Welcome to DS Architecture!

Our ultimate purpose is to inspire together. Internally, this means we are guided by our shared core values of fairness, trustworthiness, conviction, collaboration, and commitment to knowledge. We strive to cultivate a creative and encouraging environment as we pursue design excellence on every project.

With our clients, we maximize involvement from design conception to the final stages of construction. For each project we believe our primary tasks are to listen, to lead, and to innovate. When we listen, we commit to truly understanding a client’s needs and desires. This process lays a foundation for us to lead the client by educating them on how their goals can best become a reality. Innovation requires studying, assessing, and developing the most efficient and enduring design to exceed the client’s functional and aesthetic expectations.

This all began in 1983, when David Sommers founded our firm on the simple value of “people come first.” He sought to prioritize relationships between both colleagues and clients, because he believed the best work was born from mutual trust and respect.

In 2010, team member Jeffrey Meyers became a partner with hopes of growing a firm rooted in positive and collaborative culture. In 2011 we supplemented culture with design by hiring Eric Pros, who embraces and emphasizes the principle that design matters. Today our firm considers itself a culture-based design firm, led by studio directors with diversity of thought, typology, and approach. While we focus on designing for the industries of Healthcare, Restaurant and Retail, Higher Education, Adaptive Preservation, K-12 Education, and Police, Fire, and Administration, we are always open to pursuing other opportunities.

We currently have two homes, one in the bustling heart of Cleveland’s Playhouse Square and the other inside the restored LN Gross building, on the banks of the Cuyahoga River in downtown Kent. Our family is scattered across the country however, with team members present in New York City and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. From these locations we strive to shape the world by developing innovative solutions for the built environment, and inspiring the next generation of architectural professionals to embrace an unparalleled commitment to both culture and design.