KATONAH, NY — CPL, a full-service design firm serving public and private-sector clients for more than 47 years, is pleased to announce the promotion of David Sammel, RA to the role of National K-12 Education Practice Leader. This merited advancement from Principal aligns with the firm’s strategic vision to strengthen CPL’s leadership bench, while continuing to grow its K-12 practice throughout the country.
In his new role, Sammel will generate evolutionary strategies to achieve overall practice goals, working with regional team leaders to identify and pursue high-value growth opportunities. He will lend critical insight towards the team’s approach to expanding into new territories as well as nurturing existing partnerships along the east coast.
Keeping step with the evolving academic landscape, CPL’s K-12 practice team specializes in working alongside school district partners to design spaces that offer students, educators and entire communities a strong foundation for success. To ensure every project they touch is built with the future in mind, the team’s approach requires nimble leadership mixed with proven experience in providing inclusive design methodologies—two attributes that Sammel already possesses.
“David’s mindset of growth and elasticity is perfectly suited to lead this practice and drive new opportunities,” said Rick Henry, P.E., President at CPL. “His talent, candor and initiative will reinforce CPL as a leader in high-performance educational design.”
With more than two decades of architectural planning and design experience, Sammel has overseen the execution of a wide range of K-12 assignments; he also owned and operated his own architectural consulting firm, Sammel Architecture PLLC, until its acquisition by CPL in 2020.
Sammel has successfully led design projects for numerous high-visibility clients, including the Somers Central School District, the Carmel Central School District and the New York City School Construction Authority (NYCSCA). His recent contributions at CPL involve auditorium upgrades at the Michael E. Berdy School in Brooklyn, NY, gym renovations at Pathways College Preparatory School in Saint Albans, NY, and a new partnership with the Monroe-Woodbury Central School District to provide design services for a proposed $50M to $70M capital project.
Recognizing that designers can play an active role in shaping the next generation, Sammel marries his expertise with enduring community connections to deliver immediate, high impact results for CPL and its partners. The firm is confident that he will guide internal and external teams towards greater success as he excels in his new role.
About CPL
Founded in 1975, CPL is a 500+ person multi-disciplined architecture, engineering and planning firm offering inspiring design services and enriching communities in 24 cities across seven states. CPL specializes in the Community, Healthcare, Higher Education, and K-12 Education market sectors – providing architectural, interior design, civil engineering, buildings and structural engineering, planning, landscape architecture and 3D/virtual design services to a host of public and private clients.