Multidisciplinary design firm PGAV Destinations may be the best-kept secret in St. Louis. Its architects and designers have created exhibits, aquariums, and other features for some of the world’s most-loved attractions, from Sea World Abu Dhabi to Busch Gardens in Florida and even including Monticello and the Alamo. And they’re doing it all from 200 N. Broadway, the red brick high-rise just a few blocks from the Gateway Arch.
St. Louis-based architects Diane Lochner and Emily Howard are two of the newest owners of the firm. They were tapped to join the ownership group last year, among four newcomers to what’s now nine owners (that number will drop down to seven after two owners retire this year).
Lochner says the firm’s structure may be unusual, but has helped preserve its unique culture. Perhaps taking their cue from the Cardinals, the PGAV team refers to “the PGAV way.”
“There are a lot of companies in our attraction industry that sell out and are bought by larger companies,” Lochner says. “And our current ownership didn't want that to happen. … We have grown up with this company. We understand this company. The other partners that are with us are the same.” She adds. “Twenty, 30, 35 years at PGAV is not unusual.”
St. Louis has been crucial to the firm’s rise—and, the partners say, its ongoing success. It began as Peckham, Guyton, Albers and Viets, and its national profile dates back to Fred Guyton’s handshake deal with Gussie Busch to create theme parks for Anheuser-Busch. That led to Busch Gardens, which opened up to opportunities around the nation, and then the world.
Asked how being in St. Louis informs their work, Lochner says, “We're pretty humble in the Midwest, and maybe we need to work on that a little bit and promote ourselves a bit more.
We think about others before we think about ourselves, and I think that's a Midwestern value—and that applies perfectly when we're trying to help clients all over the world. We focus on them and their success.”
Go Deeper: PGAV is committed not just to St. Louis in general, but to downtown specifically. Says Howard, “ The way we look at it, if I can speak for all owners, is, ‘If we're not part of the solution, then we're part of the problem.’ And so let's be that solution and let's put our stake in downtown.” The company recently renewed its lease at 200 N. Broadway, she says, for just that reason.
“Honestly, I think we're at a tipping point now where it's only going to come up,” Howard adds. “We're actually excited for what's happening at the Millennium Hotel. It's a great thing and we want to be part of that. We want to be downtown and we want to bring business downtown.”
What’s Next: Learn more about how Lochner and Howard landed their dream jobs, how training as an architect helped them solve completely different problems as attraction designers, and what goes through their heads when they visit attractions they didn’t design in the newest episode of The 314 Podcast. —Sarah Fenske
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