Walters-Storyk Design Group

Walters-Storyk Design Group (WSDG)
Industry Architecture
Founded New York City, United States (1968)
Founder
Number of locations
 New York, Miami, San Francisco, Basel, Buenos Aires, Belo Horizonte, Barcelona, Mumbai, Mexico City
Area served
 International
Services Architectural Acoustics, Audio Visual, Technology Integration
Website wsdg.com

Walters-Storyk Design Group, (WSDG), is a global architectural acoustics, audio visual and technology integration design firm, with headquarters in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Buenos Aires, Belo Horizonte, Basel, Beijing, Barcelona, Mexico City, Mumbai and St. Petersburg[1].[1]

WSDG creates recording studios,[2] and performance venues ranging from NY’s Jazz At Lincoln Center and Le Poisson Rouge[3] to the KKL Concert Hall[4] in Luzern, Switzerland, and acoustic spaces ranging from broadcast to educational, house of worship, corporate, stadium, and home theater. WSDG architects and engineers also provide design, construction, and consulting services for professional audio/video facilities, multi-media presentation rooms, governmental acoustical applications, product development, and transportation facilities.

History of Walters-Storyk Design Group

Electric Lady Studios

The firm was founded by John Storyk, in 1968 as John Storyk Design Inc. Storyk’s first formal design client was Jimi Hendrix.’ Completed in 1970, Electric Lady Studios[5] is still in operation at its original Greenwich Village, NY location today. In November 2013 the PBS American Masters Series included an interview with John Storyk in Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin[6] ,’ a 2-hour biography of the iconic guitar hero. Storyk (left,) pictured here with Eddie Kramer at the original entrance to Electric Lady Studios.

With the addition of Beth Walters[7] in 1988, the firm was renamed The Walters-Storyk Design Group (WSDG). Originally based at NYC’s Union Square the office relocated to upstate NY in 1990. WSDG has design over 3000 production/post production, broadcast, recording, educational, performance and sports facilities around the world including: the Maracana and Mineirao stadiums for FiFA Brasil 2014 World Cup, the Swiss Parliament in Bern, Switzerland, the Qatar TV new broadcast studios in Doha, Qatar and Jungle City,[8] one of NYC’s leading ‘destination’ studios.

WSDG has collaborated with such noted architects as Frank Gehry, Rafael Viñoly, Norman Foster, Oscar Niemeyer, Phillipe Stark and Nicholas Grimshaw.

Awards

Berklee Valencia

WSDG has won numerous design awards and citations including eight TEC Awards[9] in 1990, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1998, 2005, 2011 and 2014. In 2013 WSDG was nominated for its 8th TEC Award, for the Berklee Valencia recording school complex. In 2014 WSDG was awarded with its 8th TEC Award for Best Studio Design Project for the Berklee College of Music - 160 Massachusetts Avenue building, where they built and designed ten brand new recording studios along with other features in a state-of-the-art facility.

Top Projects[10]

Jazz at Lincoln Center's Allen Room
Central Synagogue in NY


Principals

John Storyk completed his architectural and acoustical engineering studies at Princeton and Columbia Universities. A member of the American Institute of Architects and the Audio Engineering Society, he is a frequent contributor to AES convention panels on acoustical design for broadcast and recording facilities, and the author of numerous pro audio magazine articles. He has also authored a definitive, "Acoustic Design for Studios" course, and he is an adjunct professor at Berklee College of Music, Boston. Mr. Storyk lectures frequently at colleges and universities around the U.S. including the University of Colorado (Denver), CCNY, Oberlin University and the University of Miami. He also serves as Director of Acoustics and Studio Design at Full Sail Center for Performing Arts. He developed an advanced course on Studio Acoustic Designed for the Ex'pression College for Digital Arts in Emeryville, California, where he has served as course director.

Beth Walters shared the cover of the August 2013 issue of MIX Magazine with a WSDG studio design client.[12] She is a founding partner and co-principal of Walters-Storyk Design Group with her husband John Storyk (here). In addition to her company CEO responsibilities she directs all WSDG interior design services. Ms Walters is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology with two degrees, A.A.S. in Textile Design and a B.F.A. in Product Design. Her construction experience was acquired while serving on the Fashion Institute Gallery exhibit and installation staff for over 10 years. From 1982-1988, she was the display and merchandising director for such noted home furnishing fabric firms as Boris Kroll Fabrics, Greeff Fabrics and DesignTex Fabrics. From 1978 to 1982, Beth was Head Designer for Il Est La, a company which designed and imported wicker products and handicrafts coordinating with hand crafted fabrics. Ms. Walters coordinated these products with a new concept of satellite cross merchandising within specialty shops.

