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Whitepaper: The Learning Stairs
Resources
The Boys' Latin School of Maryland
Pearlman Jewish Day School
Baltimore, Maryland
Wynnewood, Pennsylvania
Brookwood School
Thomasville, Georgia
Calvert School
Baltimore, Maryland
Gilman School
Baltimore, Maryland
Girls Preparatory School
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Hill School
Jackson Academy
Pottstown, Pennsylvania
Jackson, Mississippi
Jesuit College Preparatory School
Dallas, Texas
Norwood-Fontbonne Academy
Philadelphia, PA
Kent Denver School
Denver, Colorado
McDonogh School
Owings Mills, Maryland
St. Andrew’s Episcopal School
Potomac, Maryland
St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School
Sewanee, Tennessee
St. Paul’s Episcopal School
Mobile, Alabama
Tower Hill School
Wilmington, Delaware
Roland Park Country School
Baltimore, Maryland
St. Anne’s Episcopal School
Middletown, Delaware
Select CLients
Full Client List
Full Client List
City, State
Dawson School worked with HCM on their campus plan and first phase project of a new dining commons in the heart of the campus to serve all students grades K-12. The second phase, a new Innovation Center, was recently completed in Fall 2020.
Lafayette, Colorado
107 acres
452 students, grades K-12
Reconciling Innovation & Tradition
After completing Severn School’s campus master plan, Hord Coplan Macht has had the privilege of completing the Teel Academic Center. The new Upper and Middle School academic building also serves as the “front door” for this spectacular riverside campus.
The Bullis School is working with HCM on the design of their new Lower School.
Potomac, Mayland
102 Acres
810 Students
A Warm and Welcoming Lower School
Using Student Life as a Catalyst for Wellness & Belonging
Stone Ridge School of the Scared Heart is a Catholic, independent, college preparatory school with a co-educational early childhood program.
Bethesda, Maryland
34.5 acres
710 students K-12
Science and Engineering
The Park School’s new Science and Technology wing, with new science labs and Technology Studio is an investment in their students’ future. HCM and Park delivered a Net-Zero project that invests in the campus’ future resilience and growth.
Baltimore, MD
850 Students
100 Acres
Foxcroft School continues to trust HCM with on-going campus improvements as they launch the next major initiative. The academic, arts and STEM/STEAM spaces will be improved and expanded to better support how students learn.
Middleburg, Virginia
500+ acres
175 students, grades 9-12
Keeping Up With The Times!
SELECT EXPERIENCE
Julie Higgins
Leah Wettstein
Neil Murray
Scott WALTERS
PAUL LUND
CASEY SMITH
PETER WINEBRENNER
TEAM
Hord Coplan Macht truly understands the Independent School world. Over the years, we have partnered with more than 80 independent schools across the country, having worked in 14 states and the District of Columbia. We have created over 45 campus plans and have helped schools plan and design hundreds of buildings and exterior spaces. This experience includes new campuses, as well as academic buildings, STEM/STEAM facilities, wellness centers and gymnasia, theaters and fine arts spaces, student centers, learning commons and residential facilities. We also help shape the very campuses these buildings sit on, such as lawns, quads, courtyards and plazas, as well as play areas, athletic fields, stadiums, tennis courts and all manner of circulation. We employ a highly inclusive and collaborative process, with a keen focus on designing for the true users of these institutions – the learners. We invite you to explore this resource, to learn about our team, our past experience, and our knowledge that we've shared with independent school leaders around the country.
Introduction
Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart
A new 11,000 sf Science and Technology wing, connecting existing academic spaces to the adjacent Athletic Center
Independent schools experience
Lyn Eller is a design principal at HCM and leads the design of many of the firm’s K12 projects in the Denver office. Lyn is passionate about designing schools that are beautiful, durable, functional, and that fit in to the local community. Lyn is also Master Planner and has worked with many private and public schools on improving the campus and planning for the future.
