As leaders in the planning and design of educational facilities across the nation, Bowie Gridley Architects (BGA) has recently been focusing on how best to assist schools, colleges, and universities in returning to their campuses during the COVID-19 pandemic. As many students across the country may have experienced educational loss due to prolonged closures during the pandemic, BGA has been actively creating and implementing plans to assist educational facilities in their endeavor to reopen their classrooms and campuses in the coming months.

While some school districts and campuses have implemented distance learning, it is not generally believed to be as beneficial as the in-person learning experience. If your institution needs assistance in returning to some semblance of normalcy during these trying times, please contact one of our educational planners to discuss your plans to reopen. Details are provided on the attached flier.

Bowie Gridley Architects is pleased to share news of the recently completed Recital Hall and Arts Center at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, Virginia. This new facility features a 450-seat recital hall, music teaching spaces, art studios and gallery space. The building has a direct tie-in to the existing Wilton Hall Middle School classroom building and is oriented to create a new campus “gateway” entry point. The recital hall has been set one full story into the ground to reduce the visible height relative to adjacent buildings.

BGA Principal Richard Salopek was recently elected to serve a one-year term as President of the McLean Planning Committee.  The MPC is a community organization comprised of representatives from citizens associations and businesses that advise the Fairfax County Dranesville District Supervisor and Planning Commissioner on land use and development issues in the McLean (Virginia) Community Business Center. Rich has served on the MPC since 2003 and is currently one of four Directors representing the McLean Citizen’s Association. For more information on the McLean Planning Committee, please visit their website at https://mcleanplanning.org/