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Cooperwood Senior Living has been recognized on the cover of the 17th Edition AIA Design for Aging Knowledge Community Supplement as part of the project’s achievement in the Design for Aging Review Awards program this year. In addition to this recognition, Roy Decker will be attending the Environments for Aging Conference in Atlanta this week to speak on designing innovative solutions that will improve the quality of life for older adults within specific project constraints. Download the full 17th Edition Supplement here.

We are proud to announce that two of Duvall Decker’s projects (submitted by MSU alumna, Anne Marie Duvall Decker, FAIA) have been recognized in the Inaugural S|ARC Alumni Design Awards program at Mississippi State University. Cooperwood Senior Living received the Honor Award and the Mississippi Library Commission Headquarters received the special category 50th Anniversary Award which was awarded to the best project completed over the last 50 years as a tribute to the MSU School of Architecture’s 50th anniversary. Congratulations to Anne Marie, our team, clients, and consultants! 50th Anniversary Award | Mississippi Library Commission Headquarters | Jackson, MS The… Read more »

Anne Marie Duvall Decker has been invited to be a guest speaker at Facades+ in Nashville, TN presented by The Architect’s Newspaper. The topic: sustainable and high-performance building enclosures. In many cities and rural areas across the southeast, economies can be depressed. When a public institution identifies the limited funds to build-function, durability, and performance are the highest priorities. For architects, social and environmental health are also priorities. In places where needs are great and resources are minimal, a singular focus on energy performance or experimentation with expensive, novel materials or methods is neither appropriate nor responsible. In these difficult… Read more »

Roy Decker will be giving the Keynote Address at the Metamorphosis: AIA Wisconsin 2024 Conference on Architecture in Milwaukee this year! He will be among a distinguished lineup of design professionals who were thoughtfully chosen to embody the spirit of the conference’s theme as they explore the evolution of technology and culture within the industry and beyond. The conference will be on May 15-16 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Registration opens on March 22nd. You can register here: aiawconference.org  

Cooperwood Senior Living was a recent winner of the 2023 American Architecture Award with The Selah House taking Honorable Mention from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies! Now celebrating its 28th year, The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, together with The European Center for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and Metropolitan Arts Press, has organized The American Architecture Awards as a way to honor the best, new significant buildings and landscape and planning projects designed and/or built in the United States and abroad by the most important American architects and planners… Read more »

Construction continues at the U.S. Courthouse in Greenville, MS. Pre-cast has been installed and the front court begins development.                  

We are thrilled to share that Cooperwood Senior Living has been awarded the 2023 AIA Design for Aging Review Award! The Design for Aging Review, presented by the AIA Design for Aging Knowledge Community, exemplifies how architects and their teams are designing innovative solutions that improve the quality of life for older adults within specific project constraints.  “This project presents itself as a community. It’s clear that the design team gave a lot of thought about how to integrate the building into its natural surroundings and considered what kind of space they or their family would want to live in. I… Read more »

We are so thrilled to share that Cooperwood Senior Living has been awarded an Editor’s Pick in the Residential-Multi unit category for @archpaper’s 2023 Best of Design Awards! Now in its 11th year, AN’s Best of Design Awards honor outstanding built and unbuilt architectural projects across a diversity of categories and typologies. 2023 set a new record for the highest level of submissions for this program, reflected in the volume of runner-ups. Of the 46 editors’ picks this year, 39 projects were based in the U.S. while six were international. Congratulations to our team and client on this exciting acknowledgment!… Read more »

Two Duvall Decker projects, The Baddour Center and The Reserves at Gray Park, were featured in The State of Housing Design by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Roy Decker participated in the Symposium at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design where he joined a panel of esteemed voices discussing the state of housing design in the U.S. To watch the panel discussion, click here. Pre-order The State of Housing Design 2023 through Harvard University Press.                        

