About

Since 1980, we have served museums, libraries, academic institutions, and civic agencies with work that is respectful of the physical context, inquisitive in approach, and authentic to its own place in history.  With new firm leadership, we have recommitted ourselves to our founding ideals.

Our Philosophy

We know that as individuals we are more creative working together than independently. And, while our own varied backgrounds bring value to our work, we actively recruit voices outside our firm to make our projects better. The insights of building users, clients, engineers, and builders enrich the outcome, creating architecture that is relevant and responsive, sometimes surprising, and always unique. Each project is an adventure defined by the particular circumstances and participants of the work, rather than reflecting a standard design style or process.

Our Services

Museum & Cultural Design:  We have completed more than forty museum projects and are experts in all aspects of museum design.  Our extensive experience means we also consult nationally to both museums and other architects on spaces and equipment for collections storage. The leader of our Museum & Cultural Design practice, Jon Traficonte, can be contacted here.

Library Design:  We are at the forefront of a revolution in library design.  Our award-winning new libraries, transformations, and library programs create efficient, flexible, engaging spaces for staff and users. Our Library Practice leader, Angela Ward Hyatt, can be contacted here.

Academic Design: We partner with academic institutions to address their ever-evolving campus facility needs. As dedicated problem-solvers, we serve national research universities like Princeton, Yale, Brown, and UVA, as well as public and private colleges and secondary schools.  Our Academic Practice leader, Mark Schatz, can be contacted here.

Civic Design: Our thoughtful, cost-effective designs for federal, state, and local governments meet the needs of their users and fulfill our enthusiasm for design in the public realm. Several of our projects are part of the US Government’s Design Excellence Program.  Our Civic Practice leader, Peter Kleiner, can be contacted here.

Renovations and Adaptive Reuse: We are modern architects that love older buildings.  So we are pleased to be nationally recognized for our transformative renovations and sensitive adaptations of historic buildings. Six of our seven AIA National Honor Awards have been for renovations and additions to older buildings.