The new 136,000-square-foot Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Auburn Hills, Michigan, was completed in April 2009 and is expected to achieve LEED certification later this year

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan, August 24, 2009 - Thomas M. Cooley Law School has achieved another milestone – not only is it the nation’s largest law school, but it is now the first “green” law school in the state of Michigan with the completion of its newest campus, located on a wooded 67-acre site in Auburn Hills, Michigan.  Designed by Berkley, Michigan-based SHW Group, the 136,000-square-foot complex is slated to receive LEED certification in late 2009, making it the first LEED-certified law school in Michigan. Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Rockford Construction was the project’s general contractor.

The project encompasses the renovation of an existing 68,000-square-foot corporate training facility previously owned by DaimlerChrysler Corporation, as well as the construction of a new 68,000-square-foot addition.  Major components include complete wireless Internet access, two computer labs, a fully functional courtroom, a new law library, a full-service bookstore with internet café, and multiple large classrooms equipped with state-of-the-art, high-definition videoconferencing and high-quality, digital-sound recording systems, enabling students to download recorded class podcasts for later study.

“The idea was to convert a building that was essentially ‘offline’ into an educational learning environment,” said Jim Chatas, project manager for SHW Group. “While utilizing the existing shell of the building, we manipulated the interior environment to accommodate 21st-century learning.”

New mechanical systems, lighting systems and environmentally friendly materials rejuvenated the facility while making major improvements such as minimizing energy consumption. Additional sustainable features of the project include the following:

• Reuse of the existing building and specified recycled materials as well as the recycling of construction waste to divert the materials to the landfill (e.g., waste generated during the renovation and construction of the addition);
• A green roof made of a sedum grass-like vegetation on the new structure to not only absorb carbon dioxide and about 60-100 percent of rain (helping to reduce flooding), but also to enhance insulation, which is estimated to reduce heating and cooling costs by 15 percent;
• A reflective white roof on the existing structure to reflect heat from the building to minimize the summer cooling load and reduce power usage;
• Water-efficient landscaping and low-flow toilet and plumbing fixtures to conserve fresh water;
• Computer-controlled heating and cooling system to automatically dial down power usage when the buildings are not in use while maximizing the use of outdoor fresh air;
• Preservation and use of existing natural lighting and the installation of lower-wattage lighting fixtures, in addition to the installation of room sensors to automatically turn lights on and off in unused rooms and to further conserve energy;
• Low volatile organic compound paints, sealants, carpets and wood materials to greatly minimize toxic fumes emitted upon application and during building occupancy;
• Use of drywall made from 98-percent synthetic gypsum created as a byproduct of power plants and two-percent recycled paper;
• Recycling center is located within the building to further reduce landfill waste.

ABOUT SHW GROUP

SHW Group, LLC a Michigan-based architectural and engineering firm is one of the state’s leading educational design firms. More than just an A/E firm, the company is known for its comprehensive collaboration with educators, and researchers to design innovative facilities that support the learning process. For more information, please visit www.shwgroup.com.

ABOUT COOLEY LAW SCHOOL

Cooley Law School is the largest law school in the country.  Founded in 1972, it operates J.D. programs across Michigan in Ann Arbor, Auburn Hills, Grand Rapids and Lansing.  Today, Cooley Law School has more than 13,000 graduates across the nation and worldwide and also offers joint degree and master of laws programs.  Cooley offers enrollment three times a year; in January, May and September.   Additional information about Cooley can be found at www.cooley.edu.

# # #

Media Contact: Claire Bloxom
claire@coopersmithagency.com, (214) 329-9191

RESTON, Virginia, August 17, 2009 – SHW Group, one of the largest educational architecture firms in the United States, has hired two new staff members at its Reston, Virginia, studio.

Doug Gehley, AIA, LEED AP, has been hired as vice president and new studio leader. With more than 30 years management experience in the architecture/construction industry, Doug will serve as the studio’s leader of sustainable design and will also manage the firm’s educational architecture projects. He most recently provided project management of two new high schools in Loudoun County, Virginia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the University of Virginia and a Master of Architecture from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).

