Virginia Associates Award: Brendon Glover, Associate AIA

Virginia Associates Award: Brendon Glover, Associate AIA, for Making, Mentorship, and Community Service

The Virginia Associates Award celebrates outstanding Associate AIA leaders and creative thinkers whose contributions strengthen both their communities and the architecture profession. Brendon Glover, Associate AIA, demonstrates that leadership through an unusual combination of technical craft, generosity, hands-on experimentation, and community engagement. Just four years after graduating from Virginia Tech and joining Clark Nexsen, Brendon has been recognized as a “natural leader, a master maker, and a passionate advocate for community service.”

Glover has become a firm-wide resource in digital fabrication and physical model-making. As leader of Clark Nexsen’s Creative Practice Technology Maker Group, he works with laser cutters, 3D printers, and CNC routers to translate digital design into physical models that help teams test and communicate ideas. He has shared that expertise with summer interns and project teams across multiple offices while contributing to civic, federal, educational, and community work. His interest in making also extends into personal design exploration through his “Unbound Constructs” series, which he describes as an opportunity to push design techniques beyond his comfort zone.

He has led fabrication for AIA Coastal Virginia Pop-Up Parks, helped create CANstruction installations benefiting local food banks, supported the long-running Dance Meets Architecture collaboration, and brought hands-on design activities to students at STEAM nights and other outreach events. His participation in AIA Virginia’s 2025 Emerging Leaders in Architecture program further reflects an emerging professional deliberately building his capacity to serve.

His colleagues recognize that his contribution is as much about how he shares knowledge as what he knows, describing Glover as “patient, kind, and generous in sharing his expertise,” praising his ability to guide less-experienced collaborators with clarity and care. “Brendon isn’t just an emerging architect but an emerging leader.” His blend of creativity, service, and mentorship demonstrates the significant community and professional contributions at the heart of the Virginia Associates Award.

We will celebrate Brendon Glover and the other AIA Virginia 2026 Honorees at Visions for Architecture, November 5, 2026. Buy your ticket when you register for ArchEx at www.aiava.org