News + Insights
FUTURE OF WORK PLANNING + DESIGN with Education Development Center
After experiencing a shift in workplace practices during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Education Development Center (EDC) engaged MDS to perform a programming and planning study to reimagine its headquarters in Waltham, MA. More.
Are conference rooms the next Pandemic casualty?
MDS Associate and Senior Interior Designer Meaghan Kennedy explores how hybrid work methods are impacting today’s workplaces as we return to the office. More.
An Exciting New vision for Brookline’s Pierce School
Pierce School is a PreK-8 school for 725 students, located in the heart of Brookline. Working with Town officials, Brookline Public Schools, Pierce School leaders, MSBA representatives, and our associate architects and landscape architects at Sasaki, MDS recently completed Schematic Design on the new Pierce School. More.
Staff Promotions 2022
Join MDS in congratulating our newly promoted staff who have been elevated to senior associate and associate. We value the professional growth and development of all staff members and are proud to recognize this talented group’s design leadership and expertise. More.
Celebrating the Topping-Off of Braintree’s New South Middle School
Adorned with signatures of students, teachers and Town officials, the ceremonial steel beam was raised on Braintree’s new South Middle School. MDS congratulates the Town of Braintree, Braintree Public Schools and the entire project team for meeting this important milestone. Construction is on track for a spring 2023 completion. More.
A Nexus for entrepreneurship, collaboration, and scholarship at Wheaton College
Our renovation of Wheaton College’s Diana Davis Spencer Discovery Center transformed the outdated laboratory and classroom building into a contemporary academic hub befitting Wheaton’s bold liberal arts and sciences curriculum. More.
Refreshing Boston University’s Union Court Dining Commons
Located on the ground level of George Sherman Union, Boston University’s bustling hub for campus community, our renovation of Union Court transformed the multi-restaurant food hall, enriching the way students share meals and connect with the campus community. More.
New Video Produced by University of Massachusetts Amherst Illuminates the Mission Behind the Cranberry Research Station Expansion
Currently under construction, the Cranberry Research Station Expansion, designed by MDS, will improve research facilities, modernize the 1960s building, and create a new administration building overlooking the bog. More.
MDS is Hiring!
Join our talented team of architects and interior designers. MDS is currently hiring for multiple positions. Visit our Careers page for more information.
Brendon Duffy is now LEED AP BD+C
MDS Associate Brendon Duffy, AIA, NCARB passed the LEED AP BD+C exam. This credential demonstrates his advanced knowledge in green building practices and specialization in the LEED for Building Design and Construction rating system. More.
Breaking Ground on Braintree’s South Middle School
MDS congratulates the Town of Braintree, Braintree Public Schools, and the entire project team on the groundbreaking of the new South Middle School. The new school enables a Town-wide redistribution of students to relieve overcrowding in Braintree’s elementary schools and complements the recently renovated and expanded East Middle School, also designed by MDS. More.
MDS Ranked #29 in bbj’s list of largest women-owned businesses in massachusetts
MDS/Miller Dyer Spears Architects is proud to have ranked 29th in Boston Business Journal’s list of Women-Owned Business in Massachusetts. The annual ranking is based on 2021 revenue. More.
Braintree Public Schools Released a New video tour of East Middle School
Braintree Public Schools released a new video of the renovated and expanded East Middle School. The LEED-Silver certified project created healthy and invigorating environments with distinct academies for grades 5-6 and 7-8. Tour the new facilities in this video.
MDS Welcomes Sara Lesher as our new Director of Interior Design
Join us in welcoming Sara Lesher (DiNoto) as our new Director of Interior Design. A talented and creative leader, she brings 20 years of experience designing compelling workplaces and environments for learning. More.
MDS Moves: Designing for Change
In the latest edition of our Design Insights, MDS Senior Interior Designer Meaghan Kennedy explains the design strategies behind MDS’s new workplace in Downtown Boston. Read about our approach to creating work environments that prioritize health, amplify creativity, and foster collaboration, mentorship, and an inclusive community. More.
Braintree East Middle School is LEED-Silver Certified
Our renovation and expansion of the Town of Braintree’s East Middle School is LEED-Silver certified. The project focused on creating healthy and invigorating environments for learning and achieved significant energy use reduction with envelope improvements, the addition of sunshades, and photovoltaic panels, among other strategies. More.
Olink’s new lab and workplace
Olink Proteomics is a growing biotechnology company that provides products and services for human protein biomarker discovery. After outgrowing its previous facilities in Watertown, Olink’s new 18,000 sf lab and workplace in Waltham equips the rapidly expanding company with the environments and tools to advance its culture of innovation and transparency. More.