Principals Anne Marie Duvall Decker and Roy Decker lectured at Rural Studio’s 30th Anniversary Lectures and Workshops Series. They had the pleasure of spending time with the Rural Studio team and the 5th year students connecting over the place and work. They left Hale County feeling inspired by the great work from the 5th year team.                    

And yet another incredible Concrete Studio! All of us at Duvall Decker are so grateful our community came to hang out with us at our 2023 Fall Concrete Studio to listen to some exceptional speakers. Their stories left everyone feeling thankful and inspired to live and create in Mississippi. Thank you to our speakers and thank you to our community! We also want to thank Dad’s Dogs for serving up their best, Fertile Ground Beer Co. and Cathead Distillery for providing some amazing beverages, Katie Bowen for capturing these special photos, and everyone on the Duvall Decker team for pitching… Read more »

Duvall Decker has received not one but two 2023 AIA Mississippi Design Excellence Awards! Congratulations to our team, clients, consultants, and photographer! Merit Award | Cooperwood Senior Living | Flowood, MS “The jury was impressed with the layout of the structures on the site, the breakdown of scale, and the artful positioning of common spaces within the complex. The exterior spaces both internal to the complex and on approach to the setting, do much to contribute to the residential feeling of a building type that can often feel institutional. The jury felt this architectural solution was carefully considered for the… Read more »

Join our studio once again on October 13th at 6:30pm for a night of rapid-fire art talks from local creators complete with drinks from Fertile Ground Beer Co. and some delicious made-to-order gourmet hot dogs from Dad’s Dogs Food Truck. We at Duvall Decker seek to foster a space for the community to share ideas, stories, and experiences. Concrete Studio is a space where we gather twice a year to celebrate people, art, and our thriving community. In short, we want to highlight cool people who do cool things! Concrete Studio’s storytelling platform explores inspiration, from people to places, to culture… Read more »

Our studio is very happy to announce that Daniel Barker has received the 2023 AIA Mississippi Emerging Professionals Award and has been selected by the AIA Mississippi Board as the 2024 AIA Mississippi Associate Director. Daniel Barker is a skilled architectural associate who leads projects in the office and is an inspiration to all who work with him. Daniel is committed to elevating creativity in the community and in the profession. He is a thoughtful and engaged designer who believes the iterative process of design is always better with multiple perspectives. Daniel sees the importance of using our platforms as… Read more »

The community studio is back! Join us once again at our Fall Concrete Studio on October 13th at 6:30PM for inspiring talks on life and art from some of our favorite local creatives. For those of you who are new to our community, twice a year we bring a collective of really cool creatives doing really cool things in our city together to each tell a story of their choosing using only 20 images, for 20 seconds each per image. 20 slides, 20 seconds each, one perspective. These are quick-paced rapid-fire art talks designed to keep everyone engaged. We get… Read more »

We are thrilled to announce that Anne Marie Duvall Decker has been selected as Architectural Record’s 2023 Women in Architecture Design Leadership Award Recipient! This awards program is celebrating its tenth anniversary as the only awards program in the United States recognizing and promoting notable women in the field. Since founding Jackson, Mississippi-based Duvall Decker with partner Roy Decker, Anne Marie has led this place-centered, community-engaged practice with an intentional focus on promoting social and environmental health. For nearly 25 years, the firm has pursued a simple proposition that all architecture is public work. Anne Marie believes the opportunity to… Read more »

By Lisa Monti Mississippi Business Journal Aug. 2, 2023 The Mississippi Business Journal shares historical anecdotes and testimonial interviews from Principals, Roy Decker and Anne Marie Duvall Decker, and Arlington Center for Community Engagement client, Walt Cabe, discussing the 25-year history and inspiration of the practice. “From the start, the couple believed that architecture was more than aesthetics or a source of income. Decker, quoting his wife and partner, said, “If you practice in a state like Mississippi, you see it as a radical act of service and at the same time an artistic intervention into the lives of all… Read more »