Principal
Lyn Eller, AIA LEED AP, NCARB
Leah is a Principal in the K12 Studio and leads the interior design efforts for HCM’s east coast education projects. She brings an in-depth understanding of how to create spaces that are flexible, timeless and reflect the unique culture and brand of each school. With an emphasis on creating successful academic environments that address her clients’ and users’ unique and evolving needs, Leah has extensive experience developing creative solutions through strategic programming, space planning, interior architecture, as well as selecting furniture and finishes. As a mom of three active leaners herself, Leah brings a playful tone to her work, reminding us all of why we really do what we do.
Principal
Leah Wettstein, CID, IIDA, NCIDQ
Lisa is a Principal and manages HCM’s firmwide sustainability efforts. While she has worked on a variety of project types including mixed use, multi-family, affordable housing, commercial office, her true passion lies in education projects with extensive experience in both K-12, and higher educational facilities. Lisa has been actively involved in sustainable design for her entire life through her profession, education, and volunteer work. She has worked on dozens of certified LEED projects, consults on many other projects across all studios, and promotes the integration of sustainability and well-being throughout the entire design process.
Principal
Lisa Ferretto, AIA, LEED, WELL, EcoDistricts AP, GGP
Neil is a project manager and experienced planner in HCM’s Education studio. With more than 15 years’ experience in designing and delivering complex projects, he espouses an integrative design process from the very beginning of the project, working to understand the goals of clients and users and developing a design through an open and collaborative process. Neil shares his passion for learning and creating beautiful, functional spaces with his clients and school partners, and facilitates a planning and design process that puts the learner at the center of all explorations and decisions.
Associate
Neil Murray, AIA, NCARB
Scott is the Education Studio Design Director, leading Hord Coplan Macht’s design team on multiple education projects, including many award-winning private K-12 schools. Scott believes great architecture arises from the unexpected. Thoughtful solutions emerge from analysis, curiosity, and hard work. He ascribes to a methodology that is tied intimately to the people, places, and time in which and for which we work. Focusing on investigation and imagination, Scott creates architecture with inspiring ideas and meaningful connections. Scott shares his passion with future architects as a frequent guest critic and former adjunct faculty member at the Morgan State University Graduate School of Architecture.
Principal
Scott Walters, AIA, LEED AP
As a Principal in the Education Studio, Paul has planned and designed buildings at independent schools across the country for the last 25 years. He has a passion for designing buildings that meet the programmatic goal and contribute to the campus and community in a meaningful way. These have included academic buildings, arts facilities, athletic facilities, residential halls, and dining facilities. Paul brings his clients into the design process in an integrated and collaborative fashion and leverages the latest educational philosophies and research to his clients, synthesizing them with the institution’s unique mission to create successful and innovative environments. As an active proponent of community and professional organizations, he has led design charrettes to create inspiring buildings that facilitate the education of all students.
Principal
Paul Lund, AIA, LEED BD+C, NCARB
Casey’s experience includes a number of complex projects, including renovations, additions and new construction. Most recently his experience has been focused on student life spaces and non-traditional academic environments that support student success, including innovation centers, maker space, athletic centers and student centers. He is involved in all phases of a project including programming, feasibility studies, design, documents, and construction administration. Throughout all of these processes, Casey is intimately involved with helping his clients develop consensus by providing decision support. His experience includes numerous presentations to community and regulatory groups, and he has a proven track record for keeping difficult projects on schedule and on budget.
Principal
Casey Smith, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB
Peter is a Principal in Hord Coplan Macht’s Education Studio and is the East Coast K12 practice leader. He leverages his 25+ years of experience in campus planning and design, overseeing a studio of passionate, like-minded design professionals. He is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of the learners and teachers through creating transformative learning environments. Peter is frequently invited to share his knowledge and insights on many topics affecting school planning and design. Education is truly in Peter’s blood - he grew up on the campus of Mercersburg Academy, and his wife, both parents, and sister are or were all educators.
