Our Process for Educational Design
We believe it is our mission to help deliver a better education to each student who interacts with our designs and to provide a superior working environment for all who work and meet in our buildings.
For the occupants of the buildings this approach is manifested in the quality and quantity of daylight throughout; the attention to acoustical treatments; reduction of travel distances among program areas; air that is better to breathe; and colors, patterns, and textures that contribute to the architecture as wayfinding tools, enhancers of light and amplifiers of good feeling.
For the owning education institution, this approach is justified through the improvement of student learning; the reduction in staff and student absenteeism; and the attraction and retention of quality personnel. Our methods also reduce construction cost, through common sense design; reduce maintenance cost through the use of durable materials and sensible detailing; and reduce energy cost through proper building solar orientation, insulation, and effective plumbing, heating, and electrical design.
In order to reach all of these goals our team moderates a process of communication that includes educators, administrators, and those who maintain your facilities, to systematically establish what will perform best for your institution. These goals are determined before the beginning of the design, reviewed and tested at every milestone of the design, and revisited almost a year after building occupancy to understand what has worked well, what has not, and why.
This process has been good for us because we establish a teamwork atmosphere for every building project that always includes a Principal of the Firm in an active, continuing role, from the program through the end of construction, face-to-face with the client. The team expands to include the building contractors and is based on the belief that, in a successful project, everyone is a winner and everyone has an important role in achieving our common goal.
Some or all of the elements above may be familiar to you, but understand that these have been our consistant goals for over 35 years and will remain so, regardless of trendy labels that are promoted as "new ideas".
For the occupants of the buildings this approach is manifested in the quality and quantity of daylight throughout; the attention to acoustical treatments; reduction of travel distances among program areas; air that is better to breathe; and colors, patterns, and textures that contribute to the architecture as wayfinding tools, enhancers of light and amplifiers of good feeling.
For the owning education institution, this approach is justified through the improvement of student learning; the reduction in staff and student absenteeism; and the attraction and retention of quality personnel. Our methods also reduce construction cost, through common sense design; reduce maintenance cost through the use of durable materials and sensible detailing; and reduce energy cost through proper building solar orientation, insulation, and effective plumbing, heating, and electrical design.
In order to reach all of these goals our team moderates a process of communication that includes educators, administrators, and those who maintain your facilities, to systematically establish what will perform best for your institution. These goals are determined before the beginning of the design, reviewed and tested at every milestone of the design, and revisited almost a year after building occupancy to understand what has worked well, what has not, and why.
This process has been good for us because we establish a teamwork atmosphere for every building project that always includes a Principal of the Firm in an active, continuing role, from the program through the end of construction, face-to-face with the client. The team expands to include the building contractors and is based on the belief that, in a successful project, everyone is a winner and everyone has an important role in achieving our common goal.
Some or all of the elements above may be familiar to you, but understand that these have been our consistant goals for over 35 years and will remain so, regardless of trendy labels that are promoted as "new ideas".
