MBMA Announces 2025 Architecture Faculty Workshop

Cleveland, OH - The Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA) will once again hold its annual Architecture Faculty Workshop for college and university professors from across the country. The 2025 event takes place April 9 and 10 in Houston, Texas and is in partnership with the University of Houston Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design. Workshop attendees will also be able to tour the Keeland Lab at the University of Houston, and, at Rice University, the new Cannady Hall, and Sarofim Hall (under construction). Additionally, a local metal building manufacturing plant tour is scheduled.

Registration for the program is now underway at https://tinyurl.com/yr7h4pdr and there is no fee for architecture educators to attend.

“The annual MBMA Architecture Faculty Workshop is always a great benefit to the educational community, and even more so for those who are interested in our annual student design competition,” said W. Lee Shoemaker, Ph.D., P.E., MBMA Director of Research and Engineering. “Attendees not only learn more about metal building systems themselves, but they have helped their students learn and be successful in our design competition.”

The event is free for everyone. For the first 25 registrants, all costs for travel, meals and lodging will be reimbursed by the Metal Building Manufacturers Association.

The workshop introduces metal building systems to faculty and presents ideas for integrating this popular building type into the curriculum. One focus of the workshop is the annual MBMA student design competition, underway during the fall academic semester, which awards more than $30,000 to undergraduate and graduate students and faculty sponsors. The workshop provides the background for faculty to serve as advisors for the competition.

The workshop begins with a look at market trends and an introduction to metal building systems. Additional presentations and speakers include the following:

• MBMA Student Design Competition Insights, Eric F. Pros, AIA, Director of Design, DS Architecture

• Design Competitions: Role of Faculty Advisors, Stephen Schreiber, FAIA, ACSA Distinguished Professor, Chair of the Department of Architecture at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst

• Metal Building Designs – In and Out of the Classroom, by Donna Kacmar, FAIA, a Professor at Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design at the University of Houston.

• Introducing Metal Building Concepts into Architecture Curriculum, by Greg Snyder, Associate Professor of Architecture and Undergraduate Program Director for the School of Architecture, University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

Attendees of the workshop will receive free publications and access to resources on metal buildings. On top of the presentations and university visits, a local metal building manufacturing plant tour is scheduled for Thursday morning.

“We look forward to hosting a range of academic leaders,” commented MBMA General Manager, Tony Bouquot. “Our competition is open to both graduate and undergraduate students, so educators at all levels can gain some important insights by attending.” He said that typical attendees include undergraduate and graduate college and university professors, graduate programs advisers, deans of architecture schools and practicing architecture professionals who are also adjunct professors.

About The Metal Building Manufacturers Association

Founded in 1956, MBMA serves manufacturers and suppliers as it works to promote the metal building systems industry. Its membership supplies high-quality buildings for use in commercial, retail, office, industrial, institutional and other end-uses. The association provides a wealth of information on its website for anyone who works with or is interested in metal building systems. It includes technical materials and design guides. For more information, visit www.mbma.com.