Tag: architecture
SCHRADERGROUP Welcomes a Former Intern to the Architectural Production Team!
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is happy to announce the newest member to join our team! Please help us welcome Architectural Designer Daniel Pawluczyk, Associate AIA!
Daniel Pawluczyk, Associate AIA
Architectural Designer
Pennsylvania State University – Bachelor of Architecture
Dan is a recent Pennsylvania State University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in architecture. After spending multiple summers interning for a construction company, he was propelled into the world of design and construction and became familiar with job sites through this work. While pursuing his architecture degree, he continued his journey by completing an architectural internship at SG in the summer of 2021. During that time, he assisted Principals and Project Managers with existing conditions reports and feasibility studies, created design options for a new Field House for a local school district, and prepped design development documents for the construction of a new high school.
Dan is skilled in both creating concept options and in using building information modeling software. He is committed to seeing an idea through until it is a reality. Dan finds it most effective to express ideas and find solutions through hand-drawn sketches and follows through with digital modeling to work through the technical details. He thinks that having a curious and open mind is key to success in this industry and he looks forward to applying everything he will learn from his fellow architects and designers to his work.
Dan is passionate about finding fun activities for himself and his friends during his time off. He served as chapter relations chair in his business fraternity, organizing events such as barbecue cookouts, volleyball tournaments, and ski trips for his fraternity brothers. Dan also studied abroad in Rome in the Fall of 2021. Dan is excited to now live in Manayunk and is ready to explore many of the fun art exhibitions, shops, and breweries in Philadelphia.
Looking to the future, Dan is excited to contribute fresh ideas to the team and to learn as much as he can while preparing for the Architect Registration Examination (ARE). He looks forward to learning about the project management role in architecture and how the construction phase allows him to entertain creative yet technical solutions when working through the early phases of a project.
“Having the ability to shape your own career path by following your creative interests is one of the most valuable aspects of architecture and design. I feel joining the SG team will lead me through many creative avenues of design that I never would have imagined.” – Dan
Welcome Dan! We are thrilled to have you join the SG team and are excited to see what the future holds for you! Our team looks forward to sharing our company culture and practice with our new team member and is excited to follow his journey of future success.
Interested in working with us? Visit our Careers page to see what opportunities are available at SG here.
Great Valley School District Breaks Ground on New 5/6 Center
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) attended the official ceremonial groundbreaking for the new 5/6 Center for Great Valley School District (GVSD) on Monday, July 18th. SG Managing Partner David Schrader and Associate Danielle V. Hoffer attended the event with GVSD board members, administration, and the design team.
As a result of a comprehensive Facility Assessment and Master Plan, the option to build a new 5-6 Center will provide the district relief at the four K-5 elementary schools and 6-8 middle school as enrollments continue to climb. The construction of a new facility provides a unique opportunity to design a facility specific for this transitional age group to accommodate 900 students. Based on the teaming model, the academic wing will be comprised of four classroom clusters per grade level on each floor.
The new school will be located on the site currently serving the K.D. Markley Elementary School and the District Administration Building. A portion of the existing District Administration Building will be demolished with the original historic portion of the building maintained. The former historic building will be repurposed as the bus drop-off entrance to the school. A bridge connects the two-story academic building on the lower side of the site to the public spaces on the upper side. The sitework will include modifications to the existing site circulation, including a separate bus drop off for both the new 5-6 Center and the K. D. Markley Elementary School, as well as parking and playfields to accommodate the new construction and program.
The historic portion of the building will be renovated to house the school’s STEM program and will serve as the back drop for the media resource area. The central 2-story learning commons in the academic core of the building features a learning stair to provide a vertical connection from the first to second floor overlooking the space.
The main entrance opens into the dining commons with the stage. Tiered seating allows this multi-purpose space to serve as a performance area. The stage is also accessible from the gymnasium side to provide options for different venues.
This facility is scheduled to open in the fall of 2024.
To learn more about Great Valley School District, please click here.
To learn more about SCHRADERGROUP’s commitment to design for education, please click here.
SCHRADERGROUP Attends Delaware Valley Association of School Business Officials’ Annual Golf Outing!
