Richmond, VA (October 31, 2018) – Quinn Evans Architects has announced that the firm has acquired BCWH, a 34-person architectural firm based in Richmond Founded in 1986, BCWH has an extensive portfolio in K-12 schools, higher education facilities, libraries, and other civic projects throughout Virginia and campus planning experience across the mid-Atlantic. The firm was recognized with the 2008 Fitz-Gibbon Virginia Firm of the Year Award from the AIA Virginia.
BCWH will remain in its current location at 1840 West Broad Street, creating a sixth office for Quinn Evans Architects. The firm also maintains offices in Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, MD; Ann Arbor and Detroit, MI; and Madison, WI. Charles D. Piper, AIA, LEED AP, a firm principal who has been with BCWH since 1998, will serve as office director of the Richmond office.
The acquisition will expand the presence of Quinn Evans Architects in Virginia, where the firm has completed several projects and is currently overseeing design initiatives in Richmond for Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) as well as the renovation of the historic Old City Hall for the Virginia Department of General Services. Quinn Evans Architects has also completed K-12 and university projects in Northern Virginia and has worked extensively at Mount Vernon in Alexandria and Ferry Farm in Stafford County.
BCWH, which will operate under the Quinn Evans Architects name, is highly regarded for its expertise in educational facility and library design, and its professionals regularly present nationally on trends in libraries and learning environments. The firm has completed numerous projects for VCU, including the new Institute for Contemporary Art (with Steven Holl Architects), the Academic Learning Commons, and two campus master plans. BCWH has teamed with Quinn Evans Architects on two other notable projects at VCU: the university’s cultural landscape master plan and an adaptive use study for the West Hospital on the MCV campus.
Other BCWH academic clients include the University of Richmond, the College of William and Mary, Randolph Macon College, Roanoke College, and Shenandoah University. The firm has also completed new construction, renovation, and master planning projects for public school systems in Henrico, Chesterfield, Fluvanna, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Albemarle, Hanover, and Powhatan counties, as well as the City of Richmond. In association with Tappe Architects, BCWH designed the new Varina Area Library in Henrico County, which was recognized nationally with a 2017 Library Building Award from the American Institute of Architects/American Library Association.
“We have worked closely with BCWH’s talented team of architects and landscape architects over the past two years through our association on projects for VCU,” says Larry Barr, FAIA, president of Quinn Evans Architects. “They offer deep expertise in the design of 21st-century learning environments, as well as libraries and other civic settings. We have admired their thoughtful approach to design and the strong relationships they have developed with their clients.”
“Quinn Evans Architects has one of the foremost practices in civic architecture in the country, with a strong portfolio in historic preservation, adaptive use, and complex renovations,” says Robert E. Comet, Jr., AIA, LEED AP, founding partner of BCWH. “By joining forces, we are able to bring a greater range of resources and experience to our clients here in Virginia. Our market expertise and client-driven cultures are very much in alignment.”
Release courtesy Quinn Evans Architects
