Virginia Governor Tim Kaine kicks off "Smart Grid" Network on Charlottesville's Historic Downtown Mall

On June 15, 2009, Governor Tim Kaine declared Charlottesville "Virginia's first city in Dominion Virginia Power's 'Smart Grid' Network". The initiative's primary objectives are to conserve power and lower electric bills. To read the full article published in the C-ville Weekly, click here.

Tidewater Community College Chesapeake | Student Center

VMDO begins Programming + Pre Design for TCC Chesapeake's New Student Center. 

While many students are taking a summer break, some faculty and student will return to campus for summer extracurricular work. Beginning June 16th, VMDO's design team will meet with student organization leaders and faculty to program the campus' first new building in more than a decade. The new Student Center, scheduled for completion in 2011, will accommodate students activities that range from lounge, meeting and study - to recreation, retail and child-minding. To visit the project website, click here.

Christa Livermon receives Golden Apple Award

Christa Livermon, wife of VMDO Architects Principal, Randy Livermon, AIA, was recently honored by the Better Living Foundation for her service as a gifted resource teacher at Murray Elementary in Albemarle County, Virginia.

Forty-one area educators, one from each public and private school in Charlottesville and Albemarle County, were honored with Golden Apple Awards.

The awards were established in 2001 by Richard and Judy Nunley, owners of Better Living Furniture and Better Living Building Supply. They based the awards on a similar program in Florida.

Judy Nunley was a teacher in Charlottesville, and the couple, through their Better Living Foundation, are ardent advocates for education and its importance in building and furthering a better community.

VMDO architects visit Tandem Friends School

David Oakland, Jim Richardson, and Frances Watson joined Christine Putnam's 8th Grade Science classes at Tandem Friends School on Wednesday. The three shared their perspective on architecture and discussed principles of sustainable design. They also learned about the students' current work designing their own "green" houses. 

Design Week '09 has begun!

The Central Virginia AIA, along with partners in the community, will host several events throughout the week of March 27th - April 3rd. Click here to find out more.

Charlottesville breaks ground for new transit facility

Charlottesville broke ground Monday afternoon on a new maintenance and operations center for the city's transit system.

The center will be located on Avon Street Extended in Albemarle County. The LEED certified center will consist of four buildings, on roughly six acres, totaling 26,000 square feet.

Nearly 2 million passengers used Charlottesville Transit Service (CTS) last year, and the numbers are going up.

"Our job is to serve the people in the community, to get them to and from where they want to go and this is going to help us do that better and it's great. It's also going to be a green facility. This is one that is part of having a sustainable future for the Charlottesville area," said Charlottesville Transit Manager Bill Watterson.

The $15.5 million project was funded mostly by state and federal grants.

To find out more about the project, click here.

Charlottesville construction firm honored for citizenship

Martin Horn Inc., a longtime local general contracting company, has received the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s highest award for corporate citizenship. Martin Horn has long supported local nonprofit organizations, including the Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad, Live Arts, Piedmont YMCA, Monticello, the United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area and many others.

To find out more, click here.

Virginia Military Institute's new Center for Leadership and Ethics receives its own website

VMI has placed a special section dedicated to the institute's new Center for Leadership & Ethics on its website. Click here to access it!

Jefferson Scholars Foundation Center webcam

Click here to access Martin-Horn's webcam of the construction of the new Jefferson Scholars Foundation Center. To learn more about the project, click here.

VMDO Architects lends a hand to Faulconer Construction on its Canstruction Design Project Entry

Kim Thompson-Smith, AIA, and J.P. Mays of VMDO Architects assisted volunteers from Faulconer Construction on their entry in the 2008 Canstruction Design Competition. This was the first year that the event was held in Charlottesville, Virginia.

A foundation of the Society for Design Administration (SDA), Canstruction^® is a design / build competition currently held in cities throughout North America. Teams of architects, engineers, and students mentored by these professionals, compete to design and build giant structures made entirely from full cans of food. 

The results are displayed to the public as magnificent sculpture exhibits in each city where a competition is held. At the close of the exhibitions all of the canned food used in the structures is donated to local food banks for distribution to emergency feeding programs that include pantries, soup kitchens, elderly and day care centers. 

The Faulconer / VMDO Architects team initially met to create a design concept. Since Faulconer Construction is in the business of road work and earth moving, the team decided to create a design around this. J.P. Mays, an intern architect at VMDO, then drew up a quick diagram of the concept, which consisted of a cone and construction sign. J.P. also estimated the number of cans that would be needed to construct the model.

Volunteers from Faulconer Construction then assembled the model at the design competition. The canstructions were on display at Fashion Square Mall through November 21st. After that, all of the food was donated to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.

To read more about the Canstruction Design Competition in Charlottesville, Virginia and watch the local news report, click here.