Duvall Decker has received The Architect’s Newspaper 2023 Best of Practice – Medium Firm Southeast Award. The Best of Practice program looks into the process of design with the goal of acknowledging offices that demonstrate excellence as they shape the built environment. “I appreciate a strong firm in Mississippi, as it’s not an easy place to do public architecture. The attention to the way that these public projects are rendered — and the commitment to being in Mississippi — is important. Sometimes there’s a way of showing under-resourced communities that feels a bit predatory, but I never felt that way… Read more »

Our studio had the immense honor of traveling to San Francisco for this year’s AIA National Conference to celebrate Shannon Gathings winning the 2023 Young Architect Award! It was a special experience traveling, connecting, and honoring Shannon together as a team. Shannon’s commitment to employing her professional skills and leadership to help others, and to work to make a difference where the challenges are toughest, reveals her dedication to serving the community and bringing to center those in the margins. We love you, Shannon!                  

Anne Marie Duvall Decker, FAIA, a principal at Duvall Decker, was recently honored as the 2023 College of Architecture, Art, & Design Alumna of the Year Recipient by Mississippi State University for her outstanding personal, professional, and community achievements. Join us in congratulating Anne Marie on this eminent honor! \    

By Samuel Medina The Architect’s Newspaper May 3, 2023 In the latest issue of The Architect’s Newspaper, Duvall Decker is featured in this month’s Studio Visit. “What we’ve learned in the South is to dedicate ourselves in the history, culture, and character of a place, no matter where it is. And not pay attention to clichés. Our first commitment is to research and listen for everything from the soil to the political-social-economic structures of a place and its history.” The feature highlights Duvall Decker Principals, Anne Marie Duvall Decker and Roy Decker, as they discuss the history and inspiration that… Read more »

We can’t thank our community enough for coming to hang out with us at our spring Concrete Studio! We had 8 amazing speakers join us to share their stories and it left all of us at Duvall Decker feeling inspired to live and work in this community every day. We want to thank all of them for connecting and sharing their experiences with us. We would also like to thank Poppy Pies for serving up their best, Cathead Distillery for donating some amazing drinks, Olivia Baker for capturing these special moments, and everyone on our team for lending a hand… Read more »

Duvall Decker is honored to serve as lead development planner and architectural designer for the new Arlington Museum of Art project in Arlington, Texas. The museum plans to offer a unique and innovative program of exhibitions including traditional, immersive, and interactive experiences for visitors. The design includes renovations and additions to the City’s Expo Center. Phase I includes renovations to the existing building which will be complete in early 2024. Phase II adds a new entrance structure, meeting spaces, gift shop, and other public spaces.        

Anne Marie Duvall Decker, FAIA is honored to be reappointed to the U.S. Department of State – Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations as an Industry Advisory Group Peer. She is looking forward to contributing to another year and collaborating with this esteemed and innovative group of colleagues! OBO is proud to introduce our 2023-2025 term Industry Advisory Group (IAG) peers! We’re thrilled to welcome this talented group of professionals who bring a wealth of experience from various fields within the built environment. As we continue to prioritize innovation and excellence in our work, we look forward to collaborating with our… Read more »

WE’RE BACK, FOLKS! Join our studio once again on April 14th at 7pm for a night of rapid-fire art talks from local creators complete with drinks and some delicious made-to-order pizza from Poppy Pies. We at Duvall Decker seek to foster a space for the community to share ideas, stories, and experiences. Concrete Studio is a space where we gather twice a year to celebrate people, art, and our thriving community. In short, we want to highlight cool people who do cool things! Concrete Studio’s storytelling platform explores inspiration, from people to places, to culture and movements, all right in… Read more »

Shannon Gathings, AIA, an associate at Duvall Decker, was recently awarded the 2023 AIA Young Architects Award! Shannon is a leader in and out of the studio. She is a skilled project manager and designer and has an unwavering passion for architecture’s role in making communities healthier. Click here to see Shannon’s portfolio of accomplishments: Shannon Gathings Portfolio     She has led some of the firm’s most important community reinvestment work in Mississippi including 47 affordable housing units for an at-risk neighborhood in Jackson; a 42-unit affordable housing project scaled for non-traditional families in Greenville known as the Reserves… Read more »

