Although it’s true that we are fueled by caffeine and creativity, you won’t find our emerging professionals out making coffee runs.

Instead, they are right on the front lines, leading the design and construction team for Learnscape®, an outdoor learning environment. Hollis + Miller donates their time and resources to design a new Learnscape® locally each year, and this year will benefit the Raytown School District.

Our team of seven Emerging Professionals came together from various universities nation-wide to work towards the common goal of designing an innovative outdoor learning environment for New Trails Early Learning Center by the end of the summer. They jumped at the exciting challenge of designing an outdoor space, though much of their education has revolved around interior spaces. Behind the scenes of the creative design were many hours of research, exploration, coordination and prototyping of materials. Each Emerging Professional took on the responsibility for the design and constructability of a section of the Learnscape®, giving them the experience and ownership to fully understand the design before they lead a team on Build Day.