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) recently attended the DVASBO Golf Outing at the Gilbertsville Golf Course on Friday, June 17th in Gilbertsville, PA. The Delaware Valley Association of School Business Officials (DVASBO) has held this outing for 32 consecutive years to help raise money for scholarships for Delaware Valley students.
DVASBO is the regional chapter of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO). For nearly five decades, DVASBO has been supporting school professionals in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties. The organization currently has over 1,000 members and they are devoted to providing members with education, training, professional development, and timely access to legislative and policy news.
SG Principals Bruce Bachtle and Tom Forsberg were joined by Project Managers and Associates Devin Bradbury and Dan D’Amico. The SG team would like to extend our sincere thanks to the dedicated members of DVASBO for organizing this event held for a great cause.
To learn more about SCHRADERGROUP’s commitment to educational facilities, click here.
To learn more about the Delaware Valley Association of School Business Officials, click here.
THANK YOU to the SCHRADERGROUP 2022 Summer Architectural Interns!
It has been quite a busy summer at SCHRADERGROUP (SG), and we cannot believe how fast time has flown by! We would like to thank our three architectural interns for their hard work and enthusiasm this summer. It is always great to welcome fresh faces to the firm, especially those still in school and looking to learn a bit more about our world! Thank you to Wiley Muck, Miranda Ocampo, and Allyson Everlof for all of your help this summer! We wish you the best in your future studies and professions!
Before they head back to school, the SG family would like highlight each of our great interns:
Wiley Muck
Graduate Student
Temple University – Bachelor of Architecture, currently pursuing Master of Architecture Degree
Wiley will be a 5th year architecture student at Temple University pursuing his Master of Architecture degree. He is the Vice President of the Club Golf team, which he started at Temple along with another architecture student. Wiley enjoys hiking, being outdoors, and can always be found listening to music during his daily activities.
Wiley’s interest in architecture began when he was young. He enjoyed playing with Legos and sketching, and as he got older, he realized that architecture was a perfect fit for him. Wiley has worked on many projects during his short time at SG, with his favorite being continuous work on a master plan for a local school district.
In the future, Wiley looks forward to one day walking or driving past a building that he designed. This is a feeling that he is looking forward to and will be a significant milestone in his future career.
Miranda Ocampo
Undergraduate Student
Pennsylvania State University – Bachelor of Architecture
Miranda will be a 4th year architecture student at Pennsylvania State University. She is the Arts Chairman of the Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority and is also an Ambassador and Mentor for the College of Arts and Architecture. In her free time, Miranda enjoys traveling, painting, and spending time with friends.
Her favorite moment at SG was learning and working alongside so many amazing individuals. She is very appreciative of the mentorship opportunities offered here and came away from her internship with more knowledge of what life after architecture school is really like. Miranda’s favorite project she worked on was a renovation/conversion project for Bucks County Intermediate Unit’s Everitt Elementary School. This project entailed transforming an unused kitchen into a family consumer science classroom so that children with special needs can learn how to do laundry, make certain meals, and wash dishes.
Looking to the future, Miranda hopes to continuously make positive impacts on peoples’ lives through architecture. Her experiences this summer have shown her the many ways that educational architecture can have major impacts on the community.
Allyson Everlof
Undergraduate Student
Pennsylvania State University – Bachelor of Architecture
Ally will be a 4th year architecture student at Pennsylvania State University. She is a Student Representative for the College of Arts and Architecture and is also a member of Delta Gamma Sorority. Ally enjoys taking nature walks, exploring new cities and environments, reading, or simply doing anything artistic or creative. In her free time, she sketches, paints, and makes her own jewelry.
Ally first got interested in architecture when she was young. She always admired beautiful homes and large buildings, and she is very excited to be a part of creating these spaces! Ally has thoroughly enjoyed her time at SG this summer. Her favorite project was a concept development for an auditorium for a nearby school district. She enjoyed getting the opportunity to add some of her own design elements into the concept. Ally’s favorite moment this summer was SG’s Second Annual Golf Outing at Walnut Lane Golf Club.
Looking to the future, Ally is excited for her semester abroad. She will be in studying architecture in Rome for a few months before traveling across Europe’s beautiful landscapes and cities. She hopes to learn even more about the unique styles and techniques of the continent’s architecture.
