William McDonough + Partners: Architecture and Community Design

William McDonough + Partners is a design firm of architects, planners, and support staff. This collaborative, principles-driven design firm sees the unique characteristics of each place and project as a source of inspiration and innovation. The foundational principles we bring to each project derive from our vision of the future: a delightfully diverse, safe, healthy and just world—with clean air, soil, water and power—economically, equitably, ecologically, and elegantly enjoyed. The teams work from studios in Charlottesville, Virginia, and San Francisco, California. These studios work seamlessly together and collaborate closely with clients and consultants (including EPEA and MBDC) throughout the United States and around the world, utilizing video conferencing and real-time meeting software to support intimate collaborations.

The firm leads design teams in the pursuit of place-specific, high-performance designs. Its collaborative design approach begins with a detailed analysis of each site, program and community, identifying the economic, environmental and social forces that will give form to the design solution. The teams then synthesize these unique characteristics with broader criteria for habitat creation, watershed protection, mobility, energy production, material health and recapture, and indoor environmental quality. For each project, the firm creates a design framework built upon clearly articulated principles (what is valued), short, medium and long-range goals (what projects hope to accomplish), and specific design strategies (how goals will be achieved). This framework establishes the project’s direction and serves as a reference point throughout the building’s lifespan—it establishes priorities and focus by asking the right questions at the right time.