Richard Diedrich, through proactive authorship and teaching, has advanced the standards in design of recreational amenities, the social and activity centers in today's planned communities.

An integral part of community development, recreational amenities and clubhouses are inherently the most vital elements available to energize an active community center. Created as a part of the land development, these "civic" elements set the standard for the quality and architectural character of the residential community.

Through speaking and authorship, Diedrich has used his practice as an incubator and platform to communicate the design challenges of these key facilities. His work has elevated design of this building type by studied development of programming and planning principles now used by countless developers and architects. As a result of his body of work, he was invited by John Wiley & Son to author the book on Recreation Facilities as part of their Building Type Basics series. Since 1990, Diedrich annually taught the professional development course on Clubhouse Programming, Planning, and Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

In designing to anchor a community, Diedrich looks to the vernacular. Founded on the local language, he creatively uses these social, recreational and life long learning centers to establish the architectural essence of the community. As a result, his peers have recognized his design with numerous AIA and related awards. It is his body of work that has set the direction for planned developments serving the active adult, second home, and primary housing communities enhancing current lifestyles and extended life spans of residents throughout the United States and internationally.