Holistic approach offers clients purposeful brand identity across project lifespan
BKV Group, a holistic, multidisciplinary design firm, today announced the addition of an integrated Branded Environments team. The new group will guide the firm’s internal teams nationally in building powerful and purposeful brand identities for clients that utilize BKV Group’s full suite of design services, using storytelling techniques to establish a consistent narrative that is carried throughout the built environment.
BKV Group is one of the few national design firms offering an in-house Branded Environments unit, which is led by Megan Van Beck, director of branded environments and associate partner, and Kristine Siiro, branded environments graphic designer, both based out of the company’s Minneapolis practice site. They will work in collaboration with BKV’s internal team of architects, interior designers, landscape architects and engineers to navigate through the initial research, strategy and discovery phases, shaping brands early in the project life cycle that will inform how spaces are designed, marketed and activated upon completion.
“We are all visionaries with big ideas, but it’s critical that those ideas are implemented in a way that conveys a strong story, one that will resonate with end users of the spaces we create,” said Van Beck. “Branding is what unifies a project – it’s the look, the voice, the feel – and when executed properly, it informs virtually every design decision that is made. We are excited to bring that continuity to the spectrum of services BKV Group is able to offer to current and prospective clients.”
The team’s full-scale design approach incorporates brand discovery; messaging, positioning and strategy; visual identity; naming; environmental design; logo creation; trademarking; use guidelines; and creation of signage, digital and print collateral, floor plans, promotional merchandise, social media templates and website design concepts.
“A strong brand reflects the sophistication of the building or development and can leave a lasting impression that differentiates it within the marketplace,” said Siiro. “What we often see with our clients who use outside branding agencies is that they engage them too late in the design process, sometimes resulting in a disconnect that can be costly to fix. We are able to offer a continuum of brand services across the lifespan of each project, ensuring the spaces the client and the design team envision are the ones that are ultimately delivered.”
Van Beck has been with BKV Group for 11 years and previously served as senior interior designer. Her project management experience spans the residential, corporate and hospitality design sectors. Siiro joined BKV in January 2023 and previously held the position of senior graphic designer for the past six years. Her professional design portfolio includes large-scale projects across the healthcare, restaurant, retail and specialty industries.
About BKV Group:
For more than 40 years, BKV Group has designed and delivered community-enhancing, award-winning projects across a multitude of sectors including market-rate multifamily, student living, senior housing, affordable housing, government and federal, education and library, corporate and commercial, hospitality and mixed-use. Throughout BKV’s history, the firm has grown from a sole proprietorship into a diverse partnership with practice sites in Chicago, Dallas, Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., and Hanoi, Vietnam. The firm’s holistic approach encompasses a variety of services including architecture; interior design; landscape architecture; mechanical, electrical, and structural engineering; construction administration; and planning and pre-development. This integrated methodology ensures streamlined communication between disciplines to find the best design solutions under budget and time constraints while removing redundancies in the process and enhancing the design and function of each project. For more information, visit bkvgroup.com.
