Architecture Exchange East is the annual thought-leadership conference and expo curated by AIA Virginia. The conference will be held Nov. 5-7, 2025, in Richmond at the Richmond Marriott. Our goal is to bring together the brightest minds and most engaging speakers to present talks that are future-focused on a wide range of subjects, to provoke important conversations among design professionals, and to promote networking, relationship building, and collaboration.
This year’s theme: Design the Future: Advancing Technology, Community & Business.
Registration opens Tuesday, September 2.
Celebrating its 38th year, ArchEx has always strived to help push the profession forward.
Today’s architects face unprecedented uncertainty & opportunity: rapidly evolving technologies, shifting global and political reality, the urgent demands of climate change, expanding housing crisis, evolving culture of work, and new markets, delivery types, and client expectations. Our profession is at a crossroads. Yesterday’s answers are no match for today’s challenges. Navigating change while delivering high quality work can feel overwhelming, leaving many wondering how to keep pace and make a meaningful impact in their work and communities?
But there is a way forward. Leaders and organizations are embracing innovation, collaboration, and community engagement, to transform these challenges into opportunities. Leveraging sustainable best practices, adaptive reuse, and emerging technologies, the profession can reimagine not just buildings, but the very fabric of our cities and societies. Through new approaches to practice—drawing on neuroscience, biophilic design, community engagement, and powerful storytelling—architects can create spaces that are resilient, efficient, and truly responsive to the needs of all.
Design the Future: Advancing Technology, Community & Business is your roadmap to a better tomorrow. ArchEx 2025 brings together visionary leaders and practical strategies to help you adapt, thrive, and lead in a rapidly changing world. You’ll gain actionable insights to future-proof your practice, connect with a community of innovators, and discover how to shape a built environment that is sustainable, inclusive, and ready for tomorrow’s challenges. Join us to turn today’s uncertainty into opportunity.
Thank you to our 2025 Architecture Exchange East sponsors!
The revitalization of Fire Station #1, the longest continuously-operating fire station in Virginia, illustrates how, at best, the relationship between architecture and the public is one of reciprocity. Landmarks like Firehouse One invite interaction and add value to people’s lives, and in return, the community engages with the building, breathing new life and creativity into its existence. The purpose of historical and adaptive reuse in architectural practice is to maintain that connection and encourage the continued dance between the constructed environment and those who dwell there.
image courtesy of Hill Studioimage courtesy of Hill Studio
The project between Hill Studio and Old School Partners rehabilitated the historic Fire Station #1 building through a public engagement design process and restored the building making it more accessible to the public than ever before. “Made in Roanoke” is displayed in large letters on the lower level with a large open format retail space outfitted for local furniture manufacturer, Txtur’s. The second floor features a compatible anchor tenant—a specialty-themed boutique hotel. The facility repurposes the large old bunk room space into a lobby and reception for small events while preserving the historic skylights and firepoles. As a part of the process, Old School Partners granted a permanent easement on the property to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Originally built to protect us from the destruction of flames, Firehouse One is now protected by the city and community and given a new notch in the timeline of its life, with its spirit of public service embedded in every element of the building. Read more here about this award-winning project.
Meet the inaugural Leaders in Architecture & Business class of 2025! This year’s class of 14 comprises of mid-career architects from around the Commonwealth.
LAB participants meet monthly over 8 months, and learn from a variety of content experts, within and outside the architecture profession. Through a variety of in-person classes, workshops, and case studies, the class will gain the practical skills to lead.
Adrienne Stronge, AIA Alex Helms, AIA Ally MacLean, AIA Amber Hall, AIA Andrea Huldtgren, AIA Che Clark, AIA Christoper LaMora, AIA Claire Barrows, AIA Clay Jackson, AIA Daniel Wassum, AIA George Logusch, AIA Iroda Karimova, AIA Josephine Arbaugh, AIA Molly Merlo, AIA
Also pictured, Shawn Mulligan, AIA, Chair of 2025 LAB program.
Would you like to support the class as they travel around the state? Contact Delaney Ogden, dogden@aiava.org for more information. If you would like to sponsor the LAB program, please contact Jody Cranford, jcranford@aiava.org
Resiliency is the ability to quickly recover from disruption. But, how quickly can our buildings and systems bounce back from natural or man-made disasters? Can our infrastructure rapidly adapt to changing environmental, social, and economic conditions?
Join AIA Virginia from 12:00-1:00 pm each day from May 19 to May 20 for an exploration of resiliency in the built environment and discover why investing in resilient solutions can help protect us all.
Schedule:
5/19: Eve Szentesi with Clark Nexsen – Designing for Resilience – submitted for AIA CES approval
5/21: Jessica Steelman with Resilient Virginia – Resilient Virginia Initiatives – submitted for AIA CES approval
5/22: Denise Nelson with DNAdvising, LLC – Sustainable Infrastructure – submitted for AIA CES approval
5/23: John Wilson with Drishti Compost – The Importance of Microbes – submitted for AIA CES approval
Last month’s Art of Practice brought together a vibrant cross-section of the profession—firm leaders, emerging leaders, architects who work for contractors, and owner’s representatives—for a day that felt both timely and timeless. Framed around the theme of “The Future of Work,” the gathering invited us not only to look ahead, but also to pause and take honest stock of where we are now.
