Jason Richards

Principal/Owner

Jason Richards, AIA, LEED AP is a licensed architect and Principal at Studio West with 15 years of experience in architectural design in New Orleans. Since 2007, he has been the project architect for several award-winning projects, including the Rosa F. Keller Library and Community Center and Miller Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Jason excels at navigating complex projects, ranging from historic renovations to multiple stakeholder-led institutional projects. He has managed complex projects for the City of New Orleans, State of Louisiana, and multiple Universities including Tulane University, LSU, University of South Alabama and Cornell University. Jason is a certified construction document technician and specializes in the technical execution of building repairs and exterior envelope design.

From the beginning of his career, Jason has maintained involvement in civic, community and professional organizations, serving on a neighbor-led charter school board for the Homer Plessy Community School, his neighborhood association board, and as the 2017 President of the American Institute of Architects, New Orleans Chapter.

Jason received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Kentucky (UK), where he also completed a two-year fellowship at the prestigious Gaines Center for the Humanities. Jason moved to New Orleans in the summer of 2006 to assist with the rebuilding of the city following the levee failures associated with Hurricane Katrina. He spent one year designing community-based projects with the Kentucky-New Orleans Architecture (KNOA) Studio, in coordination with Tulane School of Architecture’s City Center. KNOA Studio was established by the University of Kentucky after Hurricane Katrina and was located in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans, where Jason still serves as a volunteer on the Bywater Neighborhood Association (BNA) Board of Directors. On the BNA, Jason volunteers as the zoning committee chair, evaluating and advocating for responsible land use considers the needs of New Orleans’ historic neighborhoods to maintain their vibrancy through growth, commercial use, and new urban infill development. In addition to his professional commitments, he currently teaches Integrated Building Systems at Tulane University School of Architecture as an Adjunct Lecturer.