In 2006, SEI Design Group was formed by the six founding Principals, Victor J. Tomaselli, AIA, Stephen J. Klempa, CCM (retired), Brian E. Cieslinski, Bari J. Lee (retired), Michael J. Ebertz, AIA, and Matthew S. Monaghan, AIA, who all left a successful firm to start a new company. How it all came about, how we picked our name, etc... is an interesting long story. Please go to our inception story in our blog for find out more about SEI.
A few of our founding principals are now happily in retirement after building a successful company. The remaining founding Principals continue to move forward with new Principal partners along with an extensive team of professionals that energizes our company and keeps our momentum going.
Our individual, unique work experiences compliment one another in our ability to meet the diverse and challenging needs of public and private clients alike. We pride ourselves on being seasoned professionals who understand the intricacies of complex problem solving within our industry and profession.
Current Principals: (Left to Right) Matt Schools, AIA, Brian Cieslinski, Matt Monahan, AIA, Michael Ebertz, AIA, Victor Tomaselli, AIA, Ted Mountain, AIA, Stephen Staveski, AIA, Gian Paul Piane, AIA (Not pictured: Brad Moreland, AIA, Kurt Vater, CDT)
We are very fortunate to have great clients. The way we keep these clients is with our passion for supporting them in any way we can. Our profession as architects requires a lot of oversight and constant visits to our project locations. We know our clients need us there. To address this, we opened three offices to better cover NY state and beyond.
In Albany, our office is located on Wolf Road which also has easy access to all our projects on the eastern side of the state. Our office in Binghamton facilitates the management of our projects in the Central region of New York.
Here are recent highlights and accolades our firm has received:
Rochester Business Journal - The Rochester Business Journal honors the coolest spaces in Rochester with the help of its readers. The editors select 30 winners in four categories: consumer spaces; educational spaces; event spaces; and office spaces.In 2018 SEI Design Group was the recipient of the 2018 Rochester's Coolest Spaces for their work at Rochester City School District James P.B. Duffy School and the Parry Building (SEI's Rochester office). In 2019 SEI Design Group was recognized for the Greater Rochester International Airport renovations.
ENR New York - Top Design Firm (2010-2019) – ranked nationally by the overall revenue of the firm.
Learning by Design - SEI won awards in 2011, 2012, and 2014-2019 for the Outstanding Project Category. Learning by Design is a national publication for education design and innovation excellence. Published twice each year, this prestigious magazine recognizes the nation’s preeminent architectural firms by publishing outstanding pre-K to 12 and college/university projects. The Outstanding Project Category showcases some of the most innovative and effective education projects that have been recently undertaken across the United States to K–12 and post-secondary education facilities.
Projects:
2019: Sodus CSD
2019: Rochester City School District, School #7
2018: Canandaigua CSD Sports Complex
2017: Rochester City School District, School #12
2016: Ellicottville CSD
2015: Naples CSD
2014: Syracuse ITC
2014: Churchville-Chili CSD
2012: North Rose-Wolcott CSD
2011: Schuylerville CSD
Albany Business Review - Top Architectural Firm (2014-2018)
Rochester Business Journal - Ranking of #5 out of top 25 firms in Rochester for 2012-2015. Category recognizes leading design firms in Rochester with rankings by number of architectural licensed employees.
Ranked in top three for 2017 Reader Rankings.
AIA Awards - 2008 Rochester Design Award for Excellence and AIA NYS Award of Merit: for outstanding design of the Parry Building office renovation in Rochester, NY. Excellence category and award of merit given to projects with the following criteria: design excellence, restoration of existing facilities, sensitivity to context, space to enhance the community and innovation of special relationships and finishes.
Architectural Record top 300 firms Nationwide - 2009-2018: Firms ranked nationwide according to the overall revenue of the firm.
Building Design and Construction - 2012 top twenty five K-12 school sector firms. BDC recognizes top firms by market sector with an emphasis on cutting edge school design including STEM initiatives, hands on learning spaces, 21st Century learning, maker spaces, collaborative learning labs and integrated technology.