WM+P executes a diverse array of international projects from our design studio in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Founded by William McDonough in New York in 1981, the practice relocated to Charlottesville, Virginia in 1994, when McDonough became Dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia. The firm’s architects collaborate closely with McDonough to bring his design concepts that consider the long-term consequences of design into reality.
Through William McDonough’s visionary leadership, WM+P have been at the forefront of the “green” architecture and Circular Economy movements for more than 30 years, creating pioneering architecture and many recognized flagships of sustainable design:
McDonough designs the first “green office” in New York for the Environmental Defense Fund
The Wall Street Journal features McDonough’s Warsaw Tower design on the front page. McDonough’s radical idea at the time was to plant 10-square-miles of trees to compensate for the building’s carbon footprint.
The Hannover Principles were commissioned of WM+P by the City of Hannover, Germany to guide the design of the 2000 World’s Fair.
William McDonough was chosen to represent the architecture community at the Earth Summit in Brazil
William McDonough is a charter member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)
The Herman Miller “Greenhouse” office and manufacturing facility is the winner of the inaugural “Good Design Is Good Business Award” and has become a case study in how to enhance occupant wellbeing and corporate productivity and profits.
Designed as a build-to-suit for Gap Inc, 901 Cherry is now the home of YouTube LLC, becoming the most energy efficient in Google’s portfolio and one of the most eco-effective in California.
WM+P furthered Nike’s emphasis on world-class innovation by designing their European Headquarters. Employee health is optimized through the use of low-VOC finishes in a virtually PVC-free environment.
WM+P’s design for The Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies at Oberlin College is the first Net-Zero Verified building and produces 130% of its own electricity.
William McDonough co-authors Cradle to Cradle: Remaking The Way We Make Things, widely considered a seminal text in the sustainability and Circular Economy movements.
The centerpiece of the 20-year revitalization of Ford’s historic River Rouge complex, the factory is home to the largest green roof of its time. It provides workers with abundant natural light and fresh air and restores native habitat to the site.
WM+P designs the Park 20|20 master plan, the first Circular Economy development. Park 20|20 currently contains the world’s largest collection of Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Products
B/S/H: The Inspiration House is the first building to open at Park 20|20. B/S/H utilizes Design for Disassembly methodology and has safer, healthier materials throughout.
NASA’s carbon positive Sustainability Base is completed on-time and with a normal federal budget.
William McDonough co-authors The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability—Designing For Abundance, the follow-up to Cradle to Cradle.
WM+P designs Dropbox’s headquarters. Its occupied roof deck creates a restful, park-like setting for the building occupants and the surrounding community.
WM+P’s ICEhouse™ makes its first appearance at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Fortune magazine names William McDonough one of the world’s 50 greatest leaders for his contributions to sustainable architecture and Circular Economy design.
William McDonough
William McDonough FAIA, Int. FRIBA
Founder, Partner
William McDonough is a globally recognized leader in sustainable development and is the founding principle of the firm. In 1996, McDonough received the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development, and in 2003 he earned the first U.S. EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for his work with Shaw Industries. In 2004, he received the National Design Award for exemplary achievement in the field of environmental design. He is currently serving on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on the Future of Environment and Natural Resource Security. Read William McDonough’s complete biography here.
Leadership
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Alastair Reilly AIA, LEED AP
Design Partner
Alastair Reilly AIA, LEED AP
Design Partner
Alastair Reilly brings more than twenty years of architectural and urban planning experience. His focus on research informed design allows him to find innovative sustainable solutions to complex building types. He leads design on WM+P’s most innovative sustainable projects, including NASA’s Sustainability Base, Google Master planning and workplace strategies, VMware’s Corporate Campus, and is involved in a range of design initiatives globally including Park 20I20 in the Netherlands.
Through advanced technology, research and overarching sustainable principles, Alastair brings to bear added financial and ecological value to global projects. He aims to create progressive, eco-effective architecture through a collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach. His experience includes large-scale, high-rise and mixed-use urban developments, campus workplace, hospitality and residential projects. He has also taught sustainable architecture at Catholic University on their entry into the DOE’s Solar Decathlon Competition, and advised corporate leaders and business groups including P&G and Google on sustainable strategies. Alastair has extensive project management experience in commercial base building. His background in construction enables him to develop unique design criteria into buildable architecture.
Selected Projects:
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José Atienza
Design Director
José Atienza
Design Director
Focusing on enhancing human experience while seeking endless benefit for natural ecologies, José’s design leadership spans over twenty years of professional practice in the realization of diverse typologies at multiple scales that include award-winning architectural and urban design projects throughout the U.S. and Europe. As Design Director, his ability to lead teams towards synthesizing and materializing primary concepts into unique, sensitive and sustainable design solutions that embody a project’s vision, principles and goals while integrating site, form, and systems has led to many successful collaborations.
