About Us

• Philosophy GVA is an award-winning architectural firm grounded in institutional and commercial work. Over the decades, the firm has broadened its expertise to include educational, financial, corporate, residential and interior design. GVA seeks to build upon its tradition of fine design and quality documentation established by the firm's founders, Edward Rogers and George Vaeth, Jr. We look to create strong connections with our clients, providing the most responsive and productive design experience while striving to make the entire process a pleasurable one. GVA considers the art of design and the craft of preparing documents equally important and feels that neither should come at the expense of the other. We pride ourselves as much on our latest design award as we do on our low record of change orders (typically less than 1%). Our design portfolio reflects an individual response to each set of design circumstances to create projects that are as much about the client and program as they are about their specific site and context. - GVA is certainly not new to energy conscious design or green buildings. During the energy crisis of the 1970's, our design for Rosedale Federal Savings and Loan Association in Churchville, MD was one of the first 'active solar' buildings in the Baltimore-Washington region. By utilizing an integral rooftop photo-voltaic array and implementing many passive solar concepts, energy costs for the building were diminished significantly. Unfortunately, the 1980's saw a decrease in energy cost and therefore a dwindling interest in energy and resource conservation. With energy costs now on the rise and a renewed concern for earth's limited resources, the same issues from the 1970's are once again on the public front burner. Informed by the lessons of the past and equipped with even more efficient and reliable technologies, owners, developers, architects and engineers are again addressing the concepts of sustainability in a more comprehensive and pragmatic fashion. With the advent of the USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council) and its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Rating System a consistent measurable standard has arrived. Since the early 2000's, GVA has been involved in over 1.5 million square feet of space as part of fourteen LEED projects. Back in 2005, we designed and received Silver Certification on 304 National Business Park, one of the very first LEED-CS (Core and Shell) projects in the United States. We've also been involved in LEED-Ci (Commercial Interiors) and LEED-NC (New Construction) projects. We most recently won the Associated Builders and Contractors of Baltimore's Award of Excellence for Schilling Green I in Hunt Valley, MD in the category of Best LEED Certified Renovation. In addition to its two Principals, Christopher Lester and Stuart Rehr, GVA has LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED-AP) on staff to help shepherd any size and type of project through the USGBC/LEED accreditation process. We understand the wide ranging cost impacts of a green building and have established an enviable track record of achieving each project's LEED goals, from LEED Certified to LEED Platinum. -- George Vaeth Associates, Inc. 5501 Twin Knolls Rd. Suite 108 Columbia, MD 21045 --- GVA continues its 11 year relationship with Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT). GVA is nearing completion on the design of a new five-story shell office building at 308 Sentinel Drive in National Business Park. Design work is also under way on a new 3-building complex in National Business Park North. 308 NBP is one of over a dozen LEED projects designed by GVA. --- After recently celebrating its 50th year in practice GVA continues to see an expanding client base. Four new office projects have been designed for Merritt Properties, its newest developer client. 230 Schilling Circle recently won the Award of Excellence for best LEED certified Renovation from Associated---