SCHRADERGROUP’s Managing Partner David Schrader had the following to say about our great summer interns:
“Wiley, Miranda, and Allyson have been stellar additions to the team this summer. We are sorry to see them go! The team at SCHRADERGROUP believes that we are at our best when we can share our experiences with the next generation. Our internship program is central to what we do and allows us to flourish through the enthusiasm added by our interns. We hope that they are also growing through the real-world office and construction site experiences they are able to participate in. We wish the summer 2022 class of interns well and as always; we look forward to seeing them again in the future. They are always welcome back to the offices of SCHRADERGROUP!”
As architects, we realize that the heart of our practice is its people, and we are always looking for ways to promote and foster emerging talent. At SG, we recognize the importance of an internship in the field of architecture and design, and we offer hands-on experience as well as a mentorship component in order to create an environment that leads to understanding and success for all. The SG team looks forward to sharing our company culture and practice with our architectural interns and is excited to follow their journey this summer as they gain the experience necessary for future success.
Thank you so much to Wiley, Miranda, and Ally for your dedication, work ethic, and fresh perspectives offered during your time at SG this summer. We wish you the best in the remainder of your studies and hope to hear of your future successes soon!
Interested in working with us? Visit our Careers page to see what opportunities are available at SG here.
SCHRADERGROUP Sponsors and Attends the 22nd Annual MCIUEF Golf Classic
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) attended the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit Education Foundation (MCIUEF)’s twenty-second annual Golf Classic hosted at the Brookside Country Club in Pottstown, PA on May 9th. The event raised funds to enhance and support educational opportunities for the students of Montgomery County, PA.
SG was proud to be a sponsor for this event. SG team members Harry Pettoni and Devin Bradbury represented SG at the outing that included some well-known faces of the Intermediate Unit.
The MCIUEF celebrated its 22nd year of providing camp and post-secondary scholarships for students with special needs, enriching classroom programs with technology support, and enabling student programs beyond school district budget capabilities. This includes more than $550,000 in grants and scholarships awarded over the last 22 years.
Events like these are important to the success of a community and its students, as it allows the MCIUEF to support programs that continue to attract nearly 7,000 students each year. SG would like to thank the dedicated members of the foundation for organizing this fun event.
Learn more about SCHRADERGROUP’s work with Montgomery County Intermediate Unit and other School Districts in the region here.
Learn more about the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit Education Foundation here.
Hatboro-Horsham School District’s Crooked Billet Elementary School Recognized as an Outstanding Project in Learning By Design’s Spring 2022 Issue
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is proud to announce that our recently completed project, the Hatboro-Horsham School District’s Crooked Billet Elementary School, has been recognized as an Outstanding Project in Learning By Design’s Spring 2022 Educational Facilities Design Awards Showcase issue. We are very excited to have another SG project recognized as an award-winning facility for its incorporation of next generation learning space design and planning methodologies.
Each year, Learning By Design showcases the very best in the educational design and construction market. Educational facilities are judged on the basis of innovation, community needs, interior design, sustainability, functional design, and next generation learning. The award-winning magazine is published three times a year and regularly recognizes the nation’s top K-12 and higher education projects and architecture firms.
“A project that allows for a range of activities attached to the homerooms and support developing a routine of collaboration and individual work as customary practice. Corridor positioning and pauses along the way exponentially support the potential of an agile community,” said one of the jurors for the panel about Crooked Billet Elementary School.
This replacement school on a Revolutionary War battlefield site offered opportunities to reshape the delivery of education through design that couldn’t be afforded through a 1950’s facility. The new PreK-5 Elementary School is designed for 650 students to accommodate enrollments and to consolidate schools. Incorporating the history of the Battle of Crooked Billet as part of a 21st Century learning environment provided a unique opportunity to integrate the old with the new. An exterior monument at the main entry and a two-story rotunda lobby commemorates the history of the region, the battle, and the school. The rotunda is centrally located between the curricular areas for STEAM programs, including a STEAM classroom, media center, TV studio and art classroom. This central core of the building also serves as the transitional area between the public spaces (gymnasium and cafeteria), and the academic two-story classroom wing. To enhance the delivery of instruction, grade level classrooms are clustered around a large-group instruction area. Each classroom has direct access to a small-group instruction room which can either be shared by another classroom or divided into two by a movable partition. This provides a unique opportunity to pull students for individual or small group instruction in a controlled environment, or for larger group activities in the large group instruction commons, without leaving the grade level cluster.
