Archinect
Thomas Beck

Thomas Beck

Philadelphia, PA, US

 

About 

I am an experienced registered architect with particular expertise in the areas of academic, institutional, and residential work, with a focus on traditional design.  I have practiced in the Philadelphia area since earning the Master of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979. At Dagit Saylor I documented an award-winning theater and chapel addition to the Gwynedd Mercy Academy and the street-level public spaces in the transformed Hamilton Building at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. At Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates I was project manager for the Institute for Advanced Science and Technology (Vagelos Laboratories) at the University of Pennsylvania and the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College.  Recently at Frens and Frens Restoration Architects, I completed the exterior documentation of the second phase of a new engineering school at Washington University in Saint Louis, a LEED Gold project I started three years ago at RMJM Hillier.  In total, I have designed and managed projects encompassing approximately 750,000 square feet with a combined value of more than $150 million. 

 

I am able to efficiently coordinate production teams, supervise the organization and assembly of construction documents, and administer construction. During a career that spans over thirty years, I have acquired excellent design, contract-documentation, communication and presentation skills, as well as a facility with all aspects of project management, administrative and financial. One of my strengths, gained from teaching as well as practicing Architecture, is my ability to mentor others. While I continue to draw by hand and to make profitable use of my freehand sketching ability, I am also highly proficient with AutoCAD, Photoshop, and MS Office Suite. I have recently become familiar with Revit Architecture 2011. I understand sustainable design principles, and employ them wherever possible.

Employment 

Seiler + Drury Architecture, Norristown, Pennsylvania, Architect

• Produced an ADA accessibility analysis of 27 buildings on the Haverford College campus.
• Designed and documented alterations to Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church of Germantown (Furness and Hewitt, 1873), for the Waldorf School of Philadelphia.

Jun 2013 - current
 

Richard McIlhiney Architects, New York, New York, Project Architect

• Designed and documented an addition to a private school in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Jan 2013 - May 2013
 

The Pidcock Company / Civil Engineers, Architects, Allentown, Pennsylvania, Architect

• Designed and documented a renovation and addition to the firm’s thirty-five-year-old headquarters in Allentown, PA.

Dec 2011 - Dec 2012
 

Frens and Frens Restoration Architects, West Chester, Pennsylvania, Project Architect

• Designed and documented, with James Garrison, the exterior of Green Hall, the LEED Gold second phase of the new School of Engineering and Applied Science at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri. 70,000 s.f. / $24 million.

May 2010 - Feb 2011
 

Lenhardt Rodgers Architecture + Interiors, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, Project Architect

Designed Senior Living facilities including a Continuing Care Retirement Community on a 100-acre campus in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. 300,000 s.f. / $50 million.

Dec 2008 - Apr 2010
 

RMJM/Hillier, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Project Architect

Documented the exterior of Brauer Hall, Phase I of a new School of Engineering and Applied
Science at Washington University in Saint Louis. LEED Gold. 150,000 s.f. / $60 million.

Oct 2007 - Dec 2008
 

Seiler + Drury Architecture, Norristown, Pennsylvania, Associate

• Produced drawings, specifications, cost estimates, and construction phase services for dormitory renovations at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology (completed December 2006).
• Designed, managed documentation, and administered construction, for a 10,000 square-foot multi-purpose “Playhouse” on a suburban estate in Blue Bell, PA (completed November 2005).
• Designed and managed alterations and additions to Malvern Borough Hall, Malvern, PA, an 1890 schoolhouse adapted to contain Borough administrative offices, Public Library, and Police Department (completed October 2003).

Feb 2002 - Dec 2006
 

Dagit Saylor Architects, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Project Architect

• Prepared construction documents for a theater and chapel addition to the Gwynedd Mercy Academy high school in Montgomery County, PA (completed in 2004).
• Designed and detailed lobbies, retail shop and restaurant, for the Hamilton Building renovation for the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (completed in 2005).

Dec 2000 - Jan 2002
 

Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Project Manager

• Assembled and managed the project team for construction documentation of the Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Pennsylvania (completed in 1998). 110,000 s.f. / $40 million.
• Managed the project team and administered the construction of additions/renovations to Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College (completed in 1989). 50,000 s.f. / $9 million.

Oct 1986 - Oct 1993
 

Education 

University of Pennsylvania, PhD, Architecture

Sep 1991 - May 2001
 

University of Pennsylvania, MArch, Architecture

Sep 1977 - May 1979
 

University of Virginia, Bachelors, Architecture

Sep 1973 - May 1977
 

Awards 

David R. Coffin Grant, awarded by the Foundation for Landscape Studies, Other

for the publication of Thomas E. Beck’s translation of Bartolomeo Taegio's La Villa.

2011
 

Salvatori Research Grant, University of Pennsylvania Center for Italian Studies, Other

1999
 

Departmental Scholarship, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine, Scholarship

1998
 

Areas of Specialization 

Skills