Principal
Peter Winebrenner, AIA, LEED AP, REFP
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Foxcroft School
The park school
Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart
Bullis School
Severn School
St. Mary's Ryken High School
Hord Coplan Macht designed the new two-story, 54,000 gsf Center for Student Life at the very heart of the existing campus. An iterative planning process included interviews and programming, stakeholder engagement, analysis and discussion, and ultimately the final program and design. The facility will be all new construction including an all-school dining space, a proscenium theater, visual arts classrooms, vocal music, band, musical practice rooms, orchestral music space and ample new student life support spaces.
Hord Coplan Macht completed a feasibility study for the new Center for the Arts. Our holistic approach included evaluating the learning and support spaces on campus, student experience, future aspirations of the school, and the role of the building in the overall campus. The master plan developed a new vision for the Stone Ridge campus to support the growth of strategic plan initiatives, multiple future capital projects, realignment of the campus, and identified a location for the new Student Life Center. The realignment created a new campus heart, a campus walk, outdoor learning and gathering spaces, student play areas, and storm water management.
A key component of the Student Life Center is the 425-seat proscenium theatre that seats the largest division of the school for theatrical and music performances, lectures, and special events. The theatre is designed with the student experience in mind: the house includes a balcony and a series of private boxes, an accessible catwalk system for technical education, a balcony level control room, and a pit that accommodates the orchestra, additional seating, or reconfigures to a thrust stage.
After completing Severn School’s campus master plan, Hord Coplan Macht had the privilege of completing the Teel Academic Center. The new Upper and Middle School academic building also serves as the “front door” for this spectacular riverside campus.
The Innovation Center suite provides a palette of spaces that support student critical thinking, collaboration, and hands-on exploration.
The “Centennial Hall” entry recognizes the school's rich tradition by including the names of the school’s first 100 years of graduates within the interior of the rotunda and represents a more sustainable future with its green roof.
After completing Severn School’s campus master plan, Hord Coplan Macht has had the privilege of completing the Teel Academic Center. The new Upper and Middle School academic building also serves as the “front door” for this spectacular riverside campus.
Hord Coplan Macht worked with St. Mary’s Ryken to incorporate the school’s brand and donor recognition throughout the building.
The project was recently certified LEED gold for its sustainable features, such as daylighting and energy performance.
The building’s design takes advantage of the topography of the site, which allows for the main concourse to have incredible views of the main court and making it perfect for hosting special events.
The dynamic main entry and cascading terraces have created a new social hub in the middle of campus.
Held By Nature - The new Lower School building is sited on the campus to connect to the heart of campus while creating safe and protected play areas. Massing is scaled to reflect historic campus architecture while creating dynamic interior learning environments.
Warm and Cozy – Classrooms are filled with daylight creating learning environments that are conducive to exploration and discovery. The design team worked to create spaces that limited the visual clutter of buildings while creating warm and cozy spaces through a natural and warm material palette.
Evolution of Learning – Education and gathering spaces were programmed to allow educators to deliver educational programs for today’s learners, while creating infrastructure to allow for future programmatic changes.
Bullis School
The ambitious multi-phase improvement of the entire academic, arts and STEM/STEAM facilities involves a new addition that houses a new Foxhound Auditorium, a new STEM wing, and complete renovations of the existing Schoolhouse and Music Building. The addition creates a new enclosed courtyard that will support a variety of learning, performing and socializing activities, and blends in seamlessly with the established context and quietly elegant building style.
The expanded and modernized academic precinct sits on the edge of the developed campus, and engages with the iconic Miss Charlotte’s Garden. The centerpiece of the complex is the new Foxhound Auditorium, which both fronts on the new courtyard and offers views out towards the pastures and rolling hills beyond.
The improvements to the academic precinct are part of the larger campus-wide planning that HCM led Foxcroft through. Building on the previous campus plans, the focus of this latest study is on the improvements of all academic spaces while also creating a variety of outdoor learning and gathering opportunities.
