MANCHESTER-BY-THE SEA & IPSWICH, MA — Olson Lewis Dioli & Doktor Architects (OLD&D), celebrating its 30th anniversary, recently welcomed Bill Mead as the newest Principal to its executive team. Bill, who holds degrees from Dartmouth and Yale, brings a wealth of experience in healthcare, academic, corporate, and residential design to the firm’s practice. He is a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) and a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Architects (FACHA). Bill offers over 30 years of design and management expertise from the Boston firm of Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott, where he was a Principal and owner. His clients included Children’s Hospital Boston, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Hewlett Packard, Bucknell University, George Mason University, and Pine Manor College. He is excited to be collaborating with a community closer to his home and family on the North Shore.
Bill believes that our constructed environment can strongly enhance the quality of our lives, and he uses every opportunity to improve our designed environs. He uses a hands-on approach to design, listening and collaborating listening and collaborating to thoroughly understand client needs. “I am excited about focusing on New England and my North Shore community to solve local architectural challenges and improve our environments.”
Observes OLD&D’s co-founder John Olson, “Bill has been a North Shore colleague and neighbor for decades. We’ve known each other as professional peers…and golfing rivals…for a long time. I trust our firm’s wellbeing and our client’s needs in his hands, because Bill is a natural addition to our team. In a way, we’re just welcoming him home.”
In fact, Bill has longstanding connections to all four OLD&D partners. In addition to professional camaraderie, they share personal history. Bill notes, “I’ve plied the North Shore golf links with John Olson, tested the biotech market with Randy Lewis, paced the Pingree lacrosse sidelines with Art Dioli, and cycled the Pan Mass Challenge with Chris Doktor.”
Knowing and trusting each other is critical to the firm’s design approach. OLD&D’s firm has a closely-knit team of staff and partners. All live and work in the North Shore’s communities, providing service to a dynamic circle of owners, leaders and business managers in the fields of biotechnology, hospitality and education.
This partnership reflects a response to sustainability. Working closer to home conserves energy, health and resources. In large part, joining OLD&D is a lifestyle decision for Bill. He has commuted into Boston for a significant portion of his professional life. Now it’s time to work closer to home in a more intimate setting. As Bill recently said in a note to friends and peers, “It’s time to launch the next chapter of my professional life…with a firm whose focus is on design quality and sustainability. In that spirit, this decision transforms a daily 2-hour drive through Boston traffic into a healthy bike, kayak or sail to work.”