A 20-year company veteran, who founded WSDG Latin America in 1994, Sergio Molho was named Director of International Relations and New Business Development in 2013.[13] Sergio has worked in the audio and video industry since 1982 as an engineer, composer and producer. An accomplished keyboard player and vocalist, he has been responsible for several international productions for such labels as Sony and Warner.

Silvia Molho (U.S./Argentina,) a graduate of the Bellas Artes University in Lima, Peru and Visual Anthropology in UBA, Buenos Aires, she produced several video and film productions and documentaries in Peru, Paraguay and Argentina. Her areas of expertise include graphic design, multimedia and DVD projects. She serves as the interior designer and supervisor for WSDG S.A. Her projects include a number of world class facilities, highlighted by Fito Paez’s Circo Beat Recording Studios.

Sr. Project Manager (LTR) Joshua Morris, a University of North Carolina graduate with two degrees, a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and a Bachelor of Architecture, he joined the WSDG team in 2005, as a project manager/designer. He has managed dozens of projects from China to Germany, and throughout the US.

Romina Larregina is a graduate of the University of Palermo, Buenos Aires, with a degree in Architecture. She began her career in a Buenos Aires engineering office and joined the WSDG Latin office there in 1998. Fluent in Spanish and English, Larregina joined the US office in 2001 and has served as Project Manager on such major assignments as new Berklee College of Music Valencia and Boston music campuses. She serves as liaison, project management and production coordinator for the US and Latin offices.

(CFO) Nancy Flannery (USA) A multi-task whiz, Nancy assists clients in virtually every phase of their projects, from negotiating favorable contracts with suppliers to resolving complex logistic issues. The ultimate client advocate and problem solver, Flannery’s definition of CFO is "headache relief."

Morris, Larregina and Flannery were all named WSDG Partners in 2011.

Renato Cipriano (Brazil) graduated as a Civil Engineer from the University of FUMEC in 1994, from The Recording Workshop, Ohio (1992) and Full Sail Center for the Recording Arts, Orlando, (1999.) Renato opened the WSDG office in Belo Horizonte in 2000, and is responsible for the acoustical and architectural supervision for all WSDG Brazilian projects. An accomplished audio engineer, in 2004 Renato won the Latin Grammy for "Best Brazilian Rock Album" for Skank.

Dirk Noy (WSDG Europe) M.Sc. Physics, has a Diploma in Experimental Solid State Physics from the University of Basel, Switzerland and is a graduate from Full Sail Center for the Recording Arts, Orlando, USA, where he was one of John Storyk's students. Noy is fluent in German, Dutch, French and English and is a frequent lecturer at trade conventions, recording schools and architectural institutions.

Gabriel Hauser (WSDG Europe) graduated as an Electrical Engineer from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich in 2000. He served as a Project Engineer for WSDG in the U.S. and joined WSDG-Europe when he returned to Switzerland. Hauser has contributed to numerous WSDG projects ranging from the St. Ursen Cathedral (Solothurn,) to the Swiss Parliament (Basel) and the St. Gallen Train Station.

References

  1. ↑ "wsdg.com". Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "New Studio Harks Back to a Musical Golden Age". NY Times. 2011-01-26. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  3. ↑ "SoundCheck: Le Poisson Rouge — Managing Fast Musical Workflow". Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  4. ↑ "Architect Magazine". Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  5. ↑ "A Hendrix Castle Where Musicians Still Kiss the Sky". NY Times. 2010-08-26. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  6. ↑ "Electric Lady Studios on PBS". Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  7. ↑ "Hudson Valley Business Review: Beth Walters". Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  8. ↑ "Vanity Fair: Temple of Sound". Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  9. ↑ "TEC Foundation". Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  10. ↑ "WSDG Client List". Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  11. ↑ "Swiss Parliament Project Page on wsdg.com". Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  12. ↑ "Mix Magazine - August 2013". Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  13. ↑ "Mix Online: Expanded Role For WSDG’S Sergio Molho". Retrieved 28 January 2014.

External links