Duvall Decker was asked to represent the architecture field at the Pathways 2 Possibilities career expo in Jackson, Mississippi. Our architects had the opportunity to engage with 8th-grade students from public and private schools through hands-on, interactive activities showcasing the architecture industry. Impactful discussions on job responsibilities, education, training, passion, and life were held with 6,600 students from 46 schools. An important message from the P2P team: “We recognize that every student learns differently and that they possess different abilities and skills. It is our goal to introduce them to careers earlier so that they may plan for the future,… Read more »

We are pleased to announce that our projects The Reserves at Gray Park, The Baddour Center Transitional Housing, and The Selah House have all won awards in the areas of Merit, Honor, and Honor Citation, respectively, in this year’s AIA Mississippi Design Excellence Awards. Congratulations to our incredible team, our amazing client, and our photographer friends Andrew Welch and Jim Greipp! Jury comments: 2022 AIA Mississippi Merit Award – The Reserves at Gray Park | Greenville, MS “The design team used familiar elements such as courtyards and front porches to create a sense of community. The results provide a vibrance… Read more »

By Daniella DiRienzo Only In Your State Oct. 22, 2022 Duvall Decker’s project, the Mississippi Library Commission, was published in an online feature on Only In Your State. It states, “It’s not just literary fans who love the Mississippi Library Commission, though. Architectural enthusiasts are also quite fond of the facility – and that’s because it’s a true masterpiece! …  And it looks like the firms’ hard work paid off. Today, the Mississippi Library Commission is revered as one of the “50 most beautiful libraries in the country.”” To read the full article, follow the link below: The Beautiful Mississippi… Read more »

The Baddour Center Transitional Housing has received the 2022 American Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies! Now celebrating its 28th year, The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, together with The European Center for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and Metropolitan Arts Press, has organized The American Architecture Awards as a way to honor the best, new significant buildings and landscape and planning projects designed and/or built in the United States and abroad by the most important American architects and planners practicing nationally and internationally. We’d like to give… Read more »

By Roy Decker The Architect’s Newspaper Oct. 25, 2022 Roy Decker was asked by Architect’s Newspaper to write an Op-ed on Jackson, Mississippi’s water crisis. In the piece, Roy tries to see the light beyond the water system failure. Roy states: Architecture is public work. The practice of architecture is more than service. Architects are trained servant leaders, which for us has come to mean, teachers. A teacher reveals the public good when others cannot see it. A teacher explains the value of durability when the prevailing interest is in superficiality. Architecture projects are local, have a site, and are… Read more »

Concrete Studio was a great success! A huge thank you to all our presenters, supporters, and to Green Ghost Tacos for serving up their best! Duvall Decker seeks to foster a space for the community to share ideas, stories, and experiences. Concrete Studio is a space where we can gather to celebrate people, art, and our thriving community. In short, we want to highlight cool people who do cool things! Concrete Studio’s storytelling platform explores inspiration, from people to places, to culture and movements, all right in our own backyard. Watch for the next Concrete Studio coming soon!    … Read more »

Duvall Decker’s project, The Reserves at Gray Park, has been published in an online feature on Architizer. Architect and Project Manager, Shannon Gathings, AIA lead an interview discussing the inspirations, challenges, and insights in the project. Architizer writes, “In Greenville, like many towns in Mississippi, years of white flight increased the city footprint and lowered density. The Reserves at Gray Park was an opportunity to provide right-sized infill housing for Greenville’s missing middle, a shift from single-family housing to support non-traditional families, individuals living alone, and extended nuclear families. Duvall Decker’s challenge for the project was to repurpose an abandoned… Read more »

