H+R's involvement with the Vietnam Memorial dates back to 1980, when Principal Jeff Howard entered the international design competition under the auspices of the architecture firm Cooper-Lecky Associates. CLA was chosen as architect-of-record and hired Maya Lin to oversee the execution of her winning design. Because of his familiarity with the site and with the Vietnam Veteran Fund’s vision for the project, Jeff was chosen to serve as Lin’s design attaché to help move her initial design sketches into a buildable project. Jeff produced scale models, improvised life-sized maquettes and created alternative graphic layouts for the names of the fallen, while working on the overall placement of Lin’s “V” on the Mall. H+R has since been called upon to design an interactive directory at the on-site National Park Service kiosk, to review the design and placement of the “Agent Orange” plaque and, most recently, to redesign the name-finder graphics etched into the glass panels atop the on-site directory stands.