K-12 EDUCATION DESIGN
MCMILLAN PAZDAN SMITH
With offices throughout the Carolinas, Georgia, and Alabama, McMillan Pazdan Smith (MPS) is always nearby, dedicated to the communities and clients we serve.
Our team of architects, planners, and interior designers is committed to creating functional, enduring, costeffective, and iconic built environments. With expertise across markets including education, healthcare, commercial, civic, and multi-family living, clients and communities benefit from diverse, collaborative research and thought leadership. With each project, we strive to enhance quality of life and empower each client to achieve their goals, creating meaningful and lasting impact for the good of all.
K-12 EDUCATION DESIGN
Learning environments are successful when they empower student achievement, encourage community involvement, and accommodate diverse learning styles in healthy and safe surroundings.
As an industry leader in K-12 architecture, advisory services, planning, and interior design, McMillan Pazdan Smith is passionate about serving school leaders, teachers, staff, and students by exploring the best solutions for each school community.
Our expertise includes facility assessments to address growth and aging infrastructure, safety improvements, new construction, and complex renovations and additions. By reimagining what is possible, our team of educational planners, designers, and data analysts offers creative design solutions focused on positive student outcomes. McMillan Pazdan Smith is a community-based and education-focused practice dedicated to creating meaningful and lasting impact for the good of all.
1 DEDICATED K-12 DESIGN PRACTICE
4
ALEP-CERTIFIED PLANNERS (ACCREDITED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT PLANNER)
30 DESIGN AWARDS + A4LE AWARDS FOR 21ST-CENTURY LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS +
60 SCHOOL DISTRICT CLIENTS +
65%
OF OUR PORTFOLIO IS EDUCATION DESIGN
We are ranked #21 in the Top 35 BD+C Giants 400 Report, 2025. The annual report ranks the largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. — and we are #27 for K-12 School Architecture Leaders.
Midland Valley High School Addition
Drayton Mills Elementary Cafeteria
Lucy G. Beckham High School Courtyard
Spartanburg High School Field House
Legacy Charter School Corridor
North Augusta High School
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Drayton Mills Elementary School, Spartanburg School District
Drayton Mills Elementary School | Spartanburg, SC
Learning By Design, Outstanding Project Award, 2019 Association for Learning Environments (A4LE), Excellence in Design Merit Award, 2019
Elementary School Prototype: Centreville + South Lake Elementary Schools | Lexington, SC
South Lake Elementary
South Lake Elementary
Centreville Elementary
Centreville Elementary
Middle Tyger Education Center | Lyman, SC
MIDDLE SCHOOLS
McCracken Middle School, Spartanburg School District
Middle School Prototype: Beechwood, Pelion, Lakeside Middle Schools | Lexington, SC
lakeside middle school
Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) SC Chapter, Honor Award, 2024
beechwood middle school
Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) SC Chapter, Merit Award, 2021
American School and University, Outstanding Design
Pelion Middle School
Beechwood Middle School
Beechwood Middle School
Lakeside Middle School
Pelion Middle School
Lakeside Middle School
Fairforest Middle School |
Dr. Phinnize J. Fisher Middle School | Greenville, SC
Association for Learning Environments (A4LE), James D. MacConnell Award, 2015
Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) SC Chapter, Excellence in Design Merit Award, 2015
AIA Spartanburg, Design Excellence Award, 2015
Learning By Design, Citation of Excellence Award, 2016
Flint
Rudolph Gordon K-8 School | Moore, SC
HIGH SCHOOLS
Lucy G. Beckham High School, Charleston County School District
Lucy Garret Beckham High School | Mt. Pleasant, SC
Community High School Addition |
North Augusta High School | North Augusta, SC
Association
for Learning Environments (A4LE) SC Chapter, Citation for Complex Phasing Solution, 2024
Philip
Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) SC Chapter, Merit Award, 2018
Steel Joist Institute, Unique Design Award, 2017
Whale Branch Early College High School | Seabrook,
Harding High School, Career + Technical Education Classroom Wing | Charlotte, NC
New Stadium Complexes: Richland Northeast + Ridge View High Schools |
Northeast High School (left side / below)
Ridge View High School (right side / below)
DISTRICT-WIDE EDUCATION
+ RESOURCES
Anderson Institute of Technology | Anderson, SC
Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) SC Chapter, Honor Award for New Construction, 2021
LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST
If you are a school policymaker, teacher, or parent who cares about making schools better places for every student, listen to our podcast, ideaXchange: The Future of K-12 Education. In this ongoing series, your host Ben Thompson, K-12 Practice Area Leader at McMillan Pazdan Smith, talks with experienced and insightful leaders in education.
Join us for this exchange of ideas as we discuss some of the biggest challenges facing students and schools today. Education matters, and it’s an investment that we all share. Subscribe on our website or listen from your favorite podcast app. www.mcmillanpazdansmith.com/podcasts/k-12
READ OUR K-12 BLOGS
For valuable insights, trends, and advice tailored to the needs of K-12 school leaders who aspire to empower the next generation, follow our blog: www.mcmillanpazdansmith.com/ideas.
K-12 PRACTICE LEADER
BEN THOMPSON, aia, alep Principal / K-12 Practice Leader
Accredited Learning Environments Planner
Ben leads the firm’s dedicated K-12 Practice Area across all eight Studios for clients across the Carolinas and Georgia. He is an experienced architect and project manager, having served on a variety of projects, from district-wide capital improvement programs to large educational facilities, complex additions, and renovations. Ben understands that education empowers students to become future leaders, creators, and collaborators. His work focuses on providing unique solutions to support student outcomes through programming, campus master planning, conceptual design development, and the full project management process.
Ben also hosts our podcast, IdeaXchange: the Future of K-12 Education, a series that brings together experienced and insightful leaders in education to exchange ideas and discuss the biggest issues facing students and schools today.
EDUCATION
Master of Architecture, Clemson University, 2003
Bachelor of Science in Design, Clemson University, 2000
The Advanced Academy for Designing Learning Spaces, San Diego State University, 2017
SELECT PROJECT EXPERIENCE
Clover School District
Campus Masterplanning, Funding Consultation Design of New Lake Wylie High School + Liberty Hill Elementary School
Anderston School District 5
District-wide Facility Assessment + Capital Improvements Planning
Spartanburg School District 4
District-Wide Facilities Needs Assessment, Demographic + Enrollment Forecasting, Masterplanning, Capital Improvements Planning Design of New Woodruff High School
CONTACT
bthompson@mcmillanpazdansmith.com
O: (980) 267-3631
M: (704) 330-0029
Listen online or subscribe: www. mcmillanpazdansmith.com/podcasts/k-12.
Aiken County Public Schools
Belvedere Elementary School
Master Planning / Addition / Renovation
Richland School District 2
New District-wide Performing Arts Center
www.mcmillanpazdansmith.com