By Matt Hickman The Architect’s Newspaper  Aug. 26, 2022 The Duvall Decker team spent last Friday celebrating at the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the New US Courthouse set to start construction in Greenville, MS. It was so great to share this day with elected officials, GSA, the U.S. Courts, and the community of Greenville. We are thrilled to work with partners, Steve Dumez, FAIA, at Eskew Dumez, Michael LeBoeuf, FAIA, Engineering Resource Group, Inc., Walter P. Moore, Newcomb & Boyd, W.L. Burle Engineers, Andropogon, M.A.+ Associates, and the late Michael Fazio Ph.D. The design of the US Courthouse in Greenville, Mississippi… Read more »

This fall, we are kicking off our first ever Concrete Studio night with our favorite Jackson creatives telling their story through pecha kucha. 20 slides, 20 seconds, one perspective. Please join us for a drink in celebrating people, art, and creative thought right outside our studio on October 21, 2022 from 6-10 PM. And stay tuned for a complete lineup coming soon!

Duvall Decker and our project, The Reserves at Gray Park, were recently announced as winners at the 2022 Architizer International A+Awards in the categories of Best Affordable Housing and Best Medium Size Firm. We’re proud to be recognized for design excellence by our peers! Congratulations to all of the winning teams and a special thank you to our wonderful client, the Greater Greenville Housing & Revitalization Association.

Congratulations to our Associate Shannon F. Gathings, AIA, NOMA for recently becoming a registered architect in the State of Mississippi! Licensure is a major personal and professional milestone for her as one of few licensed black female architects in the state and nation.  Black women currently represent only 0.4 percent of the total population of approximately 91,000 licensed architects.  Shannon has dedicated much of her time in AIA national leadership advocating for a shift in this reality and helping to build a more diverse profession.  Shannon has always had an unwavering passion for architecture and its potential to make communities… Read more »

Duvall Decker is pleased to announce that the U.S. General Services Administration has awarded the construction contract for the new U.S. Courthouse in Greenville, Mississippi to Robins & Morton. The project has been an ongoing partnership between GSA, the U.S. Courts, elected officials, and the community of Greenville, and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2024. The project, part of the GSA Design Excellence Program, is led by Jackson, Mississippi- based architectural firm Duvall Decker Architects. The co-lead designers are Roy T. Decker, FAIA of Duvall Decker, and Steve Dumez, FAIA of Eskew Dumez Ripple. The design… Read more »

Anne Marie Duvall Decker, FAIA is excited and honored to be a featured speaker at the Sarasota Design Conference 2022. She will present “Connection to a Need” with Kameron Hodgens on Friday, April 8 which speaks on the idea of addressing the public good beyond the lot lines. She will then join the other speakers on Saturday, April 9 for a panel discussion regarding the Sarasota School of Architecture. For over three decades, AIA Florida Gulf Coast Chapter has hosted the Sarasota Design Conference, a unique event in a unique city. The Conference aims to be motivational for both attendees… Read more »

Congratulations to our team member Zachary R. Henry, AIA, NOMA, NCARB for becoming a registered architect in the State of Mississippi and being elevated to a Project Architect in the firm! Zachary joined us in 2018 after graduating from Mississippi State University with distinguished honors. Since joining the firm he has been a part of some of the firm’s most successful projects that continue to search for the public good. We cannot wait to see where this grand achievement takes him in the following years! Once again – CONGRATULATIONS!

Shannon Gathings, Assoc. AIA has been granted the honor of receiving the Richard Upjohn Fellowship by the American Institute of Architects. The honor is awarded to individuals who contribute to the profession of architecture through service on the AIA National Board of Directors. Shannon received this fellowship for her service as the 2021 AIA National Associate Director. She is also a 2020 recipient of the Bethune Fellowship for her service on the AIA Strategic Council.

