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ArchDC Spring 2017.qxp_Spring 2017 2/22/17 2:55 PM Page 62

Grand staircase/amphitheater at the BASIS
Independent School.
The Business
The Business

of Academics
of Academics

Office Conversion Provides

Unusual Setting for K-12 School

by Steven K. Dickens, AIA, LEED AP

Project: BASIS Independent School,
8000 Jones Branch Drive, McLean, VA
Architects: Perkins Eastman
Design-Build Partner: Gilbane
Structural Engineers: Ehlert Bryan, Inc.
MEP Engineers: Interface Engineering
Civil Engineers: Bowman Consulting
Acoustical Consultants: Cerami & Associates

One of the largest architecture firms in the world,
Perkins Eastman has scores of primary and secondary
schools in its portfolio, running the gamut from public
schools (both urban and suburban) and charter schools
to independent schools. None, however, was quite like
the project for the BASIS Independent McLean school, in
Tysons (formerly Tysons Corner), Virginia. That is because
it involved the conversion of a former commercial office
building into a pre-K-through-12 academic facility, a first
in the experience of Brian Donnelly, AIA, LEED AP,
associate principal at Perkins Eastman’s DC office.
The three-story building was designed in the 1980s
by Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum (HOK) and originally
housed the offices of defense contractor BDM. It was one
of the earlier office buildings in Tysons, which is now the
largest commercial center in northern Virginia. Today the
building is positioned between two major corporate
headquarters: those of media giant Gannett/USA Today,
immediately to the east, and mortgage giant Freddie
Mac, to the west. The Dulles Toll Road abuts the site to
the north.
Parent company BASIS.ed runs 25 schools in the US—
18 in Arizona and 7 elsewhere— plus an international school
in China. Most are independent schools, meaning that they
are private but not religiously affiliated; some, including
one in DC, are public charter schools. The company was
founded in 1998 by two university professors who noted
that many international students came to college much
better prepared than their American counterparts. The
professors created a school that draws from international

62 THE BUSINESS OF ACADEMICS
Sarah Mechling