Announcements November 12, 2025

Our Atlanta Studio Honored for Outstanding Diversity in an Organization

Diverse group of people smiling in a modern office lounge area.

Our Atlanta studio's 2025 Taste of the World chefs in outfits representative of their culture.

Our Atlanta studio has been honored with the Outstanding Diversity in an Organization award by the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Diversity in Business Champions Awards. This recognition celebrates organizations and individuals who are “going above and beyond to bolster equality across all areas of diversity—including age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, race, and religion.”

For us, this honor is not simply a moment of celebration. It reflects a collective commitment to our community, our work, and the people who make it possible. Advancing inclusivity and equity is a collective effort: the product of many, not one. We are grateful and proud of the teams, clients, community partners, educators, and collaborators who share our belief that design can, and should, create a more equitable world.

Team meeting in modern office setting, man gesturing with raised hand.

Students tour our Atlanta studio.

The Collective Effort

As a profession where only 2% of all registered architects are Black, with similar statistics across other demographics, these facts highlight the lack of representation in design and place a focus on intentionality to ensure each project receives diverse representation reflective of the communities and clients we serve. We are building a different future for our industry. Through our firmwide CoCreate initiative, we’ve established lasting partnerships with local and minority-owned firms, creating pathways for shared learning, growth, and opportunity.

True change begins before hiring. It starts with education: getting young people excited about the industry and providing them with opportunities to become designers regardless of their background. Our mentorship and career coaching programs pave the way for a new generation of aspiring young designers. From elementary school to college-level, we open our doors for young students to learn, build their passions, and see what is possible in a design career. We’re proud to partner with over 10 universities and 10 local schools, from career days at Jean Childs Young Middle School to local NOMAS chapter tours, nurturing a new generation of diverse designers.

Change in Our Day-to-Day Work

We believe diversity drives innovation and inclusion sparks creativity. That’s why we center belonging both in how we operate and in our design work. Intentional equity and inclusion lead to thoughtful discoveries and truly excellent design — all our work is better when created by a diverse set of ideas and perspectives. Whether designing workplaces, parks, or campus spaces, our projects reflect our community and inclusion framework.

Social Purpose: We donate 1% of our design resources annually to nonprofits like Moving in the Spirit, Agape Youth & Family Center, Blue Heron Nature Preserve, and many more, providing pro-bono design services where they’re needed most.

PRECEDE: Our open-source data tool, PRECEDE, helps designers integrate health, socioeconomic, and environmental data into their work—improving outcomes across the built environment. We invite industry peers to not only utilize the tool, but also collaborate on its continued evolution.

Collaborative Clients: No matter the project, our process is rooted in community, and we are grateful to collaborate with partners who reflect their values in the built environment. Whether it is telling the history of Atlanta through visuals in a corporate workplace, crafting performance spaces around community access, or integrating affordable housing and small-business space into a mixed-use development, the creativity of celebrating and honoring our culture and community is endless.

Modern building with large windows and twilight sky, silhouetted figure inside.

Moving in the Spirit

Men painting colorful basketball court mural from above.

Our team painting a new basketball court at Children's Haven.

Modern urban plaza with trees, art mural, and people walking and sitting.

A new development at 1313 Sylvan, with affordable housing and dedicated small-business space.

Modern office kitchen with vibrant wall art and people socializing.

Project Varsity, a workplace that tells the story of Atlanta through graphics and colors throughout their multi-floor office.

Large group smiling at outdoor event with trees and pavilion.

Our Backpack Bash volunteers

Business meeting discussion with diverse group using laptops.

CoCreate partner meeting

Woman participating in transportation survey at community event.

A community engagement session for a metro Atlanta planning project

Our Culture

We are grateful and proud of a studio that initiates, leads, and volunteers for community activities. In the office, we have monthly heritage celebrations, donation drives, a “Taste of the World” with foods from our different cultures, and safe space conversations. Beyond our walls, our annual Backpack Bash has raised $180,000 for eight schools and 4,650 students over five years. Through the Explore Studio, a 16-week program with Frederick Douglass High School’s STEAM Academy, students gain hands-on design experience and mentorship. Our staff are board, committee, and volunteer members for organizations across Atlanta and professors at local universities. The work does not stop when we leave our studio.

Recognition as a Call to Action

This recognition is both a validation and a call to keep going—to continue learning, listening, and leading with purpose. It’s a reminder that progress happens when we bring diverse perspectives to the table, when we open doors for others, and when we commit to doing the hard, ongoing work of building belonging in every space we design.

To our partners, clients, and team members: thank you for being part of this journey, making this work possible and meaningful. To those we have yet to partner with in our work or community events, we invite you to join us in building a more inclusive, equitable, and vibrant Atlanta.

Diverse group of people smiling in a modern office setting.

Our Atlanta studio

Our Atlanta Studio Honored for Outstanding Diversity in an Organization

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