The document provides information about several library, school, university, and wellness center projects designed by Grimm + Parker Architects. It describes the Burke Centre Library as catering to the lifestyle of its affluent suburban community with a modern design that acknowledges nature. It discusses Knight Hall for the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism housing all academic programs under one roof with signature spaces promoting collaboration. It also outlines the Washington-Lee High School building showcasing community participation and sustainable design through its brick, glass, and concrete architecture.

1. Grimm + Parker Architects
11720 Beltsville Drive, Suite 600 • Calverton, MD 20705 • 301.595.1000 • 301.595.0089 (Fax)
www.gparch.com
Reprinted from the book Educational Environments No.5

2. Grimm + Parker Architects Burke Centre Library | Burke, Virginia
Traditional notions about libraries as temples of knowledge will
not prepare you for the new, one-story, 17,000-square-foot Burke
Centre Library, in Burke, Virginia, designed by Grimm + Parker
Architects. This award-winning facility clearly caters to the fast-
paced and mobile lifestyle of its affluent suburban Washington
C
community of some 60,000 residents. Located beside a busy,
high-speed thoroughfare, the modern glass, brick and steel-clad
structure faces a clearing of hardwood trees, buzzes with the
activities of people young and old, and maintains a drive-thru
window for time-pressed commuters. Its design reflects the
public’s desire for an informal learning environment that
acknowledges nature. Patrons and staff using its reading rooms,
stacks, children’s area, teen area, staff workrooms, drive-thru,
and community multi-purpose rooms, all conveniently organized
along a central spine, enjoy an attractive, comfortable and open
A: Children’s Area B: Exterior at entrance C: Exterior
showing side elevation D: Central Spine A
Photography: Eric Taylor Photography
B D
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3. Grimm + Parker Architects
environment of wood, tile, carpet, contemporary furnishings and
north-facing glass that captures daylight and outdoor views. The
connection to nature is more than skin deep. Because of a
sustainable design incorporating high-efficiency mechanical and
electrical systems, low-E glass, daylight sensor-controlled
lighting, recycled and reclaimed materials, and a site location
that screens out traffic sights and sounds, the library has won the
coveted LEED Silver certification.
A: New Arrivals B: Teen Fiction C: Looking to entrance
along Central Spine
A
B
4 C
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4. Grimm + Parker Architects University of Maryland, College Park | Knight Hall for
Philip Merrill College of Journalism | College Park, Maryland
Although the University of Maryland’s respected Philip Merrill Parker Architects. A contemporary structure of brick, metal panels
College of Journalism operated largely within the original and aluminum-and-glass curtainwall, Knight Hall follows four
journalism building on its 1,250-acre campus in College Park, “guiding principles” in its design: “transparency,” using multiple
between Washington and Baltimore that opened in 1957, it is layers of visual connectivity to promote collegiality and celebrate
only now that Merrill shelters every academic and professional a core value of journalism, “interaction,” facilitating conversations
A: Great Hall B: Library C: Exterior seen at hillcrest program under one roof. Merrill’s new home is the award-winning, among faculty, students, staff and visitors, “student-centric,”
Photography: Ken Wyner, Alain Jaramillo three-story, 53,444-square-foot Knight Hall, designed by Grimm + supporting and inspiring students, and “of its time, of its place,”
B
C
6 A 7

5. Grimm + Parker Architects
A
respecting university tradition (founded in 1856) without mimicking Knight Hall that it attained the campus’s first LEED certification—
it. Accordingly, among its instructional spaces, faculty offices and LEED Gold.
professional outreach centers, clustered around the two-story
A: Exterior as viewed at base of site B: Exterior revealing
Great Hall, are such signature spaces as the News Bubble, a Great Hall C: Classroom D: News Bubble E: Mezzanine
multi-media laboratory for media experimentation, Richard Eaton view of Great Hall
Broadcast Theater, a 70-seat, state-of-the-art theater, and Studio
C, an open, production-quality laboratory space. Despite modest B
initial goals for green design, sustainability was so intrinsic to
C D E
8 9

6. Grimm + Parker Architects Washington–Lee High School | Arlington, Virginia
A
The oldest high school in Virginia’s Arlington County Public School
District, Washington-Lee High School (founded in 1925) is also
the youngest. Its 1,550 students, faculty and staff recently received
a new, four-story, 378,000-square-foot home, designed by Grimm +
Parker Architects, that showcases the benefits of community
participation and sustainable design. The building features
outstanding classrooms, a library, a cyber café and facilities
available for community use, including an 840-seat auditorium,
10-lane swimming pool, 2,250-square-foot flexible instruction/
gallery, cafeteria, gymnasium, alumni conference room and 12
additional classrooms. It also extends a welcoming gesture to
school and community through a gracious, versatile and user-
friendly architecture of brick, concrete masonry and glass that
simultaneously honors Arlington’s Art Deco tradition and optimizes
B
environmental impact. Interestingly, the determination that
A: Exterior at main entrance B: Main Street
C: Swimming Pool
Photography: Ken Wyner, Paul Burk
C
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7. Grimm + Parker Architects
produced LEED Gold certification was present at the start. Since
the new school replaced an existing one on the same site through
B
phased construction, it began with strategies to divert over 97
percent of demolition from landfills. Today, Washington–Lee enhances
superb educational facilities with a green roof, expanded green
space, and numerous other sustainable features, prompting Paul
Jamelske, assistant principal, to declare, “There are so many
aspects of the new Washington–Lee that we’re proud of.”
A: Exterior facing athletic fields B: Library C: Cyber
Café D: Auditorium E: Plaza/Amphitheater
A C
12 D E 13

8. Grimm + Parker Architects College of Southern Maryland | Leonardtown Wellness and
Aquatics Center | Leonardtown, Maryland
A B
More students are enrolled in community colleges than in all
other institutions of higher education combined, placing two-year
colleges in the mainstream of America’s economic and cultural
life. For the College of Southern Maryland, founded in 1958 as
Charles County Community College, its mission extends beyond
preparing over 22,500 students for bachelor’s degree programs or
workforce qualifications to include engaging residents of suburban
Washington in lifestyle enrichment programs. How popular these
programs can be is demonstrated daily at the 62-acre Leonardtown,
Maryland campus, where the new, one-story, 32,500-square-foot
Leonardtown Wellness and Aquatics Center, designed by Grimm +
Parker Architects, attracts crowds of all ages. The Center features
a fitness studio, exercise rooms, two swimming pools (competition
and therapy), a variety of classrooms for aerobics and other
fitness activities, locker rooms, library, offices and specialized
fitness assessment rooms. Its contemporary architecture of steel,
brick, glass, porcelain and wood invites users into a sunny, open
A: Main Hall B: Competition Pool with Therapy Pool at
rear C: Exterior
Photography: Ken Wyner
C
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9. Grimm + Parker Architects
A
and contemporary environment that embodies numerous sustainable
design principles efficiency while respecting the traditional
architecture of southern Maryland. Noting how many College
facilities serve senior citizens along with younger constituents,
Mary Krug, chair of the College’s board of trustees, calls the Center
“the jewel in the crown.”
A: Wellness Studio B: Perspective along Main Hall
C: Competition Pool showing bleacher seating
B
C
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