philosophy

Creative + Sustaining + Enriching | Design

Domusstudio architecture strives to creatively enhance the lives of people through timeless sustainable designs, which seek to evoke an emotional, spiritual response and enrich the human experience. Dominy + Associates Architects @ doumsstudio LLP is an award-winning design firm formed in 1986 with a philosophy to maintain close participation in projects, and produce quality design on a variety of project types. Lew Dominy, founding principal, has experience both at the large-office and small-office levels; as a result, D+AA @ domusstudio can provide clients large firm experience and small firm service at the same time. It is our mission to establish long-term relationships with our clients and to focus on owner-occupied structures. This enables us to work closely with our clients and to meet their specific and unique needs. Our firm’s commitment to quality design, well-orchestrated teamwork, budget accuracy, and client satisfaction forms the backbone of our practice. These principles have been proven by the great number of our clients who commission our firm with second, third and even fourth projects.

Our name “domus” is Latin for house, which reflects that most of our projects are owner occupied homes, houses of God, houses for books, seniors, children, firefighters, and places people call home. The studio has long been recognized for our extensive religious experience represented by more than 200 religious facilities throughout the Southwestern United States. Additionally, the studio has become recognized, frequently published and awarded for its Civic and Institutional work, including public libraries, child care centers, private schools, fire stations, senior housing and a wide array of custom contemporary residential homes.

domusstudio architecture was established by Lew Dominy in 1986, and was known as Dominy + Associates Architects. In 2001, the contributions and skills of our team members were recognized with a partnership. Today, Principals Lew Dominy, Wayne Holtan, David Pfeifer and John Pyjar, Senior Associate David Keitel with Associates Jon Dominy and Troy Schalge lead a creative, cohesive and collaborative group of architects and designers, which together have continued to garner design awards, win competitions, and win repeat clients.

Why domusstudio architecture?

1. Each project is unique. As you will see from our portfolio of projects, at heart we are a contemporary design studio, but our architecture is client driven, responding both contextually to the environment and to each client’s stated goals and desires—making every project appropriately different.
2. Beautiful spaces can be functional. Our architecture enhances lives by beautiful forms and detail but above all, the spaces are functional and work as they are programmed. They are not only pieces of art to be viewed, but rather to functionally and effectively work in, worship in, learn in, live in, and experience.
3. Timeless value. We attempt to be truthful and expressive in both structural design and in the choice of finish materials, striving for timeless solutions which will not go out of fashion or deteriorate, thus preserving value to our owner occupied projects.
4. Client relationships. We work hard on serving our clients, and genuinely learning and caring for their needs and goals. Our list of repeat clientele is our best endorsement.
5. Experience. We view each new project with enthusiasm and each project builds upon our experience. The partners/associates and many staff members have been together over twenty years. We are a stable and cohesive team that has unmatched longevity in the architectural field.
6. Budget Conscious. We understand how difficult donors and public funds are to come by and our projects are almost always budget driven. We excel in getting the most for the dollar and using detail where they are most visible. Our projects maintain their budgets through well-honed project cost management strategies.
7. Collaborative team effort. Our studio concept is derived by a collaborative effort of staff talent. The best ideas are implemented with team input and team checks and balances, and feedback throughout the design and quality control of each project.
8. Big yet small. We like to say that we are large enough to take on any size project, yet small enough to do it right. There is no hand-off to junior staff here. Our clients benefit from senior partner/associate active participation in every project from the start to finish.
9. Always sustainable. We have practiced sustainable design concepts well before “green” architecture became the vogue and have LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professionals on staff.
10. Striving for a spiritual connection. All of our designs, and especially our church designs, attempt to express and evoke an appropriate ethereal connection that is something beyond four walls and a roof. Our clients have often told us they feel the “Spirit” in the building. Light, space, quiet, form, all have the power to transcend the ordinary, even in the most utilitarian space. That is what Architecture is all about—making every space the best it can be.
11. Award-winning. domusstudio architecture is an award winning firm regionally and nationally recognized and published for our projects. We have won over fifty design awards, eight design competitions, and been widely published. Our projects were on the covers of five different magazines in 2010 alone.