Education

Where we go to school is itself a kind of teacher.

When students are warehoused in a dilapidated, inadequate school building, that conveys an unmistakable message about their potential and their worth. When we create a campus in Northwest Washington that encourages student involvement, students respond and thrive. When we build in ways that address the community’s needs and the environment, students learn that they are part of something larger than themselves and these higher education spaces need careful attention given to it. Students work and excel in thriving buildings, and as they are our future generation, our responsibility is huge. Whether we are tasked with creative restoration or renovation of an existing building or the construction of new educational facilities, our co-design process, centered on equity, is our essential starting point. 

Every school has had students, faculty, and alumni invested in that school’s meaning well before we come into the picture. Part of our job is to listen to the voices of students, alumni, parents, the community, and clients, give them the careful attention and respect they deserve and represent those voices in our designs.

In a past project, a student had recently been murdered in the existing building, and many people in this African-American neighborhood wanted the building to be demolished.  By contrast, parents and residents vigorously supported the preservation of their historic school buildings in the city’s more affluent neighborhoods.  We convinced residents and the school board of the building’s merits and potential through an integrated design process, and the structure was preserved and restored.  The pride of the students and teachers alike when the project was completed was gratifying for everyone involved in the project.

We need to work with what we are given – a building with its architectural history, an ongoing educational effort, a student body, and the larger community they come from. We also have to acknowledge the unique budgeting mechanisms schools operate within.

Constraint leads us to innovate. Our designs incorporate measures that manage heating and cooling requirements, greywater recapture and reuse, land use, and more. From master planning to interior design, our focus is on a design that serves the needs of students and the community.

We endeavor to create architectural excellence today to foster educational excellence in the years to come and help students achieve excellence in the future.