Chris has been with DRAW for four years. He joined the firm with more than 25 years of experience and has worked very effectively to build on the firm’s legacy of success serving educational design. He quickly showed his leadership and project design and management abilities, advancing to Senior Associate after one year.
Chris has been very active in the design and management of several of DRAW’s recent, more significant learning design projects. He oversaw two major building renovations and expansions for the North Allegheny School District, including the 2021 People’s Choice Award winning project, given by AIA Pittsburgh, at the District’s Franklin Elementary School.
He is currently overseeing an initial $15 million phase of improvements at Hampton Township High School and a significant expansion of the Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh. Chris also recently completed a master planning effort for the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf and is managing the first phase of capital improvements that resulted from the master plan.
Chris has built on the firm’s success in higher education design with projects at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Westmoreland County Community College, and Waynesburg University.
Prior to joining DRAW, Chris served as the project architect and LEED manager for a series of projects at Antioch College, including the renovation of the campus’s North Residence Hall, achieving LEED Gold certification, the second oldest building to earn such honors. He has additional experience with higher learning campuses such as the University of Pittsburgh, California University of Pennsylvania, Seton Hill University, St. Vincent College, Carlow University, St. Francis University, and Albion College.
With a passion for sustainable design, Chris has been spearheading and solidifying DRAW’s commitment to sustainable design practices. He was one of the earliest LEED Accredited professionals, attaining his certification in 2002. Chris has handled the documentation for the LEED Certification of more than 30 projects with a collective construction value of over $800 million.
Chris earned a master’s degree in Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
For more than a decade, Chris has served his local community of Mt. Lebanon as a volunteer Firefighter and EMT. In his spare time, he is an avid runner.
Last year, DRAW Collective marked its 75th year of providing architectural design services to Southwestern Pennsylvania and the surrounding region, most recently as VEBH Architects. VEBH Architects became DRAW Collective in January 2022. The firm provides meaningful architecture and design for educational, health + wellness, and community places that matter.