Leading A New Generation

Architect Donna Kacmar’s career has been about getting things just right, and convincing others to do so, too.

As either an architect or teacher – in the architecture schools at Texas A&M (her alma mater), Rice and now the University of Houston, where she’s a tenured full professor – her goal has been to emphasize structures that are efficient and right-sized, using materials that are healthy both for the home’s occupants and for those making and installing the materials.

A native of upstate New York, Donna spent her early years in the Midwest before her family moved to Texas. She opened her Architect Works design studio in Houston years ago, and now her husband, Jonathan Myers, is her work partner, too.

In September, Donna will be inducted into the Houston Design District’s Leaders in Design program.

In her work at UH teaching design studio and a seminar course about dwelling, she was also the founder of the school’s Materials Research Collaborative, where students study various building materials.

“I teach a lot about materials, energy and the embodied carbon in building materials …. I try to really connect the academic institution to the professional world,” Donna said. “There are a lot more materials now that are low VOC (volatile organic compounds). That’s good for our indoor air quality.”

Her own home is smallish, too, initially built at 1,400-square-feet and later expanded by 1,000 square feet with a 3-story addition.

Most of the work that she and her husband do is residential, but they’ve also designed a hair salon and small retail spaces. Kacmar has also designed libraries for the City of Houston, those with architect, Natalye Appel.

“In the design studio, we focus on contextual relationships and how people get to buildings. We try to open our eyes to see things that are there that we weren’t paying attention to and look at how spaces connect,” she said.