With an industrial complex and SEPTA rail line on one side, a residential neighborhood in front of the school, and a creek and wooded area to the other side and around the back, the orientation and placement of the building on the site was important to the design. The larger public spaces act as a noise and aesthetic buffer to the industrial area, and the two-story classroom wing on the opposite side of the building takes advantage of the views of the green space down to the creek. Adequate parking is provided in front which also serves as the parent drop-off lane pulling cars off the roadway and onto the site. A separate bus loop and drop-off area alongside the gym/cafeteria separates bus and vehicular circulation on-site.
You can view the Spring 2022 issue of Learning By Design here. You can find Crooked Billet entry on page 51!
If you’d like to learn even more about the Crooked Billet Elementary School, click here.
SG is proud to have partnered with Hatboro-Horsham School District. Learn more about this amazing school district here.
We have thoroughly enjoyed working with the Hatboro-Horsham School District (HHSD) and are honored to have this wonderful facility featured in this issue. In addition to the successful completion of Crooked Billet, SG is currently working with the school district on a new replacement facility for Keith Valley Middle School. Stay tuned for more news on this exciting project as well!
SCHRADERGROUP Attends A4LE Northeast’s 2022 Annual Regional Conference
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) recently attended the annual Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) 2022 Northeast Region Conference from April 6th to the 9th in Washington, D.C.
The conference was held at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill and was attended by SG Managing Partner David Schrader, Principal Harry Pettoni, Associate Danielle Hoffer, Interior Designer Charlotte Stoudt, and Project Architect Christopher Farmer.
In addition to our firm’s presence at this great event, SG’s own David Schrader and Danie Hoffer presented a special session along with the School District of Springfield Township’s (SDST) Director of Student Affairs, Dr. Catherine Van Vooren.
The session, titled “Enhanced Critical Thinking – For 5 Year Olds?” profiled how SDST and the community worked together to inspire the design of a new K-2 early learning center: the Enfield Elementary School located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The session dove into how SG’s community-based workshop process and the resulting school design promotes critical thinking, student movement, collaboration, socialization, and communication through the principles of project-based learning for these very young and influential minds.
The theme for this year’s conference was “Blossoming Minds… A Time for Renewal and Optimism.” The event gathered school facility managers, architects, educators, school planners, engineers, and maintenance and industry experts to share in new conversations about the need for adapting our learning environments to new levels of mindfulness, as well as personalized comfort found in equality, inclusion, and the community. The conference focused on a strong understanding of the student experience and how designing with empathy allows for school planning to be driven by a focus on the future of learning, while still supporting capital needs, growth, and other logistical considerations of school systems.
The SG team would like to thank the dedicated staff of A4LE for organizing this great event and to all who attended our session, and we look forward to attending another A4LE conference very soon!
The Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) is a professional non-profit association dedicated to improving the places where children learn. The A4LE Northeast Region consists of Chapters that service the Northeast Region of the United States as well as nearby Canadian Provinces. To learn more about the A4LE Northeast Region, please click here.
To learn more about SCHRADERGROUP’s commitment to design for education, please click here.
SCHRADERGROUP Attends PSU’s Stuckeman School Career Day 2022
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) attended the Pennsylvania State University’s 36th annual Stuckeman School Career Day held on Monday, January 24th in the HUB-Robeson Center on Penn State’s Main Campus in State College, PA.
The SG team was represented by Managing Partner David Schrader (PSU Class of 1991) and team members Paige Geldrich (PSU Class of 2018) and Jillian Kreglow (PSU Class of 2021). The team was thrilled to catch up with some familiar faces and to have met so many bright, dedicated architecture students with promising portfolios. SG looks forward to hiring some of the students we met with as interns this upcoming summer.
The Stuckeman School Career Day is an annual event that allows professional firms to interact directly with PSU’s award-winning students. This exciting event provides students with an opportunity to network and explore potential career fields in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Graphic Design. SG was very happy to attend this event in person once again and to connect with the University’s great students.
