GPD was selected by Akron Public Schools, the City of Akron, and the Ohio Facility Construction Commission to lead an $800M architectural and engineering design effort to replace, renovate, or decommission the district’s 58 buildings. Since the City of Akron’s income tax contributed to project funding, the project is known as the Imagine Akron Community Learning Centers (CLCs) program. The facilities are used for K-12 education during the day and are available for use by the community on evenings and weekends for education and recreation programs. 

GPD assisted curriculum staff in establishing educational and recreational goals and determining use requirements for each CLC, including educational specifications, room sizes, fixed equipment, and finishes. Since the district was organized on eight unique and diverse clusters, GPD and the district developed standards for consistency and equity throughout while allowing each CLC to be iconic to the community served. There are no prototype buildings. All are special because the designs were established based on the design process that involves administrators, teachers, students, neighbors, and other key stakeholders from that neighborhood. 

Throughout the life of the program, GPD served as program manager and organized eight other design firms to expedite the process. GPD also served as the architect and engineer of record on more than 30 schools for the district, including the following:

• Firestone/Litchfield CLC (6-12)
• Buchtel CLC (6-12)
• Hatton CLC (PK-5)
• Schumacher CLC (PK-5)
• Forest Hill CLC (PK-5)
• East CLC (7-12)
• Ellet CLC (9-12)
• Harris-Jackson CLC (PK-5)
• Case CLC (PK-5)
• Garfield CLC (9-12)
• Bridges Learning Center (limited renovation)
• Akron Alternative Academy (limited renovation)
• NIHF STEM High School (limited renovation)