Duvall Decker Architects is proud to announce it is expanding its leadership team naming Shannon Gathings, Assoc. AIA & Matthew Persinger, AIA, LEED AP BD+C as Associates in its Jackson firm. With eleven years of experience at Duvall Decker, Shannon is a leader in and out of the studio.  She is a skilled project manager and designer and has led some of the firm’s most successful projects, including the recently completed Selah House in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and the Reserves at Gray Park, an affordable housing development helping to revive an inner-city neighborhood in Greenville, Mississippi. She received her Bachelor of… Read more »

By George Dodds Common Edge Nov. 22, 2021 This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Bennie G. Thompson Academic & Civil Rights Research Center at Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi, designed by Duvall Decker Architects. Congressman Thompson, an alumnus of Tougaloo, has represented Mississippi’s Second District for 28 years; he is currently chairing the House January 6th Committee investigating the insurrection and attack on the U.S. Capitol. Events such as January 6, 2021, remind us of the power of political rhetoric. Four days before his assassination at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. politicized rhetoric of a different sort. In his… Read more »

We are excited to announce that Zachary R. Henry, Assoc. AIA was recently selected to serve on the National Associates Committee as an At-Large Director. This position has a two-year term, where he will lead workgroups that address various initiatives such as communications, advocacy, knowledge, et cetera. We cannot wait to see the work and change Zachary will make during his term as an At-Large Director for the National Associates Committee.

Alexandra Kennon Country Roads Magazine Deep South Design Issue “In the South, I think we understand that culture, art, architecture, and ideas spring from local insight––from small conversations and agreements. Culture is always local first.” – Roy Decker Country Roads 2021 Deep South Design Issue looks into design in the southern United States. This issue has a featured article on the South Forty, an exhibition presented in conjunction with the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy. You can read the full article here.

Duvall Decker is excited and honored to be one of the forty firms exhibited in “A SOUTH FORTY: Contemporary Architecture and Design in the American South” at the Palazzo Mora of the European Cultural Center. The exhibition curated and organized by the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design and Modus Studio is devoted to the vibrant, distinctive contemporary architecture and design practices of the American South. The exhibition is installed to coincide with the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale. It will be on display through November 21, 2021, in a collateral venue, the Palazzo Mora of the European Cultural Center… Read more »

Peter MacKeith, Dean and Professor of Architecture Oxford American  Summer 2020 Place Issue “We’ve adopted the idea of “A South Forty” as an armature for structuring the conceptual and geographical expanse of the proposition, invoking the agricultural term measuring and locating acreage on a farmstead or homestead, then employing the infrastructural organizer of Interstate 40, which begins in Wilmington, North Carolina and runs west through the American Southeast, intersecting the major north-south interstates of I-95, I-55, I-49 and I-30 along its path, until reaching a delimiting inflection point in Oklahoma City, and ultimately simply as a preliminary limiting number of… Read more »

Shannon F. Gathings will be a panel member on “Growing & Promoting Diversity in Practice” at this year’s AIA Louisiana Conference on Architecture. She will join two other regional leaders to discuss and explore specific strategies professionals can implement to elevate these conversations within a firm. Read more here.

Anne Marie Duvall Decker, FAIA, is honored to serve as one of the featured speakers at AIA  Arkansas’s 2021 State Convention. The lecture is now published on YouTube! Click on the link below to watch her lecture titled “Public Work: Foundations”! Watch the lecture here.

On September 29, Roy T. Decker, FAIA, will be presenting to AIA Cleveland on the “Search For Public Good”. He will be discussing how to expand the practice of architecture to elevate social health, environmental health, and community good as the highest order of achievement. You can visit AIA Cleveland’s website for more information, and how to register for the event!

Congratulations to Anne Marie Duvall Decker, FAIA for being appointed to the 2021-2023 Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations’ (OBO) Industry Advisory Group! “The Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations’ (OBO) Industry Advisory Group (IAG) has ensured OBO is adopting the building industry’s latest concepts, methods, best practices, innovations, and ideas related to its mission to provide safe, secure, and resilient facilities for the U.S. Government since its founding in 2001.” To read the full press release, click here.