SG has a diverse team of talented employees, some of whom are also graduates of the Penn State Stuckeman School. We are always grateful for the opportunity to connect with the future graduates of PSU as well as the many other great schools of architecture. Interested in joining the SG team? Check out what opportunities are available for you here.
Be sure to follow SG on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter for updates on all things SCHRADERGROUP!
SCHRADERGROUP to Speak at PASBO’s 2022 Annual Conference!
We are excited to announce that the SCHRADERGROUP (SG) team will be speaking and exhibiting at this year’s 67th PASBO Annual Conference & Exhibits in Hershey, PA from March 8th to the 11th in the Hershey Lodge. Stop by Booth 410 this year to say hello and meet the team!
SG is thrilled to attend this great event in person after last year’s conference was held virtually. We are even more excited to announce that the SG team will be partnering with previous clients and consultants to bring you a special panel this year: “SCHOOL OF THE FUTURE: The Next Generation of Safety and Security, HVAC and Virus Mitigation.” This panel discussion will be on Wednesday, March 9th from 10:45am – 11:45am. We hope to see you there!
“School districts are continually advancing the level of internal transparency and are including more unique and dynamic learning environments as they seek to adjust to changing learning styles and the increased use of technology. Solutions required to respond to the recent pandemic have only exacerbated the challenges of delivering a higher caliber of education to the learner. In response to these issues, school districts have had to evolve their thinking in terms of; safety, security, HVAC and virus mitigation.
Historic threats to schools have created the need to implement safety and security protocol and systems but now, for the first time in 100 years, we have encountered a health pandemic which became another threat to our students, faculty, staff, and community. These compounded concerns create dynamic needs for school districts. Threat assessments, emergency planning and ultimately implementation of protocols are critical to procedures going forward. But further, those threats have modified the systems in buildings. It is critical that these become an underlying part of our process and systems so that all members of society can enjoy learning and community-based activities without actively feeling those threats.
This panel is intended to discuss and debate these topics and to reveal some of the next generation thinking relative to these topics.”
More information on this special panel, as well as information about attending the conference, can be found here.
The Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO) is a statewide association with 3,000 members. They are devoted to providing their supporters with education, training, professional development, and timely access to legislative and policy news. Their membership base covers school professionals working in finance, accounting, operations, facilities, transportation, food service, technology, communications, human resources, purchasing, and safety services. While diverse in areas of specialty, all members share a common goal – to support classroom learning in schools during good and bad economic times through smart business practices. PASBO helps make that goal a reality.
Each year, PASBO provides an opportunity for school business officials to listen to keynote speaker presentations and attend information workshops that provide members with the opportunity to network with their peers. PASBO provides its members with the education, training, and professional development, as well as the timely access to legislative and policy news, needed to support this goal of developing and supporting leaders in school business operations.
Learn more about registering for the PASBO conference here.
SCHRADERGROUP Attends 35th Annual DVASBO Trade Show
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) recently attended the Delaware Valley Association of School Board Officials (DVASBO)’s 35th Annual Trade Show on Wednesday, November 10 at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA.
SG was proud to attend and exhibit at this conference once again. It was great to see so many friendly and familiar faces this year after last year’s trade show was cancelled due to the pandemic. SG was proud to assist in DVASBO’s mission of developing and supporting leaders in school business operations for the counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery.
The Trade Show was attended by Managing Partner David Schrader, Principal Harry Pettoni, and Associate Danielle Hoffer. The day included prize drawings, exhibition space, and breakfast and lunch.
It was great to be at a trade show again and to physically see everyone and talk to people face-to-face. We had a ton of fun connecting with school business officials after the hiatus last year and we look forward to attending again next year!
DVASBO is a regional chapter of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO). For nearly five decades, DVASBO has been supporting school professionals in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties. The organization currently has over 1,000 members and are devoted to providing members with education, training, professional development, and timely access to legislative and policy news. The SG team would like to thank the DVASBO staff for organizing this trade show. To learn more about DVASBO, click here.
To learn more about SCHRADERGRPOUP’s commitment to educational facilities, click here.