MDS Moves: Preparing for the Change
MDS Senior Interior Designer Meaghan Kennedy provides more insight into MDS Architects’ move to our new collaborative workplace in Downtown Boston. Read about the new tools, technologies and practices the firm is integrating to support new hybrid work models. More.
Animal Rescue League of Boston’s Dedham Campus Expansion Dedication
MDS congratulates the Animal Rescue League of Boston for the dedication of its new administration building. The new facility consolidates ARL’s administrative services on its Dedham campus, which ideally located to dispatch services and synergize with its shelter and veterinary center. More.
MDS Moves: Changing Where and How We Work
MDS Senior Interior Designer Meaghan Kennedy describes the context and framework for MDS Architects’ move to our new collaborative workplace in Downtown Boston. More.
UMass Amherst Cranberry Research Station Groundbreaking
MDS joined UMass Amherst officials, state dignitaries, and the greater community in celebrating the groundbreaking of the Cranberry Research Station Renovation and Expansion in East Wareham, Mass. The project will improve research facilities, modernize the 1960s building, and create a new administration building overlooking the bog. More.
MDS Architects is on the move
MDS is moving to a new collaborative workplace in Downtown Boston. We are departing our current office at the end of September and will be working remotely while the fit-out of our new workplace is completed. More.
MDS is Hiring for Director of Interior Design and Senior Interior Designer Positions
Join our talented interior design team! We are hiring for Director of Interior Design and Senior Interior Designer positions. MDS is a Women Business Enterprise and equal opportunity employer. We value the diversity of our talent and encourage all qualified candidates to apply. More.
Tom Grimble Joins MDS as Director of Operations and Senior Laboratory Planner
MDS welcomes Tom Grimble as our Director of Operations and Senior Laboratory Planner. He joins MDS after serving as the Director of Space Planning and Design at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. More.
The New Collaborative Workplace for a Biotech Organization (Private Client) was Awarded LEED Silver Certification
With staff health and wellbeing a primary driver to the design of the new collaborative workplace for a Biotech Organization (Private Client), the project was awarded LEED Silver certification. The LEED® certification trademark is owned by the U.S. Green Building Council and is used with permission. More.
Nereyda Rodriguez Completed the Passive House Designer Certification
MDS Senior Associate and Director of Sustainable Design Nereyda Rodriguez is now a Passive House Certified Designer. This credential expands her performance-based design expertise. Aligning with Passive House principles is an important focus of MDS’s approach to creating healthy, comfortable, energy-efficient and resilient buildings and environments. More.
Senior Interior Designer Stephanie Duhau and MDS are featured in iida new england’s designer monologues
Senior Interior Designer Stephanie Duhau and our renovation of Parenzo Hall at Westfield State University are featured in the IIDA New England’s Designer Monologue newsletter. More.
Fostering Skillsets that Support Students Throughout their Educations and Careers at Westfield State University
Parenzo Hall is Westfield State's oldest campus building, constructed in 1956. MDS's comprehensive renovation supports the reprogramming of Parenzo Hall to be a state-of-the-art hub for student success and workforce development. More.
Welcoming Students to Braintree’s East Middle School
The Town of Braintree welcomed students to the renovated and expanded East Middle School. The project enables Braintree Public Schools (BPS) to accomplish a range of goals—including expanding academic programming to grade 5, enhancing instructional support, increasing collaboration and curricular coordination, and better coordinating specialized services.
Tour the school in BPS’s Welcome to East Middle School video.
New South Middle School for the town of braintree
All middle schoolers in the Town of Braintree will soon have high quality learning environments. The new South Middle School for grades 5-8 complements the renovated and expanded East Middle School, also designed by MDS. It also helps relieve overcrowding in the Town's elementary schools by integrating 5th grade into the middle school program. More.
Invictus Forever Life Skills Development Center Study
Invictus Forever is a non-profit organization that seeks to meet the vocational, recreational, social, educational, and therapeutic needs of children and adults with disabilities. Envisioned as a safe, warm and welcoming environment for children and adults with special needs, Invictus Forever’s future campus will be a place where individuals of all strengths and abilities can excel. More.
Animal Rescue League of Boston’s Dedham Campus Expansion is featured in The Boston Globe
The new administration and training facility for Animal Rescue League of Boston on its Dedham, MA campus is featured in The Boston Globe. Read the article.
environments for exploration, team-based activities and steam skills development at catholic memorial school
The new Center for Integrated and Applied Learning (CIAL) is Catholic Memorial’s hub for hands-on, project-based learning. It is a series of flexible, interdisciplinary studios designed to foster exploration, creativity, team-based activities and the development of STEAM skills. More.
Staff Promotions 2021
MDS is pleased to announce staff promotions to senior associate and associate. Please join us in congratulating this talented group in recognition of their leadership, expertise and significant contributions to our firm. More.
