Meet Eric Pros, AIA, NCARB, MBA, CPTED, our Director of Design. Eric was exposed to both construction and art early on, as his father was a Union Bricklayer and his favorite childhood pastime was drawing. He credits this combination with steering him toward a career in architecture.

“I always had paper and pencils wherever I went,” he says. “The potential that a blank piece of paper presents has always inspired me.”

The thrill of possibilities continues to fuel Eric in his role as Director of Design, a position born from opportunity and encouragement at DS Architecture.

“When I started at the firm there were only 4 of us,” he says. “David Sommers had a reputation as a good businessman, but design wasn’t a big part of the office culture.  I took the job with the idea of growth in mind.”

 Eric sought to grow the firm in size and reach, as well as creativity and innovation.

“The company had a great foundation, but I wanted to push us to do better work and expand our influence,” he says. “As Director of Design I advocate for creative and collaborative approaches, for taking risks and trying new things.”

Daily, this looks like working through unique concepts with studio directors, leading design charrettes, pursuing awards, implementing cutting edge technology, and encouraging research and thought leadership.

“I often work with marketing to more effectively engage clients, or work with clients directly,” he says. “I share the firm’s visions, values, and accomplishments on building tours or in presentations to our professional peers.”

For Eric, successful design is intimately connected to people – generating ideas, collaborating, and producing something better than any individual could create alone. Working at a firm now nearing thirty people, with remote members in major metropolitan centers, provides myriad opportunities for this. But Eric insists he – like design – is never finished.

“Design is never done, there’s always more to do or discover and more problems to solve” he says. “I see myself as uniquely positioned to apply this mentality at DS Architecture. Resisting the status quo is difficult, but we have so much potential.”