de leon & primmer architecture workshop

de Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop (DPAW) is a studio focusing on public projects with a cultural, civic, and not-for-profit basis. We are drawn to projects that have the potential to positively impact communities and strive to bring spatially thoughtful, meticulously detailed design to a broader audience. Our working methodology draws inspiration from regional traditions of craft and fabrication, placing an emphasis on the potential of conventional materials and construction methods. Through an immersive process of research & investigation, the studio cultivates an understanding of contextual specificity as a nuanced relationship between place, time, and local culture. In implementing this approach, we purposefully embrace a design rigor aimed at clarity and precision, with the underlying premise that innovation necessarily equals economy. Our body of work operates at a range of scales and environments - both urban & rural – while exploring relationships between local & global building traditions. Since the studio’s founding in 2003, DPAW has been recognized through many regional, national, and international honors and awards. DPAW was chosen for the 2010 Design Vanguard by Architectural Record and the 2011 Emerging Voices by the Architectural League of New York, each honor recognizing firms with a distinct, influential design voice. In 2015, DPAW was selected for the prestigious Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program, sponsored by the Walton Family Foundation, which resulted in the first completed project for the program - the Rogers Historical Museum. Most recently, DPAW was recognized by the American Academy of Arts & Letters with the 2023 Prize in Architecture. DPAW has been featured in many publications nationally and abroad, and our work has been exhibited at several international venues, including the 2021 and 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale and the 2011 Beijing International Design Triennial.