DLR Group

Resilient schools in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a century-old San Antonio hotel reborn, and 25 global interior design awards. Five stories on design built to adapt. #linkedinnewsletter #newsletter

The U.S. Virgin Islands is undergoing an unprecedented effort to update and upgrade schools. Working alongside the Virgin Island Department of Education and FEMA, we helped shape a $3.68 billion plan that is now beginning to turn 45 aging school buildings into 18 modern campuses across St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John: https://lnkd.in/gJTth7_M The engine behind it is a "kit of parts”: adaptable building blocks, such as small learning communities, gyms, and administrative areas that flex to each site and reflect each island's character. To ease the transformation, bridging documents set the quality standards for our integrated design so work can be phased and funded while students stay in class. Senior Principal and K-12 Education Leader Pam Loeffelman, FAIA, LEED AP, shares our approach in the link above.

Principal and Justice+Civic Design Leader Mallory Scott Cusenbery, AIA, joined the BUILDINGS Podcast to talk through what mission-critical design teaches the rest of us – about resilience, risk, and keeping operations running when conditions turn. His point: these lessons don't stop at public safety. Schools, hospitals, offices, civic buildings – every facility benefits from planning that assumes disruption is coming, not hoping it won't. Listen to the full conversation: https://lnkd.in/gB6vGfbd Pictured are Mallory’s original sketches.

Hub Fullerton in California is home for residents from California State University, Fullerton, Hope International University, and Pacific Rim Christian College – three campus cultures under one roof: https://lnkd.in/eSDhBu_8 This student housing development spans 862 feet. A building that long can read like a wall. So, in partnership with Core Spaces, we broke it into smaller volumes, shifted materials, pulled landscape through, and placed shared program where students already gather. From the sidewalk you see clusters, each with its own character. Inside, you find a place you can move through easily: a roof deck with pool and hot tub, a spa, theater room, study areas, lounges, and a coffee shop where three student bodies become one. Learn how we approach student housing at scale – click the link above. Video by Nick Tortajada

Twenty-five awards this year, spanning education, justice and civic, hospitality, mixed-use, healthcare, and workplace interior designs: https://lnkd.in/ecqirD9E "Design shapes how people move, connect, and solve problems," says Global Interiors Leader Audrey Koehn, NCIDQ, LEED AP. "The common thread across these projects is making everyday experiences more intuitive and deeply human." We are proud to see recognition for both our people and our projects. Organizations include International Interior Design Association, MUSE Awards, New Hope Network, Design Middle East, and juries at the local, national, and global level.

A building that taught generations is now teaching in new ways. The Geneva Schaeffer Education Building has stood at West Texas A&M University for decades. Instead of replacing it, we asked: what could it become? We reimagined the space as a digital learning hub – immersive classrooms, production studios, VR-ready environments, and infrastructure flexible enough to adapt as teaching evolves. Toggle features our design approach and the thinking behind it. "We wanted to take a building that has always been about teaching and learning and reimagine it for the next generation of students," says Higher Education Leader Emily Winters, AIA, LEED Green Assoc.: https://lnkd.in/eMpJ6sm3

Over the past 20 years, Mission Bay in San Francisco has been transforming, so much so that it got to a point where the neighborhood needed a public school of its own. Mission Bay School is the first new San Francisco Unified School District campus in a decade: https://lnkd.in/eFFpq4s7 Walk into the now-open school and the first thing you’ll notice is how easy it is to find your way. Four stories, clear circulation, and sightlines let a kindergartner see where they're going and a teacher see who needs help. That clarity is our design. Rooms open from several points and are intentionally paired with breakout rooms, so a class can split, regroup, or head outside without friction. Upper levels give older students room for interdisciplinary work, with a future STEM Linked Learning Hub connecting coursework to careers right in the neighborhood. And the all-electric, daylit, solar-ready building meets San Francisco Unified School District's energy goals for decades. More on how this design came together in the link above.

“[We] are confident that The Gunter will offer an unforgettable stay for both locals and travelers from around the world,” shares Owner and Managing Director Jiwon Choi at Axle Capital. Walk into the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio and the building tells you where it's been. Marble floors. Columns that pull your eye upward. Ceiling details someone carved by hand a century ago. Our design approach kept all of it, then gave the interiors a second voice: moody light, saturated texture, and small discoveries tucked into corners for guests who look twice. Sleeper Magazine has the full story on the renovation: https://lnkd.in/e44j6rHh

Project update: Gainesville Fire Rescue Fire Station #3 recently broke ground, signifying the evolution of the station that’s served the community for 62 years. Designing its successor started with the question: what will the City of Gainesville need from this building in the decades ahead? Preparing for the unknown is – you guessed it – not so simple. One of the design solutions was using a concrete tilt-wall construction with an envelope engineered for Category 5 winds, windborne debris, and flooding. And critically, we designed around flexible programming so the station can take on new services as call volumes shift. Station #3 is one piece of a larger effort. The City of Gainesville is investing in fire rescue, police, and public works to modernize facilities, improve emergency response, and support the city's growth. Alongside the City and Monarch Design Group, we're designing 136,000 SF of civic infrastructure, with three projects answering the Fire Rescue Growth and Expansion Master Plan: https://lnkd.in/eqEzn-Ec More milestones ahead. Follow along as this work takes shape.

Ask a student what they think of the new building and they won't mention the design. They'll tell you where their favorite space to learn or decompress is. That answer is the real measure of our education designs. You see it in the classroom that shifts from lecture to small groups without anyone dragging furniture across the room or the nook where a student who needs a minute can take one. None of that happens by accident. It happens when educators and designers sit at the same table early and stay there. "Everything has to start with teaching and learning. When you mirror good integrated practices, with spatial design – really great things can happen for kids and school districts," shares Educational Learning Designer Dr. Tim Shimp, Ed. D. Real designs, real outcomes. Scroll through some K-12 learning environments that embody this ethos: https://lnkd.in/dKMNcuNW #BacktoSchool2026