Melanie Strieder

Melanie is an interior designer for hospitality, residential, and healthcare projects. Working on the early phases of design, she develops programmatic narratives, research and selects finishes, and creates renderings of floor plans and elevations for client presentations. She focuses on the impact of space on the end user, making sure the layout is clean, thoughtful, and accessible.

When Melanie was eight, her parents were looking to build a new house. Whenever they'd meet with the builders, she would beg them to bring her copies of the plans. Sitting with them for hours, she would use trace paper to draw over them with her ideas to improve the layout. She eventually succeeded when they agