Designer, A&E Business Strategist, and Advocate for a Better Built Environment

I've spent my career on both sides of architecture: designing buildings and running the business that makes great design possible. That combination is rare in our industry, and it shapes everything I do, from advising architecture and engineering firms on profitability to writing about how we can build better cities.

Design Rooted in Place

Trained as an architect, I've lived and worked in Montreal, Bangkok, Shanghai, Berlin, Eugene, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, and New York. Along the way, I've collaborated with diverse teams on everything from community engagement and planning in rural Japan to large-scale developments in Russia and China, plus projects of every size across the United States and Canada.

Each place taught me something, and I carry those lessons into every project. My design values are simple: create places for people, bring nature into the built environment, and let site and context lead. I distill ideas into clear forms, with a focus on materiality, craft, and detail, and I look for ways to blur the line between inside and out.

Building an Architecture Firm From the Ground Up

In 2013, I cofounded Propel Studio Architecture in Portland, Oregon, where I served as partner in charge of business development and marketing and as design director for retail, residential, and international work. I also ran the business side of the studio: finances, contracts, invoicing, resource management, and team leadership.

Through that work, I grew the firm while building a reputation for sustainable housing, compelling retail environments, and community-focused projects. We helped Portland add thoughtful density through accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and multifamily housing, and we partnered with nonprofits and community groups alongside our commercial clients.

Helping A&E Firms Run Better Businesses

Running a firm taught me that most architects and engineers are trained to design, not to manage a business. Today I help close that gap. As an advisor to firms across the US and Canada, I focus on financial best practices, pricing and proposal strategy, positioning, and firm management, helping small and midsize firms become more efficient, more profitable, and more financially sustainable.

At BQE Software, maker of the firm management platform BQE CORE, I research, write, and speak on the metrics and operational strategies that separate high-performing A&E firms from the rest, including KPIs, benchmarking, billing, and firm valuation.

Writing, Speaking, and Sparking Conversation

I write the newsletter A Better Built Environment, where I share ideas on how we design, build, and run the places we live and work. [Subscribe here.] I also founded the architecture blog Talkitect.com and regularly host webinars and publish articles for A&E firm leaders.

Teaching, Mentoring, and Community Service

I love helping the next generation of architects and designers find their footing. I've taught architectural drawing as an adjunct professor at Portland State University and served as a guest design critic at the University of Oregon.

I've also served on the boards of AIA Portland and AIA Oregon, held leadership roles within the American Institute of Architects, volunteered with Architecture for Humanity, and served on the Alberta Main Street Design Committee in Portland.

Beyond the Office

When I'm not working with firms, I make art. My pen and ink drawings, public installations, and photography explore light, geometry, and how people experience public space. [See my artwork.]

Press

• Dwell: Everything You Need to Know About Building an ADU in Portland, Oregon

• Houzz: Backyard ADU for Multigenerational Living and Aging in Place

• YoungArchitect.com: Exploring Architecture All Over The World

• Portland Architecture: The Architect’s Questionnaire

• Portland Business Journal: 40 Under 40 Award

• Build Small Live Large Conference: Design Matters: How Small Spaces Lead to Large Outcomes

• Design Your Dream Home: Interview with Designer Lucas Gray

• Portland Business Journal: ADUs could help transform Portland's housing scene

• Architect Magazine: Modern ADU Plans Profile

• American Institute of Architects: Weaving international work into your architecture career

• Grey Magazine: 5 Questions for Lucas Gray

• Oregon Home Magazine: Structure + Style 2019: Design Winners

• Oregon Live: Permits for in-law flats and other ADUs are down but interest remains high

• Oregon Live: Want a rentable granny flat? Check out Portland's Accessory Dwelling Unit Tour

• The Architect’s Newspaper: MONOGRAPH SESSIONS: Track Daily Progress on Yearly Financials (w/ CVG)

• Portland Business Tribune: Pushing Architecture For The People

• Portland Business Tribune: Architecture's Global Vision

• Portland Business Tribune: Homes to Grow Old In

• Furniture, Lighting & Decor: Tour A Sustainable Home

• NECN: Hey Neighbor: Why ADUs Are A Great Benefit to Portland Neighborhoods

• Maxable: Home Tour: Design a Granny Flat for Maximum Privacy

• Maxable: Home Tour: Nothing Old School About this Modern Granny Flat

• Maxable: Granny Flat Home Tour | 490 square foot ADU | Tiny Home Tour w/ Maxable

• How To ADU: ADU Cost - What we can learn from Portland?

• Accessory Dwellings: ADU Designer Profile

• Building An ADU: Landscape Design for ADUs

• Architizer: Namaste ADU // Lucas Gray Design

Awards

• 40 Under 40: Portland Business Journal - 2018

• Structure & Style Awards | 2019 Oregon Home | Best House under 3,000 SF

• AIA SWO Parklet Design Competition | 2017

• Emerging Professionals Exhibit | 2016 AIA National

• Best of Houzz Customer Service | 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020, 2023, 2024

• STITCH Design Competition | 2014 AIA Portland | Honorable Mention

Artist Statement

Trained as an architect, I make work across drawing, public installation, and photography. What connects it all is an interest in how we see, move through, and share the spaces around us.

My pen and ink drawings build light, depth, and geometric form out of thousands of layered, cross-hatched lines. Each series sets its own terms. Some are loose and flowing, while others work within strict geometry, test color, or play positive space against negative. The pieces hold up on their own, and they also combine into larger compositions. My series "Lines," in the permanent collection at Portland Community College, brings 22 drawings together along a single corridor, unified by a backdrop of angled black string.

My installations are about public space and the people who use it. From street seats (parklets) to sculpture and permanent public art, each project grows out of its physical and cultural context, with the goal of offering a new view of a familiar place or giving a street back to the people walking it.

Photography is how I study the places I travel. I look for the details that shift from building to building and country to country: structure, materials, textures, and color. Some images move in close, while others frame a scene until it becomes abstract and its patterns come forward.

My work has been shown from Berlin to Portland, and my installations have appeared at temporary festivals and as permanent public work. I'm based in Brooklyn, New York.