Name: LoriAnn Maas
Title: Design Principal, Interiors
Company: Swanke Hayden Connell Architects
Location: SoHo, N.Y.
Place of birth: New York, N.Y.
Family: One larger than life mother, the best stepfather a girl could ever ask for, and two incredibly successful sisters who keep me on my toes.
College: New York School of Interior Design
First job unrelated to your current field: Lifeguard
First job in current field: Working for a high-end residential firm in Manhattan. Selecting trim for pillows is harder than you think.
What your firm does now and its plans for the future?
Our 106 year old firm encompasses architecture, historical preservation, healthcare and interior design and workplace strategies. All of our disciplines incorporate sustainable design as a matter of best practice. Our interiors group is focused on discovering how people actually work and then providing an environment that supports them. We tend to take a long-term approach, since a good number of our clients have been with us for many years. Swanke recently finished a great office project for Macy's in which we eliminated most walls and customized their extensive storage needs. We were able to increase the number of people and increase their collaboration spaces.
For the future, our interiors team is working hard to transform specialized healthcare environments so that the overall quality of experience applies to both patient and the healthcare worker.
Hobbies: Playing co-ed soccer and yelling at Rangers games in Madison Square Garden
Favorite novel: "Walden" (slow but thought provoking)
Favorite film: "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles"
Keys to success: Inspiring people to achieve beyond what they think is possible. Treating everyone you meet with respect. Determination. Lots of determination.
Person(s) you most admire (outside of family): Steve Jobs, "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."
If you had to choose a different profession, what would it be? Typographer

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