Burt Jackson, CDT, has also been hired as project manager. With more than 25 years experience in architecture and construction management, Burt is currently working on the Loudoun County Public School Project focusing on construction contract administration and client relations efforts.  He is a graduate of Montgomery College in Maryland.

For more information on SHW Group, please visit www.shwgroup.com.

# # #

Designed by architects Robert Winstead and Peter O’Shea, the Charlottesville Community Chalkboard and Podium is an interactive monument celebrating free expression and was designed to honor the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, August 4, 2009 - The 54-foot Community Chalkboard and Podium monument, located in front of the Charlottesville City Hall and adjacent to the civic amphitheatre in Charlottesville, Virginia, has been honored with two design awards for architectural excellence – a 2009 Silver Medal Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence and a 2009 Inform Honor Award from the Virginia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA).  Designed by architect Robert Winstead of SHW Group and landscape architect Pete O’ Shea of Siteworks, LLC, the interactive monument celebrates free expression and was built to honor the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Creating a tangible and enduring embodiment of the concept of free expression, the monument consists primarily of a two-sided wall of Buckingham slate, approximately 54 feet long (108′ of writing space) by 7.5 feet high, on which members of the public may express their views, in chalk, on any subject they choose. Permanently inscribed on one segment of the wall is the text of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. On the immediate opposite side is the following quote by the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall:

“Above all else, the First Amendment means that government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content. To permit the continued building of our politics and culture, and to assure self-fulfillment for each individual, our people are guaranteed the right to express any thought, free from government censorship.”

In addition, the monument’s design includes a podium intended to serve as a contemporary soapbox from which individuals may address both planned and impromptu public gatherings. Inscribed on the surface of the podium is the following quote by poet John Milton:

“Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.”

With the completion of the monument in April 2006, the entire area outside Charlottesville City Hall became a First Amendment plaza unique among the cities of the United States – the “chalkboard” for written and artistic expression, the platform for verbal expression, and the amphitheater for musical expression.

“The monument’s greatest strength lies in the fact that it is both a fixed symbol of the right of free expression and a venue for the exercise of that right,” said Robert Winstead, AIA, LEED-AP, lead architect for the Charlottesville Community Chalkboard and Podium and design principal of SHW Group, one of the largest educational architecture firms in the U.S. “Individuals use the chalkboard to express ideas both political and whimsical, to respond to ideas already on the wall, to convey messages to members of city government, and to create temporary works of art.”

As with all chalkboards, what is written the monument’s chalkboard is constantly changing. The monument’s slate is cleaned in its entirety twice a week on a regularly scheduled basis. Private citizens may also clean all or part of the slate at anytime. Such cleaning does not implicate the First Amendment because it is not government action.

ABOUT THE RUDY BRUNER AWARD FOR URBAN EXCELLENCE

The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence is a national award for urban places that seeks to promote fresh and innovative thinking about cities and the urban built environment. Established in 1987, the Rudy Bruner Award celebrates urban places that are distinguished by quality design and by their social, economic, and environmental contributions to our nation’s cities. For more information, please visit www.brunerfoundation.org.

ABOUT THE VIRGINIA SOCIETY AIA

The American Institute of Architects is a professional society with component organizations at the national, state and local levels. The Virginia Society is a state component of the AIA, focused on delivering value to architects with statewide impact. Since 1914, the Virginia AIA has represented the professional interests of architects and allied professionals in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Society works in collaboration with five local chapters – Blue Ridge, Central Virginia, Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia, and Richmond. These six components join with West Virginia in forming the Region of the Virginia to elect a representative director to the national AIA board. Together with the national component and components across the country, we form one AIA. For more information, please visit www.virginiaarchitecture.org.

# # #

Media Contact: Claire Bloxom
claire@coopersmithagency.com, (214) 329-9191