The centerpiece of the project is a new Foxhound Auditorium. Designed to be truly multi-functional, the new space will easily transform from a day-time social and learning space to a highly flexible performance space, capable of supporting a variety of theatrical performance arrangements. Conceived as the true “living room” of the precinct, this new space will truly support a wide range of activities for the school and community.
The new 11,000 sf, two-story expansion serves as a visual backdrop to Park’s pond, connecting the existing academic spaces to the adjacent Athletic Center. The exterior design expresses Park’s unique progressive vision and philosophy, with a dynamic “butterfly” roof that provides natural light into the second-floor labs while directing rainfall to the demonstration stormwater management bioretention garden. The ample glazing, natural material palette, and massing create a new yet contextual design for the wing.
Daylight and views fill student circulation spaces, connecting the building to campus and the landscape beyond.
Corridors become breakout zones allowing students opportunities to collaborate and build social connections. Biophilic design elements create a calm and centering learning environment. The project uses solar shading improves energy efficiency, while creating stimulating visual environments connecting interior and exterior spaces.
Student gathering areas create spaces where socializing and study can happen concurrently. Flexible furniture allows spaces to multi-functional for campus activities.
Bullis Community – Common Spaces visually connect to campus and create spaces that allow the Bullis community to gather, learn and celebrate. The material pallete draws from from historic buildings on campus while creating environments that are warm and inviting to all students in the Lower School.
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Loyola Blakefield
Towson, Maryland
The Park School of Baltimore
Baltimore, Maryland
Norwood School
Bethesda, Maryland
Libraries to Learning Commons: It's not Hush Hush Anymore
Evolution of Innovation: The Bryn Mawr Innovation Lab Development
Foxcroft School
Severn School
Wellness and Innovation for K12 Learners
Dawson School
The Park School
Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart
The Student Life Center consolidates three distinct dining areas and the existing kitchen into a centralized state of the arts facility. A student café, located at the front of the building, offers food to students at all times and provides an environment for group projects, collaboration, and informal learning.
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Campus Planning
Recorded Presentation: Paul Lund with Eric Osberg, Head of School at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart at NBOA 2022
Littlest Learners- Breaking Out of the Classroom
Recorded Presentation: Peter Winebrenner with Cathy McGehee, Head of School at The Foxcroft School
Best Practices
Resilient Design Strategies for Restorative Learning Environments
Meaningful Student Engagement
How Gen-Z Uses Space
K12 Learners
Evolution of Innovation: The Bryn Mawr Innovation Lab Development
Libraries to Learning Commons: It's not Hush Hush Anymore
The Learning Stairs Whitepaper
City, State
St. Mary’s Ryken and Hord Coplan Macht worked together to create a new athletic center that works with its unique site. The building’s performance court not only creates a welcoming environment for athletes and visitors, but also spaces that support functional training and wellness for all students and staff.
The Evolving Campus Athletic Center
St. Mary's Ryken High School
The building serves all students from grades K through 12. The main dining hall seats approximately 350 people at tables.
Natural light and warm materials fill the new space.
The new dining commons offers views providing a connection to campus.
Dawson School
The new student center/theater features retractable theater seating, allowing the space to be configured to support a wide variety of performance arrangements.
The interior of the new student center/theater is designed to be highly flexible and transform from a social gathering space into any number of performance and worship configurations.
The new student center/theater helps shape the lawn on the south side and will provide a vibrant multi-purpose facility where the members of the Holy Child community gather to perform, learn, worship, socialize and celebrate.
Connelly School of the Holy Child
Lyn Eller
Adele Willson
Adele leads the firm’s Denver based practice for K-12 schools and during her 35 years of experience, has worked with public, charter, and private schools throughout the state related to programming, master planning, and design of their facilities. She is also an active participant in many organizations that affect schools such as A4LE where she is the past president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter and “Educational Planner of the Year” in 2009. She is passionate about designing high performing beautiful schools that meet the needs of 21st Century learners.
