Insights

WATG’s Goo to Receive Prestigious Award

By WATG
July 30, 2015

Donald Goo, FAIA and former Chairman of global design firm Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo (WATG), has been selected to receive The American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Hawai’i State Council Medal of Honor, just the seventh time this distinguished award had been presented. Goo will be recognized and officially receive the Medal of Honor on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015 during a gala event at the Hawai‘i Convention Center, a landmark structure that fittingly represents Goo’s award-winning design leadership and the lasting impact he made on Hawai’i’s built environment. Presented by the Hawai’i Architectural Foundation on behalf of the AIA Hawai’i State Council, the Medal of Honor recognizes Island architects who significantly advance the profession, and through their leadership, inspire fellow practitioners. The award represents a crowning achievement for Goo, a native of Hawai’i, who first joined WATG in 1959 when the firm was known as Wimberly and Cook. Goo would later rise to President, CEO, and finally Chairman, leading an expansion of the firm’s work well beyond its origins of Hawai’i and French Polynesia. Beyond geographical expansion, Goo also played a key role in developing the firm’s current range of comprehensive client services, which include strategy, planning, urban design, architecture, landscape, interiors, and integrated services.

Goo’s Medal of Honor award follows his prestigious HICAP Innovation Award in 2008, presented by the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific trade organization. According to WATG’s current CEO, Mike Seyle, Goo’s legacy continues to grow, from his early days in leading the re-visioning of the famed Sheraton Maui in 1960, and again in 1997, to the ambitious re-positioning of the Hilton Hawaiian Village from 1982-88. “It is fitting that as we celebrate 70 years as a design firm, Don is being recognized for his valuable contributions in design,” says Seyle, “Not only did he play a pivotal role in securing our firm’s global presence and service diversity, he also realized his vision of consistent design excellence and innovation.” In addition to re-shaping much of Hawai’i’s hospitality landscape, Goo’s work in Hawai’i is also showcased in the design of Bank of Hawai’i’s iconic Waikiki building with Jerry Allison, FAIA and Pete Wimberly, FAIA in 1966, and the Hawai’i Convention Center, with George Loschky of LMN in 1997.

About WATG

WATG is one of the world’s leading integrated design firms and ranked as 2nd in the world among hotel architectural firms. WATG’s interior design firm, Wimberly, was ranked 11th by Interior Design Magazine in their 2015 Hospitality Giants survey.

With over 70 years of design excellence, WATG and Wimberly, have become the world’s leading design consultants in the industry since starting in Hawaii in 1945. With offices in Irvine, Beverly Hills, Seattle, Chicago, New York, London, Miami, Istanbul, Dubai, Singapore, Shanghai and Honolulu, the multi-disciplinary design firm is best known for creating internationally acclaimed destinations in 160 countries across six continents. WATG offers integrated design solutions comprising strategy, planning, architecture, landscape, and interiors for urban, tourism and resort destinations. WATG’s projects are renowned not only for their design and sense of place but also for their bottom-line success.

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