Everything Under The Sun: Groundbreaking Events and Employee Achievements

Current students at Greenspring Montessori join in the festivities.

In just about any urban area, you can find architect firms. They're the ones that design new buildings, renovations, and make sure that environmental sustainability becomes part of the structure. The firm of GWWO INC./ARCHITECTS is located on Wyman Park Drive in Baltimore, not that far from the Johns Hopkins University campus.

Just this month, they joined in a groundbreaking ceremony for renovations and additions to Greenspring Montessori School. In order to create three new academic village spaces on the campus, there will be 16,000 square feet of renovations and 11,000 square feet of additions, all designed by GWWO. The classrooms in each village area are designed for the child-centered approach used by Montessori, while also providing easy visualization as children move about between classrooms in the designated village areas. Because Montessori methods involve learning from the environment, each classroom has a direct connection to the outdoors and abundant natural lighting indoors. The three villages themselves will connect with a central hub that will become the campus quad.

Employee Matt Ames, who joined GWWO about a year ago, has achieved his architect license. He's been serving the company as a Project Manager, specifically for the designing of the new Arnold Elementary School. He's also working on the new Wheaton Woods Elementary School and the addition and renovation to Benfield Elementary School. Besides his year at GWWO, Mr. Ames has had eleven years of experience on a variety of projects, including education facilities, research centers, office buildings, commercial and retail establishments, and multi-family dwellings.

There was another groundbreaking last month, this time at Berks Nature's The Nature Place, a multi-million dollar exploration and education center in Reading, PA. This building will serve as a place to demonstrate the environmental and conservation principles espoused by Berk's Nature. They especially would like to nurture young conservationists, fostering their connection with the natural environment. The building covers 9,000 square feet and will house two classrooms, conference rooms, offices, a lobby, and a gift shop. It will also contain indoor displays of the park's habitats, and an outdoor plaza for recreation. In addition, the building is designed so that it will achieve LEED Silver certification, once completed next year.

A finished project, Sea Gull Stadium at Salisbury University.

And, on the lighter, but also very important side, two employees from GWWO, Paul Hume and Eric Feiss, participated in AIA Baltimore's Second Annual Celebrity Chef Night. On their menu was savory barbecued pork shoulder and brisket sandwiches, prepared onsite, with a choice of traditional, mustard, sweet, and spicy sauces. Guaranteed to fill anyone's appetite!