Market Sector Leader | Managing Principal
Adele Willson, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB
As a Principal in HCM’s Landscape and planning Studio, Julie has designed a wide array of well recognized landscape projects. She has been practicing landscape architecture for more than 40 years. As a SITES and LEED accredited professional, Julie is committed to designing sustainable environments, including a focus on incorporating sustainable site development practices into all projects. She excels at communicating with her clients through all phases of design and is able to effectively translate and enhance their goals into timelessly beautiful projects.
Principal
Julie Higgins, ASLA, CLARB, SITES AP
The new dining commons offers outdoor spaces to dine and socialize.
The new student center/theater greets visitors and school community members alike, providing an exciting first impression as they arrive on campus. The building flanks a new visitor entry, along with a welcome center and arts expansion.
City, State
St. Mary’s Ryken and Hord Coplan Macht worked together to create a new athletic center that works with its unique site. The building’s performance court not only creates a welcoming environment for athletes and visitors, but also spaces that support functional training and wellness for all students and staff.
Wellness and Innovation for K12 Learners
St. Mary's Ryken High School
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Lyn Eller is a design principal at HCM and leads the design of many of the firm’s K12 projects in the Denver office. Lyn is passionate about designing schools that are beautiful, durable, functional, and that fit in to the local community. Lyn is also Master Planner and has worked with many private and public schools on improving the campus and planning for the future.
Principal
Lyn Eller, AIA LEED AP, NCARB
City, State
The new Center for Entrepreneurship transformed an antiquated library into a holistic Learning Commons, providing flexible spaces for students to informally collaborate and learn.
Wilmington, DE
822 students, Grades PK-12
44 acres
An Aspirational Center for Entrepreneurship
Tower Hill School
The new experiential playground supports the lower school’s program by providing students with ample opportunities to explore, learn, and use their imagination.
By enclosing an existing exterior courtyard with an innovative glass roofing system, the new dining commons dramatically increases the amount of space available to support multiple functions year-round.
An innovation hub was incorporated that features a new digital design lab, informal presentation area with interactive display wall, and huddle rooms for small group work.
The new learning commons provides a variety of gathering options for students. New windows were inserted to provide ample daylight and visual connection to the campus.
Tower Hill school
City, State
A new campus plan reimagines Holy Child’s campus, creating spaces both indoors and outdoors for the girls to gather, learn, perform and worship.
Potomac, MD
350 girls, Grades 6-12
12 acres
Wellness and Innovation for K12 Learners
Connelly School of the Holy Child
The new student center/theater features retractable theater seating, allowing the space to be configured to support a wide variety of performance arrangements.
The interior of the new student center/theater is designed to be highly flexible and transform from a social gathering space into any number of performance and worship configurations.
The new student center/theater helps shape the lawn on the south side and will provide a vibrant multi-purpose facility where the members of the Holy Child community gather to perform, learn, worship, socialize and celebrate.
The new student center/theater greets visitors and school community members alike, providing an exciting first impression as they arrive on campus. The building flanks a new visitor entry, along with a welcome center and arts expansion.
Tower Hill School
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Anne Dutton
Anne has broad experience in architecture, planning and even
landscape architecture. She is an adaptable professional and
enjoy all scales of design, from planning to design detailing. Her favorite projects have always been working with hands-on institutions dedicated to supporting community and individual experience with functional, engaging spaces. She has almost 20 years of experience and have been a licensed architect in the state of Maryland for 10 years.
Associate
Anne Dutton, AIA
Lyn Eller
Lyn Eller
Lyn Eller is a design principal at HCM and leads the design of many of the firm’s K12 projects in the Denver office. Lyn is passionate about designing schools that are beautiful, durable, functional, and that fit in to the local community. Lyn is also Master Planner and has worked with many private and public schools on improving the campus and planning for the future.
Associate
Lyn Eller, AIA LEED AP, NCARB
Bullis School
Potomac, Maryland
Davisdon Day School
Davidson, North Carolina
Princeton Day School
Princeton, New Jersey
Bethesda, Maryland
Behesda, Maryland