Member Spotlights

Katie Coyle, AIA, came to architecture through studies in studio art and Asian studies, seeking a field that combined creativity, problem-solving, and an interest in people and places. Experiences studying abroad and working across cities, project types, and teams helped shape an approach grounded in curiosity, collaboration, and the relationships behind the work. AIA Colorado’s 2026 Young Architect of the Year, Katie is a Senior Project Architect and Senior Associate at HOK. Since moving to Colorado in 2014, she has built connections within the architectural community while contributing to projects across civic, higher education, corporate and workplace, and sports and recreation sectors. Her recent focus on sports architecture includes work on the Denver Broncos training facility. In this Member Spotlight, Katie reflects on the connection between design and technical execution, the team behind a complex project, the value of finding community through AIA Colorado, and a backcountry New Year’s tradition that brings friends together.

For Margarita Gonzalez, Assoc. AIA, architecture began with watching her father work at his drafting table. That early fascination with thinking through drawings grew into a career spanning countries, cultures, classrooms, and practice, with a lesson that continues to guide her work: listen before you design. AIA Colorado’s 2026 Associate of the Year honoree, Margarita is the founder and principal of Minidwell, a Denver practice focused on residential design. An internationally trained architect with a Master’s in Architecture and PhD earned in Paris, she brings 26 years of experience and a global perspective to her work in design and education. In this Member Spotlight, Margarita reflects on establishing a practice in a new country, helping students find their place in architecture, the sense of belonging she found through AIA Colorado, and what it means to design for a shared planet.

For Adam Harding, AIA, a defining moment in architecture came on a restaurant’s opening night. Standing in the back of a room he had spent a year and a half designing, he watched people lean toward one another, linger, and settle into the space. The experience changed how he understood his work: its value would be measured by how people occupied the room. The 2026 AIA Colorado Architect of the Year, Adam is the founder and design principal of Adam Harding Architecture, a Denver studio he established this year after twenty-two years at Roth Sheppard Architects, most recently as Design Principal and Partner. His practice spans hospitality, restaurants, retail, wellness, residences, workplace, and adaptive reuse, with a focus on the rituals and experiences that give places meaning. A 2021 AIA National Young Architects Award recipient, Adam also contributes through service with Colorado DORA, NCARB, and the Architectural Education Foundation. In this Member Spotlight, he reflects on designing for experience, learning from the least comfortable seat in a restaurant, the importance of business education, and a weather-writing habit that offers another way to observe the world.

Growing up in a military family, Alexander Person, AIA, CNU-A, NOMA, became accustomed to new cities, new landscapes, and new ways of understanding a place. From the civic monuments of Washington, D.C., to the shaded arcades of Panama City and brick warehouses of Omaha, those experiences sparked a curiosity about what buildings reveal about the people who create them. Today, Alexander is a Project Manager and Associate at SmithGroup in Denver, with 23 years of experience and a practice spanning higher education, science and technology, housing, and urban design. His commitment to places that feel intuitive, enduring, and deeply human also informs his involvement with NOMA Colorado and AIA Colorado, where he contributes through leadership and mentorship. In this Member Spotlight, Alexander reflects on the places and mentors that shaped his approach, a healthcare project close to his heart, the human qualities he believes will define architecture’s future, and why AIA Colorado offers opportunities to practice being an architect.

From journalism and graphic design to architecture and firm ownership, Emily Adams, AIA, LEED AP, has built a career shaped by curiosity, creativity, and an interest in understanding how people experience the spaces around them. As Founder and Design Director of Neoera, Emily leads a Denver-based practice working across higher education, aviation, workplace, retail, and residential design. Since founding the firm in 2013, she has focused on creating a collaborative and service-oriented design experience while demonstrating the impact small practices can have on projects of every scale. In this Member Spotlight, Emily reflects on the unexpected path that led her to architecture, designing with curiosity, the value of small firms, what emerging professionals should understand about the business of architecture, and the experiences outside the profession that continue to inspire her.