VMDO Architects is deeply honored to receive the 2025 T. David Fitz-Gibbon Virginia Architecture Firm Award from AIA Virginia, becoming the first firm in the award’s history to be recognized twice. We first received this distinction in 2003. More than two decades later, this second honor affirms the enduring relevance of the values that have guided our practice for nearly fifty years.

A Recognition of Enduring Commitments

The Fitz-Gibbon Award celebrates a firm’s sustained design excellence over at least a decade, along with its contributions to the profession, the community, and the built environment. Winning it once is a rare privilege. Winning again affirms that the core ideals shaping VMDO’s work – designing for learning, fostering community, and advancing environmental stewardship – remain steadfast, even as they have grown and adapted to meet new challenges and possibilities.

Our practice began in 1976 as a teaching firm, founded by Professor Robert Vickery and his students, Bob Moje, Lawson Drinkard, and David Oakland, with the belief that architecture could elevate the human spirit and serve the public good. That founding ethos still shapes our work today: engaging deeply with communities, designing spaces that support health and wellness, and mentoring the next generation of architects.

Driven by Mission, Measured by Results

In the years since our first Fitz-Gibbon award, VMDO has expanded our reach and sharpened our focus. We’ve grown to an 80-person team across studios in Charlottesville and Washington, DC. We’ve refined our design process to be as collaborative as it is rigorous, anchored in authentic community engagement, grounded in research, and measured through post-occupancy evaluations.

Our portfolio remains centered on education and community buildings, but the scope and impact have broadened:

• Net-zero energy schools that serve as living laboratories, teaching environmental stewardship while reducing climate impacts.
• Adaptive reuse projects that preserve heritage while reimagining spaces for new generations.
• Public gathering places that integrate interior and exterior experiences, advancing equity, access, and well-being.

Over the past decade, our work has been recognized nationally with multiple AIA Architecture Awards, COTE Top Ten Awards, and a Test of Time Award – demonstrating both design quality and durability of impact.

Extending Impact

Equally important is what happens beyond our projects. As a JUST-certified firm (the first architecture practice in Virginia to earn that distinction) we hold ourselves accountable to equity and transparency in our operations. We invest in mentorship, launch scholarships for underrepresented students, and partner with HBCUs and the National Organization of Minority Architects to expand pathways into the profession. Through our VMDO Design Corps, we donate design services and volunteer time to projects that strengthen our communities.

We also share what we learn. Whether publishing research on healthy school design, testifying before the Virginia General Assembly on the importance of safe and secure schools, or presenting at national conferences, we view knowledge sharing as integral to our role as architects.

Building on Our Legacy

As we approach our 50th anniversary next year, this second Fitz-Gibbon Award is both a milestone and a mirror. It reflects the people, projects, and partnerships that have shaped our past, while inspiring us to imagine the future we want to help build.

Our founding principal, Bob Vickery once wrote:

“The practice of architecture is always joyful, for the dedicated architect knows that one’s next creative act may help to elevate the human spirit.”

We carry that joy forward – designing places that are exceptional and approachable, memorable and functional, lasting and loved.

To everyone who has been part of this journey – clients, collaborators, communities, and colleagues – thank you! This honor belongs to all of us.