Roy Decker, FAIA, will be lecturing at Rural Studio Annual Pig Roast on April 27, 2021. Roy will be the first in-person lecturer at the Studio since March 2020.

Shannon Gathings, Assoc. AIA, has been selected as one of 400 featured designers in the SAY IT LOUD – NOW Global Exhibition. Click here to learn about her role as a featured designer. The SAY IT LOUD exhibition series was created by New-York based Pascale Saban, founder and executive director of Beyond the Built Environment. The Beyond the Built Environment is an organization that aims to address inequality by elevating and engaging Black architects. The SAY IT LOUD – NOW global exhibition series spotlights architects of color across the country. To learn more about the SAY IT LOUD exhibition series,… Read more »

We are excited to announce that Shannon Gathings, Assoc. AIA was recently elected National Associates Committee 2020 AIA Strategic Council Associate Representative. This position has a two-year term, with the second year of service as the 2021 Associate Director on the AIA National Board of Directors. The Strategic Council advances the profession as a unique creative body that informs the goals, objectives, and strategies of the AIA.

Fred A. Bernstein & Julia van den Hout Oculus Magazine  Fall 2020 Issue “We all want to do some kind of public good, but we could have a much bigger impact if we were joined in a collective group that shares knowledge and learning from one another.” Oculus’ 2020 fall issue looks into the issues of Climate Change and Social Justice in our country. Roy and Shannon were featured alongside their fellow Architects Declare steering committee members, including Caitlin Watson, AIA, from Kliment Halsband Architects. Architects Declare is a volunteer led-initiative focusing on the crises of climate, biodiversity, and the… Read more »

Congratulations to Shannon Gathings, Assoc. AIA for receiving the Presidential Citation awarded by AIA Mississippi at this year’s Mississippi Celebrates Architecture Awards Ceremony. The Presidential Citation is awarded at the discretion of the AIA Mississippi President for exceptional work that supports AIA Mississippi. Click here for more information.

American Health Law Association October 15, 2020 Barry Plunkett, Healthcare Operations Consultant, Horne, LLP, speaks with Roy Decker, Founding Partner, Duvall Decker Architects, about the impacts of COVID-19 on long-term care (LTC) facilities. The podcast discusses how COVID-19 is spreading in LTC facilities and what can be done to stem the spread, including designing new and separate visitor and resident spaces and revisiting interior finishes and building materials, such as using more impervious materials, which are easier to clean and maintain. Sponsored by Horne, LLP. Listen to the podcast here.

Roy Decker, FAIA, & Shannon Gathings, Assoc AIA, participated in US Architects Declare Town Hall on October 15, 2020. “US Architects Declare has a three-part focus on climate breakdown, social injustice, and biodiversity loss as interconnected crises that demand urgent action. We recognize that the practices of the building industry have a negative and measurable impact on the health of the environment, as well as on human and non-human forms of life. We believe that these issues must be understood in relation to each other, and that the urgency of the crisis requires immediate transformation in the way we teach,… Read more »

William Doran (architect and community planner with Duvall Decker) and Chris Starkey’s proposal was one of two selected for award of the Architectural League of New York Deborah J. Norden Fund 2020. The Norden travel grant will support their project “Sheltered: Evaluating the Potential for Design to Shape Policy Toward the Goal of Inclusive, Intentional Communities for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities.” They will visit and study enclave communities for adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities across the country. Click here to learn more about their project, and the Deborah J. Norden Fund.

We believe the interlinked crises of climate breakdown, biodiversity loss, and societal inequity are the most serious issues of our time. Duvall Decker Architects is honored to be amongst the first US Architects to Declare our Climate and Biodiversity Emergency Commitment as a basic condition of working for Public Good. Roy Decker, FAIA and Shannon Gathings, Assoc. AIA, is honored to serve on the steering committee for this declaration and group. Click here to learn more about the US Architects Declare.