Celebrating New Architects: Meghan McNamara

Meghan McNamara recently joined the firm’s ranks of registered architects. Today we celebrate her accomplishments.

Meghan joined PAYETTE in 2007 and worked primarily on the Aga Khan University Faculty of Arts and Sciences, with a focus on the student and faculty housing. In 2010, she headed to Michigan to pursue her Masters of Architecture at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, where she focused on design that operates on multiple scales and engages the public realm, from infrastructure to installation art. Since returning to PAYETTE in 2012, Meghan has contributed to several projects, but she has worked most extensively on the Kimball Hall Renovation at Cornell University, which she has seen from schematic design through construction.   

What inspires you?
Disparate materials coming together. Beautiful, simple detailing. When design facilitates an opportunistic solution with surprising outcomes. 

What is the best part of your job?
Working with a team of people with different expertise and, therefore, always learning something new.

What is the most important thing you’ve learned so far?
The importance of clear communication in all aspects of the practice, whether it is through visual means, face-to-face interaction or written methods. 

The sky is the limit: if you could design or redesign anything, what would it be?
A treehouse nestled deep in the woods.