Digging Deep with Kathy Scott

03/06/19 • 33 min

Kathy Scott is a Principal at Walker Warner Architects. After growing up on Long Island, Kathy was awakened to architecture's potential during her time at Rice University where she earned a Bachelor of Architecture in 1993. During her years in Houston, Kathy regularly visited Renzo Piano's Menil Collection, drawn by the building's quiet contextualism, simplicity and inventive use of natural light. Kathy was equally impressed by Piano's collaborative approach with master craftsmen and has sought out similar relationships on projects, such as the Wilderness Cabin, Quintessa Residence, and Big Wood River Residence since joining Walker Warner Architects in 1995.

As a Principal at Walker Warner, Kathy leads the design on several of the firm’s projects, and mentors teams in the use of good processes to achieve the highest quality of work. She ensures that all projects are successful in balancing clients' goals in terms of budget, schedule and design. Kathy believes that architecture has the capacity to elevate our daily lives, and that the best work results when designs evolve in a thoroughly considered and deliberate manner.

In this episode, Kathy talks about her experience of staying with the same firm for over 24 years, and what it was like being employee number 3 to now being one of 4 principals at the 60 person office. Kathy shares what she loves about residential projects and designing houses and how architects sometimes have to be client whisperers. Kathy also talks about her experiences of being a working mother, the advice she gives expectant parents, and why firms should offer flexibility and help employees make it work at all stages of their lives.

Previous Episode

Designing Healthy Environments with PJ Glasco

PJ Glasco is a Principal at Cannon Design. She is a healthcare planner and designer who has worked with many of the nation’s top healthcare institutions to create landmark facilities. Her designs have enhanced the campuses of several institutions, including Texas Children’s Hospital, Harris Health System, the University of Texas Medical Branch and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. PJ is a past chair of the Houston chapter of the AIA Committee on Architecture for Health and has presented at national industry conferences for several years. PJ has been previously recognized in the “40 Under 40” program of Building Design and Construction as well as by the Houston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” and Engineering News-Record’s “20 Under 40” for the Texas and Louisiana Region. Her passion & strength lies in creating strong programs based on volume analysis and actualizing them into creative & operationally efficient planning solutions.

In this episode, PJ talks about her experience of immigrating to the U.S. from India to get her Masters of Architecture degree from the University of Houston, how she ended up becoming a healthcare planner and designer, and what she loves most about working in that field. She discusses one of the biggest trends she’s seeing in healthcare design, and has some great advice for how to tackle really complex projects or problems. PJ also shares why we should call it work-life integration, instead of work-life balance.

Next Episode

Design Voice Podcast Origin Story! - Interview with the host Catherine Meng

Design Voice Podcast is back!

To start off Season 2 of the show, I thought I would do something a little different – share my own story.

I speak with Julia Gamolina of Madame Architect on why I became an architect, how this podcast came to be, and my thoughts on adjusting to life and work so far as a new mother.