On Saturday at the 2024 Houston Design Gala, AIA Houston awarded HR Design Dept’s Heather Rowell the Ben Brewer Young Architect Award. Named in honor of Ben Brewer, FAIA, the award recognizes excellence in ability, exceptional work, and significant contributions in the practice of architecture by architects who are in their first 10 years of practice.

The jury, made up of members of AIA Louisiana, made the following comments on their 2024 award decision:

“The resumes and portfolios reviewed showed a bright future for AIA Houston’s future leaders. Heather Rowell stands as a clear example of the type of dedicated individual who is the future of the Architecture profession. Her ability to overcome challenges through her professional career, some of which would have pushed many others out of the profession, shows a perseverance that stands out. Her portfolio presents a diversity of aesthetic expression that leads to a fully developed design direction for both herself and her firm as a whole.

Lastly, her engagement with professional, educational institutions and larger community demonstrates that she sees herself as serving the profession as a whole. Her focus of fostering the future of her students, building opportunity for women architects through her work establishing the WIA for AIA Houston reinforces her focused approach to the betterment of the whole.”

In late 2023, Heather spearheaded the creation of the Women in Architecture Professional Development Fund at Architecture Center Houston. Today, the Fund finances two new, annual scholarship opportunities for WiA Houston. In Saturday’s program, Heather encouraged others to contribute to the tax-deductible Fund to ensure a successful inaugural year.

HR Design Dept at the AIA Houston Gala: Feyza Mutlu, David Schneider, Eric Hughes, and Heather Rowell.

The Texas Society of Architect’s 82ND ANNUAL CONFERENCE & DESIGN EXPO begins today in San Antonio!

This year, Beyond the Built Environment, in collaboration with AIA San Antonio and the Women in Architecture Texas Chapters, have created an exhibit featuring work by Women Architects and Designers of Texas. Part of the internationally-recognized SAY IT LOUD series, the exhibit showcases projects and stories from architects and designers from all over the state of Texas. The concept of this exhibit is "To see our faces, hear our voices, feel our impact within the colorful tapestry of our heritage." SAY IT LOUD is the activation of a national movement of sharing, protecting and celebrating the journey of the underrepresented to inspire the next generation. Each of the featured designers and architects are now part of Beyond the Built Environment’s Great Diverse Designers Library — a resource and platform built to elevate Diverse Designers across the world.

Beyond the Built Environment was founded by Pascale Sablan, a New York-based architect and activist who works “to advance architecture for the betterment of society,” bringing visibility to issues concerning women and BIPOC designers. Beyond the Built Environment addresses “the inequitable disparities in architecture by providing a holistic platform aimed to support numerous stages of the architecture pipeline.” As part of this work, Sablan and her team curated the traveling exhibition SAY IT LOUD, which features work from underrepresented designers.

HR Design Dept co-founder and architect Heather Rowell is among the featured designers! The exhibit will be up throughout the convention before traveling to AIA chapters across Texas.