Spirit
VMDO continues its tradition as a teaching firm that helps employees as well as clients and students question and (re)define the role of architecture in society.
Continuous Improvement
While small in size at 70 people, VMDO has achieved accolades for its designs of learning environments on par with large multinational firms. VMDO’s designs have achieved international and national acclaim from the American Institute of Architects’ Committee on Architecture for Education (AIA CAE), the Society for College and University Planners (SCUP), and sequential awards in 2016, 2017, and 2018 from the Association of College Unions International (ACUI). Our commitment to sustainability is evidenced by receipt in 2010 and 2017 of Top Ten AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) awards – considered the industry’s premier accolade for sustainable design.
VMDO recently won two national design competitions for the University of Miami’s Centennial Village and George Washington University’s revitalization of Thurston Hall – two significant projects that are creating iconic student destinations that will re-define what it means to live, learn, work, and meet on these urban campuses. These projects, along with others, are collectively contributing research on student belonging, well-being, and health.
Serving Communities
Not only are VMDO’s designs setting the bar with building performance, but they are also joyful, healthy places that nourish learning, growth, and student development. The firm earnestly believes that places of learning should be expressive of a community’s highest ideals and represent those aims tangibly through environmentally sensitive designs that befit a
community’s context, enduring traditions, and goals for future generations. Mirroring these external hopes internally, VMDO continues its tradition as a teaching firm that helps employees as well as clients and students question and (re)define the role of architecture in society – and become creative participants in future solutions.
Evidence-Based Design
VMDO collaborated with the Center for the Built Environment to develop a custom POE module to deploy in conjunction with CBE’s standard post occupancy survey that asks questions about safety, community, health and wellness, and sustainability. By conducting POEs and contributing other research, we are able apply lessons learned at each interval of the design process that is shared with our clients, our collaborators, and peers to continually elevate the conversion around human-centered design.