Growing up, Stuart Cline, NCIDQ, WELL AP was surrounded by design ingenuity.
Her father worked as a contractor and her mother enjoyed drawing and making stained glass by hand, so they combined their talents to renovate houses. Inspired by all that her parents created, it came as no surprise when Cline later pursued a career in design.
Today, as a Senior Interior Designer at CPL, Cline is intimately involved in every phase of our Higher Education assignments, from early analysis through project installation. Whether she’s modeling buildings, selecting furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) or curating intricate mood and visual dialogue boards, she marries her passion for creating high-impact environments with her penchant for project management to deliver spaces that are as charming as they are functional.
Leading truly coactive “working” sessions, Cline strives to help clients think outside the box of traditional design to bring their visions to life, and she’s applied this approach toward a myriad of projects involving university residence halls, classrooms and athletic facilities.
“We begin every project by asking questions that help us understand students’ critical needs,” Cline said. “From there, we focus on balancing form and function to augment immersive learning experiences, heighten their sense of campus community and make them feel right at home.”
A specialty expert in servery design, Cline also draws insight from her background in the food service industry to provide comfortable campus dining and retail spaces with personality. Her recent assignments include an overhaul of Estes Dining Hall at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, VA; upgrades for the Wyndham Robertson library at Hollins University in Hollins, VA; and design for the Kline Campus Center at Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, VA.
Cline leveraged servery design strategies to master plan the Kline Campus Center’s student bookstore.
Because the Higher Education sector overlaps with various others, Cline says she’s continuously provided with diverse project types and countless learning opportunities.
“Every campus presents its own unique fabric and challenges, so our projects are endlessly interesting. We really get to do it all,” she explained. “The idea that we’re helping students make good on their dreams is fulfilling, and seeing our partners react to their new spaces is the best part of my job.”
