Jay Baker, FAIA

Principal

Since founding his firm in 1991, Jay Baker has produced a body of work recognized for design excellence at national, regional and local levels. For his design contributions to architectural practice, the American Institute of Architects honored him as a Fellow in 2002.

Jay produces Schematic Design for every project and oversees design integrity within the firm. Furthermore, he facilitates the collaborative process at Jay Baker Architects. That means collaborating with the talented and enthusiastic people in the office, but more importantly, with the firm’s clients. As collaboration leads to advocacy, his clients share authorship of something that is readily familiar to them, but they hadn’t seen before.

Iowa State awarded him the Alpha Rho Chi Medal (1978), identifying the one graduating architecture student who most exemplified leadership, service and merit. He received that school’s Design Achievement Award (1992) for distinguished contributions to the arts. He received his Master of Architecture degree from Rice University School of Architecture (1980), having been awarded a full merit scholarship for his studies there. He subsequently taught architectural design at Rice for 10 years.

Jay believes that a large part of being a good architect is being a good citizen. As President of the Rice Design Alliance (1992), Jay recognized the dormant potential of Houston’s historic Hermann Park. He initiated, organized and delivered an international design competition intent on achieving built improvements to the park. Houston and the nation took note. The success of the competition prompted the commission of a Master Plan, subsequently adopted by City Council. Today, as Past Chairman of the Board of Hermann Park Conservancy, Jay is Chair of the Projects Committee, volunteering his time and expertise in overseeing the execution of $130 million of improvements to Hermann Park, funded by both private and public sectors.