Atelier Mey is an architectural practice dedicated to creating buildings that thoughtfully engage their context and celebrate the generative potential of architecture. The practice approaches each project as a conscious act—where form, material, and environment come together to produce meaningful and enduring places. Design excellence is central to the work, defined by careful attention to craft, materiality, and the evolving relationship between people and the built environment.
Projects range in both scale and type from housing to institutional and cultural buildings. Each grows from a deep understanding of place and culture and is developed through collaborative, transdisciplinary exploration across geography, material science, and energy. Architecture emerges from a process that integrates academic research, inquiry, and industry partnerships to produce buildings that are innovative, grounded, and experiential. Atelier Mey strives to design buildings that perform and age well, inspiring daily life for all.
Founded by Christopher Meyer, AIA, and Shawna Meyer, AIA, Atelier Mey builds on two decades of design experience. What began as a shared curiosity for materials and space is now a Miami and New Orleans-based practice recognized for sustainable architecture rooted in place. Honored as AIA Miami’s Small Firm of the Year (2022) and Sustainable Architect of the Year (2021), Atelier Mey’s recognition is connected to architecture that is expressive and connected to place. Projects have earned awards from AIA, the North American Wood Council, The Architect’s Newspaper, and North Carolina Society of Landscape Architects. Atelier Mey's work has appeared in Architectural Record, The Architect’s Newspaper, CBS’s America By Design, DOMUS.it, and Florida/Caribbean Architect. Exhibitions include A South Forty at the National Building Museum and the 2025 Venice Biennale U.S. Pavilion.
Shawna Meyer, AIA Principal
Shawna Meyer, AIA Principal
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Shawna Meyer is a founding principal of Atelier Mey architecture practice based in New Orleans, LA, and Miami, FL, and a Professor of Practice at Tulane University School of Architecture and Built Environment. Her work in practice, teaching, and research exists at the confluence of social, cultural, economic, and environmental forces. Through her practicing role as a principal of Atelier Mey and academic roles, she explores design as an act of questioning without perceived bias.
Atelier Mey is the author (with Daniel Hemmindinger) of Buoyant Clarity Pamphlet Architecture 36. Recent work shifts focus to the emerging mass-timber market in the United States, specifically the southeastern states and Florida; Atelier Mey is responsible for the design and construction of the first mass timber structure in Miami-Dade County, Florida--House In A Garden. This seminal built work serves as precedent for material and resilient innovation as well as design excellence, winning multiple national and international awards and recognition. In 2022, Atelier Mey received the distinction of AIA Miami Small Firm of the Year. The firm's principals, Shawna and Christopher, were awarded the 2021 AIA Honor Award for Sustainable Architects of the Year by the Miami chapter of the American Institute of Architects. In 2022, Shawna was inducted into the John G. Williams Fellowship at the Fay Jones School of Architecture + Design. Atelier Mey's contributions have been featured in venues such as the Venice Biennale 2025 U.S. Pavilion Porch: An Architecture of Generosity, 'A South Forty' exhibition at the National Building Museum, Open House Miami, and CBS's American By Design program. Furthermore, projects have been recognized by ARCH Paper for the Emerging Architects Project Award, the Canadian Wood Council, and the AIA Honor Awards Program.
Shawna holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in architecture from the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture + Design and a Master’s degree in Architecture from the University of Minnesota College of Design. She is a licensed architect in Minnesota, Florida, and Montana, and has achieved LEED AP and NCARB certifications. Additionally, Shawna actively contributes her expertise as a member of the AIA National Committee on Design Advisory Group.
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Christopher Meyer is a co-founding principal of Atelier Mey, an architectural practice based between New Orleans and Miami. The firm combines research-driven insights with practical building applications, emphasizing performance and craftsmanship. Atelier Mey focuses on energetics, materiality, and environmental narratives through collaborative design, aiming to harmonize intellectual architecture with practical construction concerns.
In 2022, Atelier Mey was recognized as AIA Miami Small Firm of the Year, and its principals received the 2021 AIA Honor Award for Sustainable Architects of the Year. The firm completed Miami-Dade County's first mass timber structure, advancing wood architecture in South Florida. Their work has been showcased at the Venice Biennale, the National Building Museum, Open House Miami, and more, earning accolades from various architectural organizations. Furthermore, projects have been recognized by ARCH Paper for the Emerging Architects Project Award, the Canadian Wood Council, and the AIA Honor Awards Program, among others. In 2018, Atelier Mey published "Buoyant Clarity: Pamphlet Architecture 36."
Christopher received his undergraduate education from the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture + Design and obtained a post-professional Master of Architecture II degree from Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He is a LEED Accredited Professional and possesses NCARB certification.
Christopher Meyer, AIA Principal
Christopher Meyer, AIA Principal
Ben Cornett, Collaborator
Ben Cornett, Collaborator
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Ben is a recent graduate holding a Bachelor of Architecture along with a double major in environmental studies from Tulane University. During his collegiate studies, he investigated the intersection of these two majors in the context of New Orleans and the larger Gulf South Region, questioning how we inhabit spaces and landscapes with environmental stressors. Continuing his work in the southeast at Atelier Mey, he seeks to continue exploring the intersection of architecture and landscape in each project, while balancing the real constraints and practicalities of the built environment.
Atelier Mey Alumni:
- Haley Smith - Santiago Sipan - Drew Dunphy - Reid Yenor - Madison Seip - Jose Osorio - Ethan Blatt
- Haley Smith - Santiago Sipan - Drew Dunphy - Reid Yenor - Madison Seip - Jose Osorio - Ethan Blatt
Miranda Santiago, Collaborator
Miranda Santiago, Collaborator
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Miranda Santiago is a Collaborator at Atelier Mey and is currently in her third year of undergraduate studies at Tulane University, pursuing a Bachelor of Architecture. Having grown up in Puerto Rico, she draws inspiration from the ways architecture—particularly residential architecture—responds to the region’s hot, humid climate. This interest in tropical architecture has shaped her design approach, leading her to explore how climate-responsive materials and systems can work with the environment to blur the boundary between indoor and outdoor space.
She is also interested in architecture as a process of transformation and regeneration, with a particular appreciation for adaptive reuse and historic preservation. In 2026, she was awarded the Class of 1973 Travel Fellowship Fund, through which she conducted site visits to case studies in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, researching adaptively reused cultural and leisure centers in Brazil. Most recently, she served as a teaching assistant for an architecture history and theory course centered on the design philosophy of Lacaton & Vassal.
Outside the studio, Miranda enjoys traveling and exploring new activities throughout the city and in nature. She is continually interested in learning from the places and people around her. She is excited to contribute to Atelier Mey’s work while continuing to learn and grow through the experience, further shaping her future professional practice.
Contact Atelier Mey:
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For employment inquiries, please contact: ateliermey@gmail.com