More than ever, talented professionals seek office spaces that encourage socialization, relaxation and collaboration while balancing the need for quiet, private, reflective spaces to develop the next big idea. One architecture firm in particular leads DC to push beyond the status quo in interior architecture and design and creates offices that have earned the city its well-deserved spot on the national innovation map.

As the minds behind DC’s most progressive and inventive offices—like Optoro’s new Metro Center design and iStrategyLabs's creative HQ in Shaw—Wingate Hughes is finding renown amid the city’s architecture and real estate circles.

The firm’s co-founding principals, Gavin Wingate Bowie and Gavin Hughes Daniels (above), have achieved success by collaborating with the brightest players in real estate and tech in the nation's capital.

This September, Bowie and Daniels threw an epic end-of-summer bash at DC’s legendary Black Cat to thank all the people who have been part of their entrepreneurial journey since 2010. Relationships, they know, are everything.

Such is the nature of relationship-driven design—taking the time to develop relationships with each client, real estate broker and friend. As architects conceptualize and create each client’s ideal space, they maintain strong communication, and this is consistent before, during and after the process. And when a project is complete, the friendship is not over—it’s the beginning of a close alliance.

Bowie and Daniels are committed to help clients grow with their office, are their clients’ biggest advocates and will always applaud their successes. Indeed, there is much to celebrate for the firm and its growing list of clients—more than 40 of whom are recognized as DC’s top tech startups. You can tell when Boston Properties' Ray Ritchey and JLL top tech broker Andy O'Brien make an appearance.

At Wingate Hughes’ celebration, Bowie and Daniels took the stage at the rock club to address a packed house of friends and clients.

“Wingate Hughes was founded in DC amid the last recession and stands as a testament to what we are all capable of when we focus on our relationships with each other,” Daniels said. "We wanted to make it very clear how much we value the relationships we've built over the years with each of you."

“We learned from the best mentors in this city," Daniels said. "People like Ray Ritchey of Boston Properties and Doug Jemal from Douglas Development set an unprecedented example of excellence.”

Daniels and Bowie (above second from left, with Eric Weinberg of Federal Capital Partners, Zach Wade of MRP Realty and Tom Walsh of Cushman & Wakefield) then acknowledged DC Real Estate Group’s recent past presidents and their central role in the city’s commercial real estate community and to the founding of Wingate Hughes.

Daniels further stressed that such leaders—including Adam Walsh, Rob Walters, James Cassidy, Natasha Stancill, Amy Brendler, Anthony Balestrieri, Marisa Michnick and Jud Ryan—all embody a collectively shared idea: "this is our time to make a difference."

Bowie and Daniels both recognize the paths paved by the leaders before them. The pair is committed to fusing expertise gleaned from their mentors to Wingate Hughes’ vision.

Bowie and Daniels urged the leaders gathered in the Black Cat to always strive for excellence by counting on and learning from each other, and to keep giving back to the DC region that has launched and nurtured all its innovators, architects, brokers and construction firms.

Party attendees included the firm’s clients, ranging from Ford Motor Co and tech titan Optoro to leading marketing intelligence platform TrackMaven and the first US government incubator and accelerator Eastern Foundry.

True to the company’s roots, local band Paperhaus—a leader in the national DIY and DC music scenes—headlined the party with two sets of original music. Daniels met the band while part of the DC contingency supporting the city’s innovation and arts economies at SXSW in 2015.

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