The 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, de Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop (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 Venice Architecture Biennale and the 2011 Beijing International Design Triennial.

The Principals

Roberto de Leon (FAIA, NCARB, LEED AP) and Ross Primmer (FAIA, NCARB) are the co-founders and principals of de Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop.

Roberto holds a Master in Architecture from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley. Ross holds a Master in Architecture from Harvard University and a degree in Architecture and Philosophy from Kent State University.

Roberto and Ross lecture regularly at universities and design symposiums on the studio’s work and methodology, and have served as visiting critics and adjunct professors at a wide range of academic institutions, including Syracuse University School of Architecture, Rural Studio / Auburn University, the University of Kentucky College of Design, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte College of Architecture, and the Boston Architectural Center.

In 2012, Roberto served as a panelist for the Mayors’ Institute On City Design (MICD), a national advisory conference for U.S. mayors on current planning issues. Ross has served on the Board of the Louisville Metro Government’s Landmark Commission and participates in many culturally related urban and citywide strategic focus groups and planning committees.