About Schooldesigner

We are the only website focused exclusively on promoting high-quality K-12 school design around the world. Here are the most creative school designs, most talented school design professionals and the highest quality products that school clients seek.

If you are an Architect, Engineer, or Consultant who cares about high-quality school design, then become a member of schooldesigner.com. By becoming a schooldesigner member, you will be listed with the nation´s leading innovators of school design.

Designer Professionals

This section includes the very best professionals in K-12 school design. Architects, Engineers, and Consultants are highlighted on the firm profile page, which gives a brief company overview, along with photographs of completed projects. There is a link to the firm´s website for more information. To those in need of an acknowledged professional school designer, this is the best place on the web to look.

Designer Elements

This section shows our unique way of highlighting school projects by breaking down the overall school into components or “elements.” We view this as an online “idea book” that generates inspiration for the next school project. The “elements” are easy to understand because they focus on a defined and specific design idea. There is a direct link to the firm profile page so the creator of the element can be easily identified.

Designer Products

This section provides a plethora of products appropriate for use in K-12 schools. Each product is identified with text and images showing actual school installations. Every product listed is sponsored by one manufacturer, and there is a link to that manufacturer´s website.

About Joel K. Sims, AIA

Joel K. Sims, AIA, has more than 20 years of experience as an architect, focusing on educational facilities planning and design. Experienced in all aspects of planning and design, he regularly contributes articles and quotes to various publications focused on educational facilities and is a frequent speaker at state and national conferences.

Joel´s focus on educational facilities dates back to his childhood when he attended ten different schools prior to graduating from high school. At an early age he saw diversified learning environments in America and overseas.

After studying architecture at Clemson University in South Carolina, he worked at Thomas Associates - A Tetratech Company (Ithaca, NY). While Senior Vice President at a large architectural and engineering firm in Northeast Pennsylvania, he was Partner-in-charge of the Wycallis Elementary School (an AIA award winning Elementary School).

In 2003, Joel founded Lancaster, PA.-based Sims Architects, Inc., to provide consulting and design services to the educational community. In 2006, he founded Schooldesigner.com out of a deep desire to increase the quality of school design throughout the world.

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