SCB reveals a new brand identity, celebrating the next era of the 90+ year legacy design firm

The reimagined brand identity pays homage to the firm’s legacy and aligns it with the SCB of today – an award-winning national design practice with offices in Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, and Seattle. 

“The rebrand was an important exercise for the firm at this time,” says President and CEO Chris Pemberton, AIA. “Our last brand was created when we were a single office firm, working mostly in Chicago. Today, with four offices and a practice that reaches coast to coast with work in a variety of sectors including multifamily residential, office, mixed-use, higher education, aviation, and science and technology, our reach is much wider. We wanted our new brand to reflect that.”

With its new brand, the firm officially adopts the name “SCB.” The shortened name both acknowledges the important contributions made by the firm’s namesakes, Lou Solomon, John Cordwell, and John Buenz, and expands recognition to include the many other talented designers who have contributed to the continued success of the firm. 

SCB also unveils a newly designed mark derived from two geometric forms, a circle and a square. By manipulating these forms, three abstract shapes emerged suggestive of an S, C, and B.  The new mark is rooted in the most foundational elements of drawing, while its design conveys sophistication and confidence.

“Our branding process was truly a firmwide collaborative effort, engaging everyone from leadership to interns. Ultimately what we all walked away with was immense pride in the firm we are today, and a shared optimism about our future. Our new brand is symbolic of that sentiment, and we are excited to unveil it publicly today,” says Pemberton.

2024 project milestones for SCB include the new mixed-use Greyhound redevelopment in Denver; Hartwell Labs, the first lab/office project in a new life sciences corridor in Lexington, MA; completion of Victoria Place, SCB’s third residential tower at Ward Village in Honolulu; delivery of 1620 Sansom Street, a mixed-use development in the heart of downtown Philadelphia; a reimagining study for Cabrini-Green, a 40-acre master plan in Chicago; the topping out of a new living/learning community for the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University; completion of a new parking facility at Terminal 5 at O’Hare International Airport; and the completion of the repositioning of 10 & 120 S. Riverside Plaza along the Chicago River.