Michelyn Smith

Project Designer

San Antonio, Texas

Michelyn Smith is a project designer focused on a collaborative, community-driven process that emphasizes listening, learning, and co-authorship with clients. Her versatility spans a range of project types — from schools and athletic facilities to residential and healthcare developments — allowing her to cross-pollinate ideas and deliver creative, context-sensitive designs.

Michelyn’s work reflects her adaptability and problem-solving when managing limited space and complex phasing. For land-challenged Alamo Heights High School, the Athletics Complex takes advantage of vertical space, placing bleachers on the roof and wrapping new spaces around existing ones. For Austin ISD’s General Marshall Middle School, her close engagement with the community aided a seamless transition to online collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that the design truly met the community’s needs.

Michelyn thrives under pressure, navigating challenges with creativity and determination to keep projects on track. She fosters active community engagement, listening first and inviting stakeholders to shape the design. Her keen focus on buy-in pays off for clients in decisions that stick, leading to a streamlined process and more time devoted to what makes each project special.

Outside of work, Michelyn has served as co-Chair of AIA San Antonio Young Architects, where she grew a passion for mentoring emerging designers and giving back to the profession. She holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and spends her free time experimenting in the kitchen, creating art and doting on her sassy French bulldog, Nino Quincampoix.