Principal

Brian W. Yachysen AIA

Brian's Canadian rural roots instilled in him a deep concern and caring for people, forever shaping his life perspective. This small-town upbringing belies his enjoyment of the richness of urban living, and inspires his commitment to community building through his personal and professional lives. He has dedicated his 32-year career to expanding access to educational opportunities, with an extensive and diverse design experience in programmatically complex, technically sophisticated, higher education, clinical, academic and research buildings.

Immersed in the formative conceptual phases, Brian fosters a participatory design process, welcoming divergent perspectives while attentively listening to users, to cultivate consensus and craft meaningful design responses. He strives to create environments that emphasize sensitivity to one's physical, emotional and intellectual needs and responsible stewardship of our natural resources. 

He is an accomplished leader of complex, multidisciplinary projects, able to distill complicated program requirements and relationships to their essence, crystallizing a clear conceptual foundation that underpins the project's vision. Imaginative and inventive, Brian brings a wealth of knowledge, sensitive humanity and inspired thinking to solving today's every-changing design challenges.

As a designer, programmer and project manager, Brian has led several award-winning, higher academic design projects, from the programmatically innovative, resource responsible, LEED NC Silver East Carolina University Ross Hall School of Dental Medicine, to the digitally intensive, technically demanding, University of Maryland Baltimore Dental School and Research Facility, which provides oral healthcare to more than 100,000 underserved patients annually.

Brian earned his Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, building on the Bachelor of Environmental Studies he received from the University of Manitoba, Canada. Passionate about music making and motorcycles, he succumbs to these vices whenever. And he still rues the loss of open ice pond skating.

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