LAURA KNAUSS
Lionakis
SAY IT LOUD - CALIFORNIA Exhibitor
California Based Designer
Who or what inspires you professionally?
It’s always people. The people I collaborate with to deliver projects, but also the stakeholders – teachers, students, administrators - that pour their hearts and souls into these schools.
LAURA KNAUSS
Bio:
As a Principal at Lionakis and leader of the Education Team, Laura Knauss brings over 35 years of educational facilities design experience to your project. In particular, she facilitates the community engagement and outreach process to support client’s missions by leading the project team through a design process within school districts. Laura is an Accredited Learning Environment Planner (ALEP) and has a passion for building a strong link between educational curriculum and facilities.
How did you first learn about architecture and when did you decide that built environment profession was an area of interest for you?
I took a drafting class in 7th grade, taught by a female instructor. I went home and told my mom that I wanted to be an architect! I didn’t know what an architect was but had always drawn floor plans of my bedroom and other parts of the house.
What do you do?
School Architect, Principal
What excites you in the work you do?
I think students love their schools, but they also understand quite viscerally when their physical school – the building - is not on par with others. When we can show kids, they are valued through the built environment, we’re inspiring their future.
Who or what inspires you professionally?
It’s always people. The people I collaborate with to deliver projects, but also the stakeholders – teachers, students, administrators - that pour their hearts and souls into these schools.
What is your proudest professional accomplishment or achievement?
I can’t choose – every project, at the time, feels like the proudest. You hope that you can always strive for better results, so each new opportunity has the potential to be the best.
Featured Project Name:
Dyer Kelly Elementary School Replacement Campus
Featured Project Location:
Sacramento, CA
Featured Project Completion Date:
October 2019
Role in Featured Project:
Principal
Featured Project Description:
Dyer Kelly Elementary School’s Replacement Campus is a single building, two story campus, designed for approximately 800 students. The project focused on flexible breakout areas for project-based learning as well as informal gathering spaces, including an interior amphitheater space for community and school wide events.
