What the FORK are you throwing away? How you CAN end hunger by EATING UGLY.

CANstruction is an annual competition in which participants create large structures out of canned food. The purpose of the contest is help end world hunger. Winners are announced and after a brief exhibit of the structures, all the cans are donated to local food banks.

For this year’s CANstruction competition, Environ’s Vice President Willetta McCulloh came up with a concept that promotes a simple message: “EAT UGLY.”

Her inspiration was an article by National Geographic in which the statistics of food waste were astounding:

Nearly 800 million people suffer from hunger.

46% of fruits and vegetables never make it from farm to fork.

According to the largest grower of mandarins in Peru, 30% of his crop won’t be exported because it won’t be the right size, color, or sweetness, or it might have blemishes or scars.

Time Well Spent with Environ's Barbara Hordyk

This month we celebrate Environ's Project Designer Barbara Hordyk, who has been with the company for ten years.

Barbara's talent for design first showed itself in high school, when her mom gave her a budget to redecorate her room. Though she loved the experience so much that she came away feeling this could be her career, she opted to study International Business in college. But after a couple years, she yearned for a more creative experience. Recalling the feeling she got from redecorating her room, she changed her major to Interior Design.

Environ originally learned of Barbara through Alan's wife, who worked with her at the Getty Center. After the project at the Getty Center was complete, Barbara took time off to raise two boys. When she was ready to return to the industry, Environ happened to be looking to hire another associate for its Interiors Department. Perfect timing.

Barbara maintains her credential with the National Council for Interior Design Certification. The certification requires three exams that test one's knowledge of theory, principles of design, building codes, project management and running a business.

As Barbara says, "There's more to it than just picking pretty colors."

Spring 2016 Newsletter

COMPLETE: TENANT IMPROVEMENT  FOR CRC-VENTURA Our client California Resources Corporation recently moved into their fresh offices in Ventura, CA. The new space now serves as a consolidated facility bringing multiple departments and disciplines together.  Improvements included glass entry doors, new finishes, playful pendant lights and blue accent walls.  Previously a maze of high panels, Environ's Willetta McCulloh and Barbara Hordyk worked with the client to achieve a more modern and open look.

Hats Off to Environ's Aimee Mandala!

Aimee Mandala sits below Environ's mission statement in the reception area of its downtown Long Beach office. It's an apt place for this eight-year employee, as she embraces the company's philosophy in everything she does as Environ's Director of Operations.


In college Aimee studied English and creative writing, never imagining she would end up in a position like the one she holds today. But coming from four generations of architects whose work stretches back to the 1800s, it seems unsurprising that Aimee wound up in the same field. 

As a child, she and her siblings tagged along to work with their father to his architectural office above the famed Bake 'n Broil in Bixby Knolls. It's a formative experience that took hold: her sister is an architect, while her brother is a BIM manager for a construction company. During college Aimee waited tables at Bake-N-Broil, and post-grad she worked for a prominent property management firm in Orange County, but found herself yearning for something more. In 2007, it clicked. Aimee's enthusiasm and excitement for the architectural profession was clear, and she decided she needed to be a part of it.