Hi! I’m Alec, Principal and Managing Partner of Project Luong Architects. You can find my professional information on LinkedIn. Four years ago, we set out to create a firm that practices architecture differently. We didn’t focus on the bottom-line dollars or winning design awards. We focused on humanizing the profession of architecture, treating employees with dignity, crafting a workplace that people want to be at, and searching for talent that might otherwise go unnoticed. By not focusing on the awards, we’ve been awarded a Best Place to Work twice and won a national philanthropy award. We started Project Luong Development two years ago to change the way we think about development, and the role architects play in crafting spaces in the public realm. With a strategic focus on municipal placemaking, we are crafting a new way to finance, develop, design, build, and operate facilities that feel like studio projects and perform as a successful business model.

Caveh Masum is the managing principal for architecture across all offices at Collaborate Architects, an architect and entrepreneur with 22 years of experience in leadership roles within both design and urban design. He is dedicated to helping clients create thriving environments that adapt to the ever-changing world. His architecture experience spans educational buildings and support facilities, sports facilities, and commercial buildings for medical offices, clinics, and business occupancy. Caveh has successfully developed business opportunities across the educational, mixed-use, multi-family, hospitality, and medical sectors. In urban design, he has extensive experience in zoning and planned developments, writing by-laws and deed restrictions, and researching urban development solutions to integrate into dense urban areas. He views architecture as an inherent policy approach to urban development

Mrs. King has 20 years of experience in the fields of landscape architecture, graphic design, urban

planning and public space curation. For the last 7 years Cassie has helped lead the Conscious

Place effort at Trademark Property Company. Conscious Place is the next generation of experiential

placemaking development that is inspirational, educational, sustainable and aims to create a place

of wellness and vitality. Cassie and her team help build these well-crafted, curated and distinctive

spaces by bringing in the local thread of designers, community artists and makers to enrich spaces.

She is a commissioned artist and resides in Durango, CO with her husband and 2 step-sons.

Wyatt Frantom, FAIA is an experienced cross-disciplinary collaborator and award-winning designer. An Architect licensed in Texas and California, and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Wyatt serves as Principal and Design Director with Perkins&Will.

With over 25 years of experience designing, leading, and executing innovative projects in the U.S. and abroad, Wyatt has gained a deep understanding of markets and the global design culture while working to deliver world-class architecture. As a forward-thinking and collaborative industry leader with Practice Area specialization in Office Buildings, Headquarters, Corporate Campuses, and Higher Education, Wyatt has brought his passion for design and for environmentally-responsive building to a broad range of project types.

An accomplished architect, Wyatt has spoken regularly at conferences across the country, has taught architectural design and regularly serves as critic at universities, and on design and award juries within the industry. Wyatt received a Master of Architecture degree from Rice University, a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from The Ohio State University, and a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate from Harvard University.

Wyatt and his projects have been recognized and published widely; including honors by the Chicago Athenaeum, the AIA COTE Top Ten Award, the ULI Charter Award, and numerous AIA State and local design awards among others; delivering LEED Platinum as well as WELL-certified projects. He has been recognized as recipient of the 2014 BD+C National 40-under-40 Award, the 2014 AIA National Young Architects Award, the 2007 AIA Houston Young Architect Award, and the 1997 AIA Columbus Student of the Year Award. In 2019, Wyatt was elevated to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects. Fellows are recognized with the AIA's highest membership honor for their exceptional work and contributions to the profession and to society - exemplifying architectural excellence.

Mark always thought he would be an artist...then he started designing and building

furniture...then he fell in love with architecture and design. He worked in marketing, designing

showrooms at Steelcase and learned to design interiors doing commercial, residential, hospitality

and multi-family work with a variety of design firms, developers and in private practice.

He and Kara started makrDESIGN to be an expression of their design sensibilities and bring their

various talents together as a team.

A list of his personal experiences includes multi-family design at makrDESIGN, Architecture and

Interiors and Hanover, corporate interior design at Kirksey and residential architecture in private

practice.

Mark has a Masters of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Arts

in Industrial Design from the Kansas City Art Institute.

He is co-founder of Makr Design LLC, a company focused on the conceptualization, design and fit

out of multi-generational multi-family environments which promote, amplify and realize our

clients goals.

Adam Cryer is Co-founder and President of Pinnacle Structural Engineers. He is a graduate of Rice University, who subsequently obtained his Masters in Structural Engineering at the University of Texas in Austin. In 2014, Adam was named as a Top 40 under 40 professional by Building Design & Construction magazine, as well as one of Structural Engineering magazine’s Top 15 Rising Stars in the U.S. He has written articles for both Modern Steel Construction and Structural Engineer magazine, including “Built to Tilt”, an article on tilt-up design, published in 2013. Adam has participated on professional panels for both ACI and the Tilt-up Construction Association, and has served as a judge for the TCA’s Awards and AGC APEX Awards for the past 6 years. Adam is also Vice Chairman of the Board for ACE Mentor Program Houston, a non-profit organization that mentors high school students for future careers in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction fields.

