VMDO Architects

Among other commitments, we give back to the place and community that we live and work in through service to our immediate American Institute of Architects AIA chapters – Central Virginia and Virginia – and through contributions, mentorship, and advocacy for nonprofits and local community organizations. We also recognize the important role architects play in community development and are committed to using our voices and professional skills to advocate for platforms that we believe benefit others and contribute positive change.

For instance, we have delivered testimony on how to responsibly design safe and secure schools to the Virginia House Select Committee on School Safety. Many of these recommendations were incorporated into legislation passed by the Virginia General Assembly. While buildings cannot prevent violence, they can – through a balance of physical and programmatic hardening and softening strategies – responsibly contribute to a sense of belonging, identity, and psychological security within a larger culture. Beyond good design theories and practices, it takes a holistic mix of industries and services – bolstered by awareness, advocacy, and investment – to advance commitments to mental health services and school resources.

A truly sustainable school, campus, or community space encourages conservation and restoration when it comes to the use of financial, environmental, and human resources. We believe that educational institutions and municipalities have a civic responsibility to practice stewardship. And we believe it is our obligation as architects to provide high performance buildings to the communities we serve.

Many of our projects serve as catalysts for change long after they are completed. Arlington Public Schools’ net-zero energy Discovery Elementary School continues to inspire change at the local, state, and national levels since opening in 2015. At the local level, Arlington Public Schools has made net-zero energy a requirement for the procurement of new construction. At the state level, the leaders of the aforementioned policy successfully lobbied the Virginia General Assembly to pass legislation that allows net-positive schools to sell and keep the funds generated from this excess energy. At the national level, the school has served as a model case study in various publications, including Advanced Energy Design Guide: Achieving Zero Energy – developed through the collaboration of ASHRAE, the American Institute of Architects, the Illuminating Engineering Society, the U.S. Green Building Council, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

In addition to reporting on the 2030 Commitment, we are signatories of advocacy initiatives calling for a stronger emphasis on the need to address climate change. We are also signatories of Architects Advocate and are participating in the JustDesign initiative to promote best practices related to hiring and firm management. The JUST Label offers a framework for building firm-wide accountability and engaging staff in an ongoing dialogue about what it means to be a socially just and equitable organization. VMDO is the first architecture firm in Virginia and the third firm in the Mid-Atlantic to achieve the label.

We are proud to design high quality work that exemplifies the power of architecture to respond with care and nuance to the larger issues facing our and future generations, and to advocate for the health and wellness of people and ecosystems both far and near.