VMDO Architects

02/19/2021

Looking for some good vibes on this ? We have news about our awesome staff and new advancements in leadership! Congratulations to Jim Kovach (Associate Principal); Dade Van Der Werf (Associate Principal); Noah Marble (Senior Associate); Lorenzo Battistelli (Senior Associate); Alexander Jack (Associate); Lauren Shumate (Associate); and Ben Thompson (Associate) on being promoted to leadership positions in 2021. In unique ways, each has elevated the firm's practice while advancing thought leadership in design, sustainability, client service, and project management. Read more about their contributions: https://bit.ly/3k5S4ft 🎉

02/11/2021

Women in Sustainability: Design the Future is a podcast created to elevate and explore the voices of women driving sustainable practices in the built environment and related fields. The latest podcast features VMDO's Director of Sustainability Michelle Amt. This year, Michelle is serving on the jury for The American Institute of Architects' COTE Top Ten Awards, widely considered the highest accolade for sustainable design. In her interview with hosts Kira Gould and Lindsay Baker, she shares that the COTE program merges design and performance like no other. Michelle also outlines insight about where the green building industry and movement are heading, both indepently and collectively. Give it a listen! https://bit.ly/DesigntheFuturepodcast

02/05/2021

How do you create a thriving downtown that will be best suited for people today and in the future? This prompt informed a year-long investigation by AIA Virginia's 2020 class of Emerging Leaders in Architecture (ELA) to study, assess, and propose resilient design measures for the city of Portsmouth, Virginia. Leveraging existing city development plans, the 16-person team, including VMDO's Mert Kansu and James Vidoni, created strategies utilizing different scales of time and different scales of design to bring new life back into the evolving Downtown and Old Towne Portsmouth districts. By establishing smaller steps that can be feasibly implemented, Mert and James hope to create lasting change that can produce a greater impact on the City of Portsmouth over time. Learn more about their design process here: https://bit.ly/39RVyP2

01/27/2021

VMDO is hiring! We are looking for talented designers, architects, and creative professionals to join us in contributing to the designs of exceptional educational and community spaces! Learn more about how you can apply and become part of our mission-driven team in Charlottesville and DC: https://bit.ly/39mkVIr

01/22/2021

How can residence hall design respond to lessons learned from this difficult pandemic experience? VMDO's Frances Lengowski and Cody Solberg explore the science and design strategies behind healthier residence halls built for well-being in the cover article of ACUHO-I's latest Talking Stick magazine.

What COVID is teaching us about short-term health and long-term wellness.

01/20/2021

VMDO DC is celebrating its first anniversary! A year ago and change, we established an office in an 8th floor coworking space in the bustling and historic Dupont Circle neighborhood. Since then, we've relocated to Foggy Bottom’s Western Market on Pennsylvania Avenue, just up the street from the White House and our renovation of George Washington University’s Thurston Hall. Though we remain largely working from our homes, we are contributing to the vibrant core of our diverse capitol district, and striving to leave our corners of the world better than we found them. Here’s to a new year in the District, and happy Inauguration Day! 🎉

01/18/2021

The University of Richmond's new Well-Being Center recently opened to help students with their academics, as well as mental and physical health. While many student health centers mirror the private sector in their design, this facility is designed to maximize accessibility and deepen service offerings through care that’s attuned to student needs and behaviors. The new Well-Being Center houses U of R's Student Health Center, Counseling and Psychological Services, and health promotion and nutrition services. The university said putting all of these services in a single location will help U of R’s ability to provide holistic and integrated care for students. “We’ve eliminated the barriers for students seeking help,” said Tom Roberts, associate vice president of health and well-being. "I hope students come in here and find something they need and that can help them.”

This month, UR opened its Well-Being Center, which is designed to be a collaborative, high-impact environment to support student learning and well-being.

12/23/2020

We're grateful for our young professionals who enrich our culture and bring new ideas, energy, and momentum to our firm. Hayley Owens, recently named one of AIA Virginia's 2021 Emerging Leaders in Architecture, sought out her colleagues during this season of reflection and asked them: “What has been an experience or opportunity from the past year that you are grateful for?” What she discovered "didn't surprise" her: "The challenges of this year have revealed to me more clearly the values of this place and its people. There is a fundamental feeling of care for each other." Read more about what our young professionals are grateful for, as we share our immense gratitude for our staff, colleagues, and collaborators who have helped us grow in spite of this year's undeniable challenges. Happy holidays!

VMDO's young leaders reflect on 2020 and how they've grown as professionals while navigating this year's unique learning curve. Hayley Owens shares:

12/17/2020

Earlier this year, VMDO and Hopkins Architects began collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders on the the design of the new 60,000 square foot home for UVA School of Data Science – UVA’s 12th school and the first since 2007. Recently, UVA's Board of Visitors approved the schematic design of the new School! As the first academic facility part of the new Ivy Corridor District, the building will express the School's values of openness and transparency and set a design precedent for the corridor. Similar to UVA's Academical Village, the School is envisioned as a home for students across disciplines to gather in sharing insights and techniques about the latest in academic innovation. With the approval of the design, the project is scheduled to break ground late in 2021, with plans to be completed by fall 2023.

The Board of Visitors officially approved the schematic design of the new building for the School of Data Science. This project is for the construction of a 60,000 square foot facility located at the intersection of Emmett and Ivy Roads, at the nexus of Central and North Grounds.

12/09/2020

Based on hard-earned community feedback, “we wanted the Lubber Run Community Center to be integrated into the environment, not separate from it," explains VMDO's Joe Celentano in Think Wood's latest profile. To achieve this goal, wood construction was a must. As was extensive civic engagement. VMDO and MCN Build gathered feedback from the Arlington community for over a year by presenting design iterations through public gatherings, site tours, and online surveys involving both adults and children. The result? The preservation of open space and connections to nature were community priorities. In the end, shares VMDO's Nina Comiskey, "we actually increased the size of the park.... A lot of people don’t have a nice yard or garden they can look out onto. Having a community center and public facilities creates those opportunities for all people.”

When the 1950s-era Lubber Run Community Center began its long-anticipated upgrade, local residents were set on plans for a three-to-four-story building, tucked into the background of the surrounding park. The project’s winning architect, VMDO, had something different in mind.

12/04/2020

You can't improve what you don't measure. Architectural Record
reports on how architecture firms, including VMDO, are working to reach carbon neutrality by 2030 in the design of new buildings and major renovations. Our Director of Sustainability, Michelle Amt, shares our progress on the 2030 Commitment and identifies opportunities to continue to close the gap as we close-in on 2030.

You can’t improve what you don’t measure: that’s the idea behind the AIA 2030 Commitment, a voluntary program that asks design firms to track their progress toward creating carbon-neutral buildings. This fall, the AIA released data from participants for 2019 that showed continued advancement s...