Eric Hudson is a founding Partner and Principal of Design Services at Method Architecture. He oversees the firm’s Design Services department responsible for Sustainability, Design, Quality Control, and Technology. A Houston native, Eric received his bachelor’s in environmental design from Texas A&M University and master’s in architecture from the University of Houston. Eric and his teams have worked on adaptive reuse projects such as M-K-T, East Village, and East End Maker Hub. Eric is President of the University of Houston College of Architecture and Design Alumni Board and sits on the board for Spring Spirit, a local children’s non-profit.

Jeffrey Abel has over 20 years of experience in architecture and design. As Managing Principal of Abel Design Group, he is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the firm and its personnel and provides the strategic vision for Abel Design Group. His goal is not to helm the biggest firm but the best firm, providing a superior product for his clients and a work environment where employees can grow and prosper.

Jeffrey has extensive experience dealing with large corporate clients, including Bechtel, Banco Santander, Superior Energy, and W&T Offshore. He has also worked with several institutional clients, including Houston Community College.

Prior to starting Abel Design Group, Jeffrey spent 8 years at Lamoureux Associates, where he was a Portfolio Manager and specialized in space planning and interiors. During his tenure there, he managed an average of 30 buildings as part of his building representation portfolio and started a tenant representation group. He spearheaded the growth of the company from 3 to 27 employees by taking on more creative and challenging projects.

Jeffrey holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Architectural Studies from the University of Texas. He is an associate AIA member, USGBC member, LEED AP, and serves on the board of Scenic Houston.

Yong is an experienced architect with over 20 years of comprehensive design and planning experience in numerous environments including healthcare, education, and research. He is passionate about client collaboration to ensure that the goals and expectations are met within the final built environment. Yong has a keen eye for the details while staying true to the clients’ design aspirations.

Phil Ward is a Senior Associate at Michael Hsu Office of Architecture (MHOA). With over 20 years of professional experience, his career has covered flagship retail, large scale commercial, mixed-use, hospitality and residential work. Since joining MHOA in 2023 he has been working on a broad range of commercial and mixed-use projects across Texas with many active projects in the greater Houston area including the RO with Transwestern and the historic Swift Warehouse complex with Radom Capital and Triten Real Estate.

Gin Braverman is the founder and creative director of the visionary firm gin design group. She has spent the last decade shaping Houston’s burgeoning hospitality scene, developing originative and fully integrated designs for award-winning food and beverage concepts, independent chefs, sommeliers and national restaurant and hospitality groups.

Like all worthwhile paths, Gin’s was winding. After graduating from The University of Texas at Austin, her career began in NYC working in production for TV and film, ultimately designing for HGTV’s extreme home remodel show Home Rules. She also spent significant time abroad, traveling Europe and living in Asia, at one point working with a Taiwanese design firm. When she moved to Houston, she joined the team at Installations Antiques, where she deepened her appreciation for and understanding of artisanship in the built-environment apprenticing in their workshop. Multi-cultural fascination and global immersion define her approach and inform her diverse design portfolio both in and outside of Houston.

The firm's work has been featured in such esteemed publications as GQ, Architectural Digest, The Architect’s Newspaper, Texas Monthly, PaperCity, Wallpaper* City Guide, Interior Design, The New York Times, Hospitality Design, and others.

Cynthia, a Houston native, holds a Bachelor’s in Architecture from the University of Houston and a Master’s in Landscape Architecture from Harvard University. She gained international experience at a Dutch architecture firm and contributed to MIT’s design/build studios before returning to teach Architecture at the University of Houston. Her work spans institutional landscapes, mixed-use developments, master planning, public parks, and roof gardens. Cynthia's featured project, the Montrose Collective in Houston, exemplifies her commitment to sustainable urban design. This mixed-use development includes retail, office spaces, health facilities, and a new public library. The design creates a vibrant community space in the central paseo with a patterned tile floor and luscious planted berms. As the user walks around the perimeter of the building, each side is a little different, creating a dynamic experience while sparking curiosity. Driven by a passion for connecting people to nature, Cynthia aims to foster environmental stewardship and enhance community well-being through her innovative landscape designs.

Paul Siwek is an entrepreneur, business owner and investor. He is currently a founding member, owner and CEO of S-Bar Construction Company, a commercial and industrial construction company headquartered in Houston, TX.

Previously he was a Managing Director in Accenture’s Industry X Practice, focusing on Captial Investment optimization and Operational Excellence, with two decades of engineering, construction, manufacturing, digital transformation, and consulting experience. He served as the Energy Industry lead in Industry X for the Resources Client Group.

Before joining Accenture, spent more than a decade in project execution and business development within the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) industry, including a three-year stint living in the Middle East focused on developing business opportunities for refining, chemical and petrochemical projects in the region, with the likes of Saudi Aramco, SABIC, PetroRabigh, Sadara, YASREF, BAPCO, Oman Oil Company, Qatar Petroleum, KOC and KNPC.

