Innovative, forward-thinking, award-winning: that’s Studio Luz. We’re proud to share this new updated video about our design process, our focus on sustainable practices and community engagement, and how we find solutions as a collective. Click to watch and hear Studio Luz Principals and Co-Founders Hansy Better Barraza and Anthony Piermarini share more about what we do and why. Video by EmVision Productions.
#studioluz #studioluzarchitects
Hear more about our ethos and our process in this new video that showcases how we do community engagement, created by EmVision Productions and featuring our friends and collaborators Madison Park Development Corporation VP of Real Estate Intiya Ambrogi-Isaza and MPDC Project Manager Josh McLinden. Our goal at Studio Luz is to center the diverse voices of our communities across all projects, including those that encompass urban design and community engagement. Click the link in bio to learn more about our urban design and community engagement projects.
#studioluz #studioluzarchitects #urbandesign #communityengagement
Hear Michelle Maheu, the Director for Planning, Design and Construction at Wellesley College, talk about how Wellesley College’s Acorns House became a community anchor on campus in this new video. With input from students gathered from workshops, Studio Luz reimagined the modernist former residence and designed a cultural center for students of Latinx and Asian descent and LGBTQ+ students of color to share their common experiences with each other and celebrate their culture. The Acorns House is a welcoming space that will help support the thinkers and activists that this institution is known for producing for years to come. For more information about Acorns House, click the link in bio. Video by EmVision Productions.
#Wellesley #Community #Design #StudioLuz #StudioLuzArchitects #Architects #Culture #AcornsHouse #BIPOC
As Massachusetts expands efforts around housing access and affordability, accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are increasingly becoming part of the conversation as a meaningful avenue for change. That growing momentum is visible across the state and locally in Boston, where a recently installed full-scale ADU showcase at City Hall Plaza is inviting residents to explore how smaller housing models can support evolving community needs and make housing feel more accessible and attainable. In our latest blog post, we discuss the growing momentum around ADUs and how we’ve explored these themes in our work on Bookend House, an ADU developed in Syracuse, New York in partnership with Habitat for Humanity and ReStore Habitat. Read more at the link in bio.
Studio Luz Principal & Co-Founder Anthony J. Piermarini will be part of an upcoming conversation presented by The Short Fuse Podcast, “Can the Arts Provoke, Reflect, and Sustain Cultural Dialogue in a Period of Disruption?” Anthony will join moderator Elizabeth Howard alongside Akiba Abaka, Bill Marx, and Dawn Simmons for an evening of exchange around the evolving role of the arts in public life.
📅 Monday, June 1, 2026
⏰ 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
📍Boston Lyric Opera’s Opera + Community Studios - 15 Channel Center Street, Boston, MA
🥂 Reception to follow from 7:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Join us for this event — reserve your spot via the link in bio!
Sustainability in schools is about more than energy performance — it’s about shaping environments where students can learn, focus, and thrive. In our latest blog post, we explore how environmental considerations are redefining the future of educational design, featuring our work at Brooke Charter School, Massasoit Community College, and Evergreen Meadow Academy. Read more at the link in bio.
As the weather warms, we are thrilled to share another milestone at Dewitt Playground: the official signage for the installations is now in place. This is a vital element of the project, offering visitors deeper insight into the artwork; particularly the Mirror of History, which honors the significant historical figures depicted there. The Dewitt Playground Public Art project was designed by Studio Luz Architects in Collaboration with Artist Marlon Forrester.
Our sincerest thanks to the BRM Production team, our Metal Fabricator Matt Koestner, Signs by J, and most importantly, the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture for making this vision a reality. It is wonderful to see the community, children and adults alike, enjoying this renovated space and engaging with the installations. Be sure to check out the final slide to see it in action, and click the link in bio for more project information!
Thank you to everyone who joined us in Stoughton last week for our in-person community visioning workshop, led by Associate Sophie Nahrmann, Designer Joshua Ssebuwufu and Principal Hansy Better Barraza. We sincerely want to thank Alejandro Lopez, Vice President of MassDevelopment and Economic Development Director Pamela McCarthy and Planner Bill Roth, and Janiece Bruce from the Town of Stoughton for their support in making this event a success.
The Town of Stoughton has partnered with MassDevelopment, Studio Luz Architects, and RKG Associates to reimagine the Edwin A. Jones School and the South Elementary School, two soon-to-be surplus properties with significant potential to serve evolving community needs. These engagement sessions are a critical part of shaping a shared vision, and the ideas, feedback, and priorities shared will directly inform site plans, visualizations, and development scenarios as the study moves forward.
Swipe to see more from the workshop!
Last week, members of the Studio Luz team joined CREW Boston’s Women of Color Group and Development & Design Group for a tour of Blume on the Ave. It was an inspiring opportunity to hear directly from the powerhouse team of women behind the build about how they are bringing 30 affordable homes and commercial spaces to Dorchester and Mattapan and contributing to the vitality of the Lower Blue Hill Avenue corridor.
Studio Luz Principal Hansy Better Barraza and Associate Sophie Nahrmann shared insights on the project’s design, Developer and President & Founder of DVM Housing Partners President & Founder Dariela Villón-Maga shared about the vision behind the project, and Bald Hill Builders Founder & President Brenda Laurenza shared about the construction process, highlighting the collaboration, intention, and community-centered approach that shaped Blume on the Ave.
Thank you to Fresh Food Generation for hosting the post-tour gathering, and to everyone who joined us for the day. Swipe to see more photos from the tour!
The Studio Luz team has had lots to celebrate lately: new architects licensed, birthdays, work anniversaries, hitting major project milestones, and finally making it through winter! We got out of the office to enjoying a little sunshine and a sweet treat together at our favorite spot, Sweeties in Roslindale Square.
As New England’s first Hispanic-Serving Institution, Northern Essex Community College (NECC), plays a vital role in expanding opportunity. Supporting mission-aligned institutions as they grow and meet their communities’ needs is deeply meaningful to our team, and a reminder that projects of every scale can help advance that mission.Through our ongoing work with NECC, Studio Luz is proud to support mission-driven institutions through strategic planning, feasibility studies, and ongoing “house doctor” partnerships that help campuses evolve over time.
A recent site visit with Principal Hansy Better Barraza and Senior Project Manager Ignacio Lopez Droguett offered a meaningful moment to reflect on this collaboration and the range of work underway across campus.
Recently, Associate + Project Manager Sophie Nahrmann, Project Designer Joshua Ssebuwufu partnered with Feldman Geospatial to coordinate existing conditions surveying—including wetlands delineation and zoning analysis—for a 32-acre segment of the NECC campus in support of the College’s long-term planning. In parallel, Project Manager + Designer Leechen Zhu produced a feasibility study at 78 Amesbury Street, exploring improvements to an accessible student-focused community space and lobby, signage, including renovated entrances, a restrooms, and an added science lab.
We're excited to share that Evergreen Meadow Academy, a future school and residential treatment center in New York that will offer therapeutic interventions for middle-school girls with trauma backgrounds, has been awarded funding through the NYSERDA Building Cleaner Communities Competition. Designed by Studio Luz, this future campus is deeply connected, both in therapeutic programming and in its architecture, to the natural landscape the site, with three primary buildings designed to meet Passive House standards. More than just buildings, Evergreen Meadow Academy is envisioned as a model for how sustainability, wellness, and education can come together, creating a unique space that supports both environmental responsibility and holistic, human care. Thank you to all those involved in this project — our sustainability consultant Syska Hennessy Group, our client Evergreen Meadow Academy who remained focused on being carbon neutral, and our OPM Denham Wolf — for making it all happen! Link in bio to read more about the project.
