Architecture firm donates $50,000 to Clemson University

Published: April 8, 2010

CLEMSON — A $50,000 gift from a Columbia architecture firm, Garvin Design Group, will support the expansion, renovation and restoration of Lee Hall, home to Clemson University’s design and building disciplines.

Company principals Principals Scott Garvin, Terry Buchmann, Mark Timbes and Scott Lambert decided to make the gift toward the estimated $31 million project.

Lee Hall is the home of graduate and undergraduate programs in architecture; art; city and regional planning; construction science and management; landscape architecture; real estate development; and a doctorate program in planning, design and the built environment. The project includes designs for a new addition and renovations for the older facilities.

“We are indebted to Clemson University for the quality of our education as well as the life-changing experiences that each of us enjoyed during our time at Lee Hall,” said Garvin. "We are honored and excited to be a part of this transformational project and look forward to the positive impact it will have on future professionals in architecture, construction and related fields.”

Garvin, Timbes, and Buchmann are Clemson graduates. Lambert is a 1994 graduate of Virginia Tech. Garvin graduated in 1986 with a master’s in architecture and is a trustee of the Clemson Advancement Foundation. Timbes graduated in 1994 with a master’s in architecture. Buchmann graduated in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in design, then received a 1996 master’s degree in architecture from the University of Virginia.

While other building priorities on the campus were postponed for budgetary reasons, the university has moved forward with raising funds for the Lee Hall project because it qualified for federal stimulus funding restricted to renovation and maintenance projects.

Plans for a groundbreaking ceremony for the project will be announced soon.

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