As a Senior Business Development Manager, he was responsible for leading and developing the sales pursuits for major Capital Projects with values upwards of $10B, including several project-specific Joint Ventures with Korean, Japanese and Chinese EPC firms.

In addition, he was an integral part of the team which completed the business case, due diligence, acquisition and subsequent integration of a 500-person engineering office (KBR-AMCDE) in Saudi Arabia, ultimately becoming the sales lead for the office.

He has a broad background in the Oil & Gas industry, including upstream, midstream, downstream, pipelines, LNG and chemicals.

Throughout Gary's career, he has worked on award-winning projects in Germany, Nepal, New York, and Texas. However, he has always prioritized giving back to his community and worked hard to give back to Houston through design, industry involvement, and mentorship. As the Managing Director of Design, Gary is involved in every aspect of design at Kirksey, and his leadership on the Design studio helps shape the tenets of our firm's design approach. In addition to practicing architecture, Gary has been a professor at the University of Houston and a visiting juror at several other institutions. Gary cites his greatest accomplishment as educating and inspiring future architects.

Kristin is the future-focused leader of CannonDesign’s Houston office. She shapes the business growth, trajectory and service diversification for the office, all while managing the people who make CannonDesign’s Houston office one of the most dynamic design hubs in Texas.

An interior designer, Kristin has always had a deep affinity for healthcare, and she works hard to merge the complex functional requirements of the industry with empathy, compassion and wellness. She believes hospitals and health facilities shouldn’t be places we fear visiting. Instead, they should be energetic, full of color and experiential—all attributes she infuses into every environment she designs. Her work has amassed numerous awards for design excellence, and her leadership was recognized with a 40 under 40 award from Building Design + Construction.

As a Senior Principal at PBK, Jorge guides projects through architectural programming, design conception, and design development. He is involved in every phase of the design of a project coordinating and incorporating design intent into construction documentation. Jorge brings a practical, client-focused perspective to architectural challenges that support client expectations. Jorge’s present work spans across Texas and state lines, establishing a diverse portfolio of corporate, educational, and athletic facilities. His educational projects have achieved numerous awards along with national recognition.

Marshall Frey serves as Vice President of Aviation at JE Dunn Construction, where he brings deep expertise in the planning and delivery of complex aviation infrastructure. He led the design and project management efforts on the landmark $1.5 billion Kansas City International Airport modernization and has delivered major projects for United, Southwest, American, and Delta Airlines.

Marshall has successfully built projects at all three of Houston’s commercial airports, bringing a strong focus on collaborative project delivery and early integration. His approach emphasizes creating a seamless and unified experience for owners, designers, contractors, and end users alike.

Grounded in both strategic leadership and hands-on execution, Marshall is passionate about shaping the next generation of airport environments—ones that are efficient, scalable, and passenger-focused.

Outside of work, Marshall is a proud husband to Haley and dad to Annie and Houston.

With more than 20 years of diverse experience in the aviation industry, Brian recently joined Corgan as a leader in our Aviation Studio. During his career, he has served as an architect, designer, and project manager for numerous aviation and commercial projects, leading teams through programming, master planning, concept design, documentation, and construction administration. His extensive portfolio includes a multitude of projects for the Houston Airport System as well as for American, United, and Southwest Airlines.

Brian has delivered lectures on LEED Certification programs and contributed to several recognized projects, including one featured in the 2018 Architectural Digest in an article entitled, “The Most Beautiful Coffee Shops in Every State in America.”

As a design leader, Guy brings a seasoned and holistic perspective that translates into spectacular lighting experiences. Throughout his career of nearly 40 years, Guy has spearheaded the design of numerous award-winning projects as both a licensed architect and a lighting designer. He serves as an Associate Principal at HLB and a leader of firmwide initiatives related to business development and geographic expansion. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Healthcare Steering Committee in Los Angeles and is certified through the National Council on Qualifications for the Lighting Professions (NCQLP).

Angela Cotie most recently held the position of Vice President of Operations for a leading construction company's Houston office. She is widely recognized for her outstanding leadership skills and her substantial expertise within the construction sector. Angela’s career spans over 28 years, during which she has gained hands-on experience in various areas including project and program management, field operations, business development, and strategic planning.

Angela’s impact and leadership have been acknowledged by several prestigious organizations. She has received recognition from ENR Magazine, Houston Business Journal, Houston Women’s Chamber, and 50/50 Women on Boards. These honors reflect her significant influence and ongoing dedication to advancing the construction industry.

Angela’s long-standing commitment is evident in her leadership roles with the ACE Mentor Program, the Associated General Contractors (AGC), and other organizations focused on the construction industry. Her active involvement in these groups highlights her passion for the industry and her enthusiasm for its future growth and innovation.