Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Harley Ellis Devereaux acquires architecture firm Deems Lewis McKinley

  • 01/19/17

San Francisco - Harley Ellis Devereaux (HED) is pleased to announce that Deems Lewis McKinley (DLM) has merged with HED.

A recognized leader in K-12 Schools design, DLM brings over 55 years of experience in the design of educational facilities across California.  With offices in Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco, DLM further diversifies HED’s 380-person design expertise and expands the firm geographically.

From Northern to Southern California and beyond, DLM’s designs have advanced the world of hundreds of local communities since 1959.  DLM's notable projects across California include a masterplan and complete campus replacement of the CHPS Demonstration De Anza High School in Richmond; a new Performing Arts Center for Palo Alto High School; a complete campus replacement, including a sustainability plan for Edna Maguire Elementary School in Mill Valley; a new Student Center for Monta Vista High School in Sunnyvale; and a complete design of the new 44,000-square-foot Susan B. Anthony School in Daly City that resembles a modern version of an "old red brick schoolhouse."

“The combination of DLM’s experience and reputation in the Bay Area and Sacramento and HED’s extensive K-12 Schools portfolio will provide our clients with an even broader range of services, thought leadership and design excellence,” says J. Peter Devereaux, Chief Executive Officer of HED.

“We are looking forward to merging the talents of our two teams and are excited to be part of a very talented studio with deep resources,” says Wallace B. (Wally) Gordon, President and Chief Executive Officer of DLM.

DLM staff in San Francisco will relocate to HED’s San Francisco Office in February.  DLM’s Sacramento staff will remain in their current office space.

Featured

  • Arlington High School

    Arlington High School

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. Arlington High School has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of New Construction.

  • Texas Recruitment

    Texas Recruitment

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The University of Texas at Austin's Texas Recruitment has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of Renovation.

  • Higher Ed is Betting on New Buildings While Quietly Undermining Their Campuses — Here’s Why

    In this climate, the owner’s representative has changed from a delivery-focused advisor to a strategic campus partner. Institutions are increasingly relying on owner’s reps not just to manage, cope, schedule, and budget, but also help evaluate whether a project should proceed at all.

  • Designing for Every Mind

    Learning environments have the power to shape not just what students know, but who they become. When a school is designed with genuine empathy—for the full range of ways students think, sense, and engage with the world—it becomes more than a building. It becomes a catalyst for growth, confidence, and belonging. That is the animating idea behind neurodiverse design, and it is one that is transforming how more architects and designers are thinking about school design.