We're an architecture studio.
About Us
EL Studio is an award-winning architecture and design firm dedicated to the practice of experimentation, collaboration, and advocacy.
We specialize in innovative design within challenging constraints. We eagerly take on complex problems and, through research and testing, strive to rethink standard uses of techniques and materials. We collaborate with design partners to develop resolutions unique to the problems and potential posed in each project. We are our client’s advocates, developing expertise in the full range of their current and future needs. We advocate for equitable and sustainable design at every scale whether in the public or private realm.
Not satisfied with the purely theoretical, EL builds what we draw, realizing our designs as finely-crafted spaces that feel good to be in.
Elizabeth Emerson
Principal & Co-Founder
Elizabeth Emerson
Principal & Co-Founder
Elizabeth Emerson’s architectural interests spring from the social and cultural. A native of the Washington DC area, Elizabeth’s research in design has engaged issues of social and environmental sustainability, individual and collective identity, and privatization.
Elizabeth's project experience prior to founding EL Studio ranged from multi-tenant residential and hospitality projects to institutional and government projects including the Syracuse University School of Architecture and the US Embassies in Rabat, Morocco and Vienna, Austria. She has taught at several institutions, most recently in the graduate Urban Practice concentration at Catholic University School of Architecture and Planning. She serves on the Board of Trustees at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, MD, and on the Board of Visitors for Catholic University of America School of Architecture and Planning and the Advisory Council Board of the Hillwood Estate Museum & Gardens, both located in Washington, DC. Elizabeth is a licensed architect in New York and Washington, DC.
Education
Master of Advanced Architecture Design, Columbia University GSAPP
Bachelor of Architecture, Catholic University of America School of Architecture and Planning
Teaching
Visiting Assistant Professor of Architecture, Catholic University of America School of Architecture and Planning
Adjunct Professor, New York Institute of Technology
Adjunct Professor, New School University / Parsons School of Design
Mark Lawrence
Principal & Co-Founder
Mark Lawrence
Principal & Co-Founder
Mark Lawrence’s architectural interests stem from the place where he lives and works. The alley-based studio in Washington DC serves as a testbed for researching a variety of scales from questioning urban infrastructural issues to materiality and detail.
He has worked on a range of project types of varying scale with architecture firms in both Washington, DC and Los Angeles, CA, including the US Federal Courthouse in San Diego and the UCLA Broad School Art Center reconstruction and expansion under Richard Meier and Partners. As a board member of the Washington Architecture Foundation, Mark works to expand the education and action of architecture to underserved areas in the Washington region. Mark is a licensed and registered architect in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, DC.
Education
Master in Architecture, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Bachelor of Architecture, Catholic University of America School of Architecture and Planning
Teaching
Adjunct Professor, Catholic University of America School of Architecture and Planning
Adjunct Professor, Boston Architectural Center
Adjunct Professor, Corcoran College of Art and Design
Sarah Beth
McKay
Associate
Sarah Beth
McKay
Associate
Sarah Beth is a project architect based in Washington DC. Her passion for architectural practice is inspired by how people influence and are influenced by the built environment.
She joins EL Studio with experience spanning higher education, K-12, recreational, museum, and residential project types, specializing in programming and planning efforts at building, campus, and district scales. Her approach to design is shaped by past roles as the editor of various journals and magazines, as part of archaeological excavations in Greece and Turkey, and currently as a volunteer at the National Gallery of Art.
Education
Masters of Architecture, The University of Virginia
Bachelor of Arts in Architecture, The University of Pennsylvania
Teaching
Lecturing Professional, George Washington University
John Kirya
Intern Urban Designer
John Kirya
Intern Urban Designer
John Kirya is an Urban Designer and believes that community involvement within the built environment can create unique spaces that reflect the character of the neighborhood. When not in the studio he enjoys trying new dishes and being surrounded by nature.
Education
Bachelor of Science, New School University / Parsons School of Design
Emma Wierzel
Intern Architect
Emma Wierzel
Intern Architect
Emma Wierzel is an architectural designer who enjoys exploring the impact of space. Emma’s passion for problem-solving and community work inspires her to engage the complexities of our built environment to find solutions that improve people’s lives. As a recent graduate, she is excited to work within an urban context and explore Washington, DC.
Education
Bachelor of Architecture, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Dom Andreano
Intern Architect
Dom Andreano
Intern Architect
Dom is an Architectural Intern with a passion for adaptive reuse and reconstruction that is rooted in his time spent studying in Prague. He hopes to integrate the values and successes of the old European city into our own urban environment. Outside the studio, Dom loves experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen and exploring the world through film photography.
Education
Bachelor of Architecture, North Carolina State University
