"Our clients value a built world based upon ideas and discourse."

The firm's shift to specialization in higher education began with a conversation on a crisp fall day in 1988 as several of us walked across the Lawn at the University of Virginia. The magnificent surroundings put us in the mood to muse about how wonderful it would be to spend every day on a college campus.

Our university projects were consistently the most professionally rewarding and intellectually challenging. These clients shared our values – comprehensive thinking, long-term solutions, an iterative process, and, ultimately, a built world based upon ideas and discourse.

In the last 17 years, ASG has evolved from 30 people working with four campuses in the mid-Atlantic to 90 people in three offices working with more than 40 campuses worldwide. We also created a studio that focuses on cultural and civic institutions, including museums, libraries, zoos, and historic sites. They share many of the characteristics of higher education clients, particularly the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge.

People occasionally question our focus on these clients, as if it were somehow limiting. I respond with two observations. First, there is no environment in which one can work that is more intellectually stimulating. Second, we are actually working for small cities that contain just about every building type possible. So instead of limiting us, our focus has broadened and deepened our staff and practice.

Our clients are also terrific role models. It has served us well to structure the firm around areas of expertise reflecting the general organization of their institutions – academic buildings, student life facilities, campus planning, town planning, cultural facilities, landscape architecture, 3D visualization/writing/graphics.

And In keeping with clients’ missions to develop knowledge, ASG conducts independent research into the physical aspects of campus planning and buildings. Our findings are available without cost as a service to the planning and architecture community, clients, potential clients, faculty members and students because everyone benefits from good design.

We are investing our careers in visiting great campuses and working with intelligent clients everyday. It doesn’t get any better than that.