplines. Drawing upon her expertise in integrated design, she assembled and directed multi-disciplinary teams that produced projects where architecture, interiors and environmental graphics seamlessly evolved into unified, cohesive total design solutions that achieved new levels of aesthetics, performance and effectiveness—and won numerous awards. Clients, the design profession and the public took notice of such SBS projects as Nemours Children’s Hospital, in Orlando, Florida, Children’s Medical Center at Augusta University, in Augusta, Georgia, and the Zuckerman Museum of Art at Kennesaw State University, to name but a few examples.
Her wide-ranging interests helped shape SBS in various ways. Her personal interest in form, technology and architecture, for example, became a catalyst for the growth of the firm and resulted in projects where innovation was consistently at the forefront of design. This single-minded focus resulted in the award of the Silver Medal Firm Award to SBS from the Georgia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects for Outstanding Performance in Architecture in 2000. She served on numerous juries as a critic, lectured at colleges and universities, national design and healthcare conferences and participated on the boards of design and art related organizations, giving the firm exposure to new concepts and people. Lastly, her passion for and involvement in the arts led to prominent museum commissions for the firm.
Betsy’s contributions to the firm are many and will have an enduring legacy. Having joined with her partners in selling Stanley Beaman and Sears to EYP in 2016, she enthusiastically participated in establishing EYP in Atlanta and paved the way for its current success and foray into the Atlanta and southeast market. Her design leadership and collaborative spirit have resulted in numerous award-winning architectural and interiors projects over three decades, most recently the 2019 “Best of the Year Award” for the interiors of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Center for Advanced Pediatrics. Along with her colleagues, she cultivated a culture of creative thinking and design excellence while mentoring former and current colleagues who have forged their own pathways to personal growth and leadership. She collaborated in the development of best practices that became the basis for EYP’s Design and Delivery guidelines, initiated publications and award submissions of EYP projects not to mention her impactful design work on major EYP projects such as the Children’s Hospital of New Orleans, a new healthcare campus for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Intermountain Health Primary Children’s Medical Center, a new free-standing children’s hospital located in Lehi, Utah. The design of the new Atlanta office, including its beautiful and inspirational Art Gallery and diverse workspaces, exhibit her design imprint and have become a model for EYP brand development in new office designs for Raleigh, Dallas and beyond. Critically, she helped build the team in Atlanta who will carry on the tradition of excellence that she exemplified. She helped create a culture of discovery, reflection and action in Atlanta — it is evident to all who visit.
After looking ahead at the future and her personal and professional goals, Betsy recently decided to leave her fellow colleagues at EYP and start her own design practice, namely GOAT DESIGN. She is not prepared yet to offer precise details about her new venture; however, it’s safe to say Betsy’s appetite for innovation, entrepreneurial spirit, and enthusiasm for open, collaborative, multi-disciplinary design within a “family of creative thinkers” will once again result in an inspired architecture practice where design can make the world a better place. Who says lightning can’t strike thrice?
For more information:
Contact Information and/or Questions about Betsy Beaman, AIA, IIDA, SEGD, and GOAT DESIGN can be directed to: info@goatdesign.org or 236172@email4pr.com
www.GoatDesign.org
