Cannon Design Opens Offices Throughout North America

Cannon Design Opens Offices Throughout North America
A model of a church dominates Cannon Design's bright lobby on Grand Island.

The church, as envisioned, would be massive, with seating for more than 3,000 people. But as mammoth as it is, the church is only one of numerous buildings the architectural and engineering firm is designing for the new Ave Maria University campus near Naples, Fla.

Sound ambitious? Cannon has actually designed a university before - in Turkey.

Area residents might be familiar with local projects Cannon has been involved in, such as the Buffalo Niagara International Airport terminal, the county Public Safety Building, and the Montante Cultural Center at Canisius College, which won a top industry award.

But as the planned Catholic university in Florida illustrates, there is much more to Cannon than its hometown region. By opening offices around North America and expanding its expertise in a variety of structures, the firm competes for a range of work, said Mark Mendell, Cannon's president and co-chairman.

Cannon has handled projects in more than 40 states and in 15 countries, and generates annual revenue volume of $80 million, he said.

Mendell believes the firm's founders deserve credit for having the ambition decades ago to establish a widely recognized architectural firm in a region that was hardly a major design center, Mendell s