Acoustic Solution

ICON in Education Design Awards

Architect

Rob Winstead AIA, ALEP, LEED Fellow

Principal
VMDO Architects

Rob Winstead is a thought leader in sustainable, innovative school design with over 30 years of experience. He pioneers net-zero energy schools and actively contributes to industry discourse through national speaking engagements and publications. Recognized for aligning school design with cutting edge educational practices, Rob’s work influences policies and guidelines, ensuring student-centered learning environments that prioritize sustainability, health, and well-being.
Rob Winstead AIA, ALEP, LEED Fellow

Rob sets new standards by seeing beyond the horizon. He was a pioneer in sustainability decades before it was fashionable. Recognizing its profound impact on young people, he was one of the first to make the connection between sustainability and school design and advocate for healthier, more-efficient, more effective learning environments. Others followed suit, and thanks in part to Rob’s dedication, sustainable practices are part and parcel of good educational planning and design in Virginia today.

Bill Bradley, PhD, AIA, ALEP, LEED AP
Principal, Practice Leader
Stantec Architecture, Inc.

Rob Winstead is an architect and educational planner who has raised the bar and accelerated industry progress towards sustainable schools. From a family of educators, his journey in education design began at the intersection of learning, design, and sustainability, integrating environmental stewardship with education and leveraging the building as a teaching tool. His efforts have shifted the national conversation on school design, promoting learning environments that are happy, healthy, and high performing.

Rob’s collaborations with clients and partners have resulted in a long list of breakthrough projects and notable achievements. Completed in 2009, the Manassas Park Elementary School project is well-known as a pioneering green school. It earned LEED Gold certification, received the Shirley Cooper Award for educational planning and design and a Merit Award from the AIA Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE), and was the first public K-12 school to be recognized in the AIA Committee on the Environment’s (COTE) Top Ten Project’s List. Named the Planner of the Year by the Virginia Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) in 2018, Rob continues to push the industry forward. Opened in 2021, the Cardinal Elementary School project in Arlington, VA is a LEED Gold certified, net-zero energy school that was recognized with an AIA Education Facility Award in 2024.

Rob’s influence extends beyond the architectural community. He has contributed to national guidelines for school design, including the ASHRAE Advanced Energy Design Guide for K-12 Schools. His work with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Net Zero Accelerator has furthered research on renewable energy’s role in enhancing learning environments and reducing operational costs for school districts.

Rob mentors the next generation of planners and designers and shares what he is learning through frequent presentations and publications. He has carried his expertise to other parts of the world, including projects for U.S. military families in South Korea and affordable and reproducible school designs for rural Guatemala.

Rob Winstead’s contributions to architecture, sustainability, and education design have had a broad, lasting and meaningful impact. His leadership continues to shape the future of learning environments, making him a true icon in the field of education design.