Working closely with clients and project teams, José employs a collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach that explores relationships between form and energy, architecture and landscape, and culture and nature while also advancing and developing the role of Cradle to Cradle Circular Economy Design within the built environment through the integration of healthy material protocols, design for disassembly strategies and flexible modular systems. Most notably, José has led the design and realization of nine innovative buildings at Park 20l20 in the Netherlands, the first Cradle to Cradle-inspired development implementing Circular Economy Design strategies. Additionally, José has taught design studios at the University of Virginia School of Architecture, contributes to and produces published articles, and speaks publicly on behalf of the office on issues around sustainability and circularity.
Selected Projects:
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John Easter
Design Director
John Easter
Design Director
John is a Director at William McDonough + Partners, where he has practiced for over twenty two years. He works closely with William McDonough on the design of commercial, institutional, and residential projects, many of which have earned awards for the firm.
John’s project experience covers a wide range of scales throughout the globe, from small single family home prototypes in the United States to factories in India and large community designs in China. John’s unique combination of talents has played a crucial role in shaping the firm’s transformation of land-planning and development processes. He has led the day to day design of several large-scale commercial projects abroad. The common thread to this body of work has been devotion to McDonough’s Hannover Principles and the Cradle to Cradle Design™ Framework.
Selected Projects:
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Roger Schickedantz AIA, LEED AP
Director
Roger Schickedantz AIA, LEED AP
Director
Having supported WM+P in various capacities over the last 25+ years, Roger serves as a Director and manages architectural projects. Additionally, he oversees the firm’s efforts to promote building products that meet Cradle to Cradle® criteria for human and ecological health.
Roger has led many groundbreaking projects well known in the field of sustainable architecture, including Herman Miller’s “Greenhouse” Factory, the Oberlin College Environmental Studies Center, and the Ford Motor Company Rouge Truck Plant, featuring the world’s largest green roof at the time of its completion.
Recently completed buildings include multiple factories and a R&D center for Hero MotoCorp in South Asia, and the Southside Soapbox factory in Chicago for Method Home. These buildings incorporate rooftop food production at scale, ranging from experimental hydroponic greenhouses to a commercially viable 75,000 sq. ft. agriculture facility. Through his work at William McDonough + Partners, Roger has championed food production as an important component for a regenerative planet. He has worked with the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities organization over many years to develop training courses and exams for the Green Roof Professional certification.
Selected Projects:
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Celeste Weaver
Director of Visual Communications
Celeste Weaver
Director of Visual Communications
Celeste has an extensive background in Cradle to Cradle Design™ and sustainable design, working directly with William McDonough on his speaking engagements and presentations. She manages William McDonough + Partners’ graphics and branding as well as provides graphic support for client reports and deliverables. Prior to WM+P, she worked for Philadelphia-based sustainable architecture firms as a Senior Graphic Designer and Communications Coordinator for over 15 years. Celeste graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Graphic Design from Drexel University
Our Sister Companies
William McDonough + Partners collaborate with sister companies McDonough Innovation and MBDC to provide clients with holistic solutions — including design, product and material procurement, and high-level advising.
Through McDonough Innovation, William McDonough provides targeted ideas, product concepts and solutions to a wide range of sustainable growth issues faced by governments, companies and NGOs. Through collaboration with WM+P, his values-driven approach helps nations and companies embed sustainable growth principles into their culture and to advance progress toward their positive vision.
MBDC are the creators and foremost implementers of the Cradle to Cradle Certified® Products Program, the world’s most advanced, science-based standard for designing and making products for the Circular Economy. MBDC collaborates with WM+P on matters related to the human and ecological health of building products, including the integration of Cradle to Cradle Certified materials.
Select Clients
Annenberg Foundation
American University
Bosch Siemens
Catalina Island Conservancy
Cherokee Investment Partners
China U.S. Center for Sustainable Development
City of Chicago
City of San Francisco
Delta Development Group
Equity Office Properties
Ferrer Grupo
FifPro
Ford Motor Company
Fox Vakanties
Frito-Lay
Gap Inc.
Gazeley Properties UK
GE Ecomagination
General Services Administration (U.S.)
Georgetown University
Google
Heinz Family Foundation
Herman Miller
Hero MotorCorp
Hines
IBM
Johnson Family Foundation
Kilroy Realty Corp.
Madison Partners & Novita Capital
Method
Municipality Almere, The Netherlands
NASA
Nike
Oberlin College
Palm Inc.
Poly / Plantronics
Procter & Gamble
Prado Group
Projectbureau Ijburg
Recology
SABIC
Starbucks
U.S. Department of Defense
Universidad EAN
University of California, Davis
University of California, San Francisco
University of Michigan
VMware Corporation
Walmart
Wells Fargo
Whole Foods Market
Woods Hole Research Center
YouTube