“Organizing Art of Practice with Delaney Ogden and two members of the Leaders in Architecture and Business (LAB) Task Force – Erin Agdinaoay, AIA, and Gina Robinson, AIA – was an exciting way to demonstrate the impactful business and management training curriculum we developed for LAB. Based on member feedback, it was a huge success!
Personal highlights included: Kelly O’Keefe’s master class on understanding client needs, communicating value, and securing the right kind of work; Keith Waters’ insightful analysis of economic trends in Virginia and the DC region; and the inaugural meeting of the Non-Traditional Roundtable provided a much-needed platform for diverse perspectives within the profession.
I was especially proud to organize and moderate the Peer Panel: Strategic Planning for Strong Firm Culture, which addressed one of architecture’s most pressing challenges—leadership transitions. Architects are aging – the average architect is 51 years old – and these transitions are critical to ensuring the long-term health of firms and our profession. Consider these statistics:
70% of architects are over 40 years old, with an average age of 51.
More architects are over 60 than under 40
Other industries are younger: tech (35), finance (40), structural engineering (40), construction (42), electrical engineering (44)
The panel featured an exceptional lineup of leaders: Susan Pryor, AIA (Principal at Quinn Evans, AIA Firm of the Year), Donna Phaneuf, FAIA, and Scott Campbell, AIA (VIA Design, AIA Virginia Firm of the Year), and Mel Price, FAIA (Work Program Architects, one of Fast Company’s 2025 Most Innovative Companies). Beyond designing award-winning projects, these leaders have built firms with enviable cultures, impressive growth, and thoughtfully planned leadership transitions. As Susan Pryor aptly stated during the discussion: “Our staff come for the projects and stay for the people. Building your firm is building your people.”
The panelists shared a range of experiences—from completing a 15-year transition plan, to buying-in to a firm at 29, initiating a new strategic plan, and navigating a national merger —all underscored by key themes:
Trust your community: Empower staff early by recognizing talent and advancing leaders quickly. Be open and transparent about how your company works. Granting autonomy fosters buy-in and often leads to surprising results.
Duty of care: Build well-organized businesses that will last, enabling future generations to meet challenges and reach new heights.
Internal coaching and external sponsorship: Do all you can to coach. Invest time in mentoring your team one-on-one and encourage the driven individuals in your network to grow and achieve.
Building your firm is building your people: Taking care of your people is paramount. Workplaces where staff feel supported enhance productivity, creativity, and loyalty. Practice “unreasonable hospitality” to shift your interactions from transactional to relational – where trust and connection are foundations of success.
It’s important to note that these three award-winning firms, with exemplary cultures and strategic planning, are led by women architects whose dedication to their teams and communities is evident in their success. Their focus on “the work that makes work possible” is a model for all firms aspiring to thrive.
While I’m proud of what we accomplished this year, my only regret was that more members couldn’t join us. I hope to see even more participants at the next Art of Practice as we continue building connections across Virginia’s architectural community.” Shawn Mulligan, AIA
“One idea emerged early in the day and seemed to echo across every conversation, “What is your desired state, and where are you now?” Posed as both a personal and organizational reflection in the Kelly O’Keefe’s presentation at the start of the day, this question grounded the day’s discussions in a productive tension between vision and reality. Whether exploring leadership, culture, the economy, or strategic planning, speakers and conversation repeatedly returned to this idea, not as a challenge, but as a compass. Throughout the event, there was a shared sense that the future of architectural practice won’t be defined by a single innovation or shift, but rather by the clarity of our intentions and the alignment of our actions. From mingling lunch or coffee conversations to panel discussions, it was clear that many in the profession are asking similar questions, and more importantly, are eager to shape the answers together. Art of Practice reminded us that the future is not a fixed point on the horizon. It’s a reflection of what we value, what we design into our daily work, and how bravely we’re willing to evolve through the everyday decisions that we make today and tomorrow.” Erin Agdinaoay, AIA, NOMA
“This year, I had the opportunity to not only attend but to help organize the Art of Practice. A behind the scenes perspective really made it clear all the preparation and coordination that goes into an event like this, and I hope our team’s work came through to the other attendees. As a member-led organization, I think it’s so important that AIA Virginia is open and welcoming of our input, and that we have the ability to shape all the different ways we can engage with fellow architects and our communities. The speakers at Art of Practice come from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, but one of my biggest takeaways from the day is that we’re all grappling with the same issues – just on different scales. As professionals, we all have to face uncertainty – about the economy, a new project or client, the future of our practice – and we all process that uncertainty in different ways. Just being in conversation with people who are going through or have been through the things that are also on your mind is reassuring.” Gina Robinson, AIA, WELL AP
When the weather starts to get warm and the flowers bloom, it makes us reflect on the wonders of nature. Whether it’s the beauty of a spring day or the power of a hurricane, our buildings will endure through the best and worst this world has to offer. It’s important that us as architects learn to work with nature and not against. AIA Virginia Outreach Advisory Council has been planning the next Resiliency Week for May 19th– May 23rd in order to highlight what Virginians have been doing to build more resilient communities and buildings. In anticipation of this, we would like to highlight a firm who has learn to adapt to coastal flooding. VIA Design in Norfolk has become a local expert in Coastal Virginia for resilient buildings, and we hope you will enjoy this article on their award-winning project, VIMS Eastern Shore Sea Water Lab.
