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HONOREE: Sara T. Vander Veen AIA, LEED AP
Progressive AE
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Vander Veen: The idea of being an architect was never just a job for me, it has always been a way of seeing the world. I fondly remember the distinct moment of epiphany which opened my mind to seeing the complex built environment so essential to our daily human existence and yet utterly unnoticed until that moment during an orientation open house lecture at the College of Art and Architecture at University of Virginia at the impressionable age of 16. My curiosity about the relationship between people and their places led me to Ball State University where I earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture and a Bachelors of Science in Environmental Design.
One of my long-time mentors would say I have an unbridled enthusiasm for the profession of architecture. I’ve shared that energy and passion as an ambassador for the AIA at local, state and national levels in the communities I’ve served over the years. I’ve also challenged myself as an educator and mentor to high school and college students.
Vander Veen: Midyear of 2002, I made a life-changing decision to resign from my job in Columbus, Ohio and move to Portage, Mich. and into my grandmother’s house on West Lake. Mike Marshburn, who had helped guide the merger of Marshburn & Bunkley Architects with TMP Associates out of Bloomfield Hills, offered me the opportunity to join the smaller Portage office. My mentors helped shift my focus to project management and encouraged my leadership development. I immersed myself in educational environments and continued to volunteer my time with the AIA Southwest Michigan Chapter.
Looking for an opportunity to live closer to my husband, Alex Vander Veen, I chose to shift my career to Progressive AE in Grand Rapids. Impressed by the shared values for sustainability and the power of design to transform culture and organization, I knew that PAE would be the right next step for my career to blossom. As a full-service architectural and engineering company, it has afforded me a unique opportunity to further develop cross-disciplinary understanding and work toward a more integrated project delivery with the projects that I manage for a wide range of clients.
Vander Veen: All the projects that I’ve worked on have shaped me – every experience is a learning experience.
Vander Veen: The greater cultural consciousness regarding the impact of our built environment. Sustainability is becoming an embedded part of our collective way of seeing, particularly in West Michigan. In many ways, West Michigan is ahead of other communities across the nation because of the culture and expectation around acting sustainability. That means planning and building sustainability. When there is cultural support, it is not just the architectural and engineering professionals imploring clients to expect more.
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