About VMDO
We are architects with an unwavering commitment to designing environments that shape the way people live, work, and play, and at their best, uplift the human spirit. Our firm is dedicated to helping institutions and communities envision engaging, pivotal projects that translate into meaningful buildings of lasting value. In particular, we recognize the impact that thoughtful and imaginative design can have on education.
VMDO’s Core Values
Innovation & Creativity
We believe the most effective and elegant architectural solutions come through a vital sense of insight, creativity and invention, pursued with patience, and grounded in research and expertise. We continually seek new paths and directions in the work we do and the tools we use as we search for these solutions. We recognize each place is unique and form responsive approaches that are distinctly suited to each community. We promote a strong ethic of sustainability and stewardship, advocating innovative environmental strategies throughout the practice.
Collaboration & Understanding
We are inspired by conversations with people. We gain momentum in our work through a depth of understanding and we draw strength from the connections and commitments with talented people formed through genuine collaboration. We enjoy the work we do every day and are committed to a collective atmosphere of openess, trust and respect throughout our office and our process. We are dedicated to an enriching, healthy, and fulfilling work environment that, in many ways, is an emblematic model of our best thinking about learning and how education works.
Design Excellence & Meaning
We strive for timeless design of sites and buildings that have a self-evident fit with their surroundings, that are carefully attuned to their use, and that contribute to making a lasting, supportive and memorable place. We are moved by the idea that our efforts have significance, value, and meaning in the communities where we work; it is especially fortifying when our contributions to the culture and life of a place mark a recognized turning-point or are acknowledged to be truly expressive of a client’s mission.
Sharing Architecture
Robert Vickery, VMDO Founder
The inspiration for everything we do can be found in the following quote from VMDO’s founder, Robert Vickery:
“The questioning and searching professional will grow more humble as he grows in architectural stature. He will develop an even stronger sense of ethics, and an understanding that helping resolve human spatial need brings a special pleasure to the responsible architect. Indeed, the practice of architecture is always joyful, for the dedicated architect knows that his next creative act may help to elevate the human spirit. He labors because he cares, and in caring he shares. He is not afraid to dream, knowing that the goal is to dream well. He searches for the dream that is worth sharing, and for those who will understand in their own way why this search is important and who are capable, in their own right, of joyfully sharing architecture.”
