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Albany-based Ashley McGraw Architects announced it’s acquired studioMLA Architects, a 15-person architecture, landscape and interior design firm located in Brookline.

The price of the acquisition was not disclosed.

As part of the acquisition, studioMLA Architects will become the early childhood education studio within Ashley McGraw Architects. studioMLA specializes in designing children’s environments, K-12 schools, youth centers, multi-generational spaces and parks. The firm’s customers typically include independent schools, corporations, foundations and individual clients in the greater Boston area.

“As we emerged from the challenges of COVID, a vital component of our strategic plan was to build a more resilient business by diversifying our markets,” Matthew Broderick, president and CEO of Ashley McGraw Architects, said in a statement. “We aimed to build one of the best community-focused design practice in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, expanding our capacity to make an impact and creating more opportunities for staff. This strategic acquisition provides Ashley McGraw a Boston-based office and a national practice centered on early childhood education, expanding our demographic diversity to include a much younger age group and anchoring our geographic diversity in New England.”

StudioMLA founder Mike Lindstrom will become the seventh partner of Ashley McGraw Architects. The founding principal of studioMLA Architects, Lindstrom has over 30 years of experience and is a leader in the design of play and learning environments for children, Ashley McGraw Architects said. Lindstrom has been an advisor to the American Academy of Pediatrics on Child Care Center Design, taught at the Institute on Childcare Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design for seven years and is a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

“We are excited about the new opportunities and resources that this strategic partnership provides to our clients and to the studioMLA team,” Lindstrom said in a statement. “Given the similarities in cultures and shared focus on high-quality design, I anticipate a seamless transition and look forward to a host of new possibilities.”

The acquisition of studioMLA’s Boston office adds to Ashley McGraw Architects’ existing locations in Washington, D.C. and Syracuse, New York.

School and Playground Architects studioMLA Bought By NY Firm

by Erin Delaney time to read: 1 min
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