VMDO Architects

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. Centennial Village is currently the first residential complex to undergo WELL v.2 certification.

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.

Environmental Stewardship

In 2018, Discovery Elementary School became the first verified Zero Energy (ZE) building certified by the collaborative partnership of the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) and New Buildings Institute (NBI). According to both ILFI and NBI, Discovery is one of the largest verified ZE buildings of any kind, anywhere in the world. In 2017, the project earned VMDO’s second AIA COTE award and was named a Green Ribbon School from the U.S. Department of Education. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Energy launched the Net-Zero Accelerator at Discovery – a national partnership aimed at demonstrating how investing in renewable energy translates into cost savings and enhanced learning environments. Through these partnerships, we have been able to promote the importance of designing sustainable buildings that also engage and enable students’ visions for a greener future.