Schooley Caldwell

Schooley Caldwell has practised architecture in Columbus since 1944 and works from 300 Marconi Boulevard downtown with a staff of roughly 22, four of them principals. The firm covers architecture, planning, interior design, technical services and historic preservation, and it is certified as both an MBE and a WBE with the State of Ohio and the City of Columbus. Preservation is the through-line: Schooley Caldwell served as architectural and historical preservation consultant on the Minnesota State Capitol restoration, and led the 425,000-square-foot master plan and renovation of the LeVeque Tower in Columbus, a 47-story 1927 National Register landmark converted to retail, office, residential and boutique hotel use. Project work reaches beyond Ohio into Utah, Minnesota, Kansas and Pennsylvania.

Beyond the landmark restorations, much of Schooley Caldwell’s day-to-day work is the unglamorous technical kind. The firm handles State and Federal Historic Tax Credit applications, coordinates with the State Historic Preservation Office, the National Park Service and local preservation boards, prepares Section 106 documentation and Certificates of Appropriateness, and helps owners chase preservation grants. It also produces formal documentation packages to HABS, HAER and HALS standards, with measured drawings, large-format photography and written historical narratives, and uses drone survey to record conditions on elevations nobody can safely reach.

Investigative work comes before design. The practice runs forensic moisture and deterioration analysis, advises on masonry repointing mixes, and handles conservation of metals and terra cotta. That feeds into building envelope assessments, exterior wall reconstruction with high-performance waterproofing, roof replacement and asbestos abatement planning.

Two recent projects show the range. The 1887 Perry County Courthouse renovation added accessibility upgrades and brought back the grand staircase while reproducing handcrafted historic detail. The Hocking Hills Lodge and Conference Center in Logan, Ohio, by contrast, is straight new construction.

The firm does not treat a ribbon cutting as the end of the job. It describes that moment as the start of a building’s life and keeps working with owners and facility managers afterward on code compliance reviews, ADA assessments, elevator modernizations, Zoom Room upgrades and long-range maintenance and operations plans.

Studio composition matters to how the work gets staffed. Three of the four principals identify as people of color, as does a quarter of the staff, and the office pairs architects with interior designers and planners rather than handing interiors to an outside consultant. Project sectors named by the firm include civic and government, academic, student housing, multi-unit residential, cultural and recreation, office and mixed-use.

Interiors work covers space planning and programming, furniture, fixtures and equipment selection, and master planning paired with facility condition assessments for owners deciding what to fix first.

The office is at 300 Marconi Boulevard, Suite 100, Columbus, Ohio 43215, on (614) 628-0300. Hiring inquiries go to a separate address, careers@schooleycaldwell.com.