AIA Blue Ridge

Did you know that today, March 26th, is Equal Pay Day? It marks how far into 2026 a woman must work just to match what a man earned in 2025, and the gap is even wider for women of color, mothers, disabled women, and LGBTQIA+ workers.

Since we’re still waiting for that gap to close, we are back for one more little sarcastic celebration. We’re hosting an “[un]Happy Hour” to turn a frustrating stat into a great networking opportunity!

Our newly formed BR Women in Design group will be in attendance to chat about initiatives and ways to get involved. AECOM is officially sponsoring the fun, which means your first drink is on the house.

Come hang out, meet your fellow designers, and celebrate the incredible talent we have here in the Roanoke Valley.

The Details:

When: Tuesday, March 31st
Where: Well Hung Vineyard, Roanoke, VA
Time: 4-6pm

Let's get together to talk shop and toast to the day we can finally just call this a "Happy Hour."

Did you hear? We’re going to Go Fest!

We’ll be hanging out under our tent at Roanoke’s annual weekend celebration of everything outdoors in Virginia’s Blue Ridge. Our schedule is packed with events you won’t want to miss. We hope you’ll stop by and say hi!

While at least one of our board members will be present at the tent for the duration of the festival, if you are interested in volunteering to hang out at the tent, talk up some architecture, and possibly corral a few Legos, shoot us a message!

Save the date, Kidstruction is back!

AIA BR Architects at Arch Ex 2024.

Congratulations to our AIA Blue Ridge Past President Mrs. Amanda Cervantes on her new journey 🙏🙏🤩

Have you gotten your Design Awards submissions in yet?? Only two more days!

The 2024 Design + Honor Awards winners will be presented the evening of September 13, 2024, at the Fire Station One Boutique Hotel, in Downtown Roanoke. Additional event details and and ticket information is coming soon. Stay tuned!

It’s finally November and that means it’s almost time for our Annual Meeting!

Join us next Thursday, November 9, 2023 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at The Gish House in Old SW. We’ll start off with dinner from a local restaurant, have a presentation about the year from our current President Nick Wade, and also celebrate the winners of our ADU competition. We can’t wait to see you there!

AIA Blue Ridge Members at Arch Ex 2023. Great to be with everyone 👏

AIA Blue Ridge and the City of Roanoke are partnering to increase public awareness of this housing option and encourage the implementation of ADU supportive policies. AIA Blue Ridge and the City of Roanoke were awarded a 2023 AARP Community Challenge Grant to host a design competition for accessory dwelling unit design in order to have preapproved ADU plans for the public to use free-of-charge, making the creation of ADUs more attainable for the everyone within the community.

More info on events leading up to the competition and the prompt coming soon. Stay tuned!

Thanks to Spectrum Design for touring us around the additions at Breckinridge Middle School earlier this week!

Do you have a project under construction this summer? Send us a DM to schedule a hard hat tour with us!

Photo Credit: Chris Venable, AIA, Spectrum Design

Thanks to Husain Alam, AIA for leading the Hard Hat Tour of his Chestnut / Calhoun Townhomes project in Salem Wednesday evening.