New Collaborative Workplace for a non-profit biotech organization
This non-profit biotech organization’s new collaborative workplace draws inspiration from its strong sense of purpose and relentless pursuit of improving individual health on a global scale. The workplace strategy and design emphasizes staff equity and wellness, facilitates teamwork and collaboration, and celebrates the organization’s culture of innovation and wide-reaching impact. More.
Braintree Public Schools RE-Entry Planning
MDS is proud to have supported the Town of Braintree and Braintree Public Schools (BPS) in safely welcoming students, parents, teachers and staff back to school. As part of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education re-entry planning during the COVID-19 Pandemic, MDS was engaged by BPS to study all 11 schools in the district and design wayfinding signage for its September 2020 reopening. More.
Boston Preservation Alliance Award for our renovation of Boston University’s Myles Standish Hall
Our comprehensive renovation of Boston University’s Myles Standish Hall was recognized by Boston Preservation Alliance with a 2020 Preservation Award. The project repaired, restored and modernized the 1925 building and its 1920 Annex that are important landmarks to Boston’s Bay State Road/Back Bay West Area Architectural Conservation District, and Kenmore Square neighborhood. More.
Applying Physical Distancing Best Practices to Braintree’s East Middle School
In anticipation of Massachusetts phased reopening of schools as our renovation and expansion of the Town of Braintree's East Middle School nears completion, MDS studied East Middle School to explore how classrooms, corridors, and the various environments could be adapted to support physical distancing and enhanced hygiene protocols. More.
MDS begins phase 1 of returning to the workplace
The first phase of our return to the workplace began June 2, 2020. After analyzing our office, surveying our staff, and following state and local recommendations, MDS developed a strategy for returning to the workplace and resuming normal business practices with increased safety measures. This strategy is informed by our health care design experience and understanding of CDC and OSHA guidelines and infection control best practices. More.
mds is working remotely during the covid-19 emergency
MDS is committed to serving our clients and meeting each project’s needs during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Beginning 17 March 2020, all of our employees are working remotely until it has been determined that it is appropriate to resume normal business practices. Our staff can be reached via email. More.
Creating a contemporary academic hub at Wheaton College
Our renovation of Wheaton College’s Old Science Center transforms a 1960s building into a contemporary academic hub for the Departments of Psychology, Business, Computer Science, and Media Services, in addition to Wheaton’s Career and Advising Center. More.
Transformation of Boston university’s george sherman union food hall is underway
Located on the ground level of BU’s student union building, Union Court is undergoing a transformation that will update the look and feel of the multi-restaurant food hall and enrich the way students share meals and experience campus life. More.
Boston Collegiate Charter School’s Mayhew Street Upper School Expansion Recognized by AGC MA
The Association of General Contractors Massachusetts Chapter (AGC MA) recognized the Boston Collegiate Charter School Mayhew Street Upper School Expansion with an AGC MA Merit Award. MDS congratulates W.T. Rich and the entire project team on the recognition. More.
Our Renovation of Boston University’s Myles Standish Hall is LEED-Gold certified
Our comprehensive renovation of Boston University’s Myles Standish Hall achieved LEED Gold certification. The renewed building was designed to use approximately 40% less energy than a baseline building. More.
Boston University’s Myles Standish Hall Renovation received awards
Our comprehensive renovation of Boston University’s Myles Standish Hall and Annex with Shawmut Design and Construction was recognized by Preservation Massachusetts with a 2019 Paul & Niki Tsongas Award, IFMA Boston with a Best Practices: Large Projects Award, and the Design Build Institute of America New England Chapter with a 2018 Silver DBIA Award. More.
MDS Recognized by Green Streets Initiative in its 2018 walk/ride day corporate challenge
For the second year in a row, MDS won first place in Green Streets Initiative’s Walk/Ride Day Corporate Challenge! We were recognized in two categories — overall participation and healthy and green switches among small workplaces. More.
Codman Academy is featured in Green Schools Catalyst Quarterly
Codman Academy Charter Public School’s new K-8 school housed in the historic Lightow Building is featured in the September 2018 edition of Green Schools Catalyst Quarterly. The issue focuses on the role of schools in community health and resilience. More.
Fitchburg State University Landry Arena Renovation received a CMAA New England Award
The Construction Management Association of America's New England Chapter recognized the Landry Arena Renovation and Adaptive Reuse with a 2018 CMAA New England Award. More.
Codman Academy CHarter PUblic School's Lithgow Building Renovation is LEED-Gold Certified
Our renovation and adaptive reuse that converted a vacant retail building into a K-8 school for Codman Academy Charter Public School is LEED-Gold certified. More.