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PROFILE
Creating opportunities: Rob Winstead Principal at VMDO, an architectural planning and design firm that creates community-centered environments that connect people and place through design.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
A s a nationally-recognized expert in learning space planning and design as well as sustainability, Winstead is an advocate for exceptional learning spaces that blend thoughtful design with high performance goals. As principal and K-12 studio leader at VMDO (Charlottesville, VA), he provides firm- wide leadership and studio management that align with the company’s structure as one firm with multiple studios. “As a former director of sustainability, I’ve spent most of my career working to integrate sustainability into our work, process, and culture,” Winstead says. “We want all of our projects to be happy, healthy, and high-performing. We want the same for our firm and for our staff.” A CONVERSATION WITH ROB WINSTEAD. The Zweig Letter: Can you give me an example of a learning space your firm has designed that blends thoughtful design with high performance goals? Rob Winstead: We like to think all our projects possess both. While we have several that utilize solar technologies and
rainwater harvesting, my favorite examples are often more subtle in nature. For example, the renovation of Thurston Hall at George Washington University is scheduled to open fall of 2022. The project represents the significant expansion of our thinking about performance. This renovation of a 200,000-square-foot historic building, the largest first-year dormitory at GWU, preserves the historic integrity of the Foggy Bottom campus while extending the life of this important asset for the next 50-100 years. Due to complex extended use patterns, maintenance protocols, and centralized utilities, residence life projects are notoriously energy intensive buildings. Careful detailing of the envelope allowed us to honor the historic exterior while improving comfort and minimizing loads. Healthy materials, a new high performance HVAC system, and advanced lighting provide a high level of environmental quality while reducing energy use by 38 percent. Stormwater is managed on-site by using it for toilet flushing and landscape irrigation. The most exciting space in this project is a central courtyard that’s the heart of this living-learning community. Once a dim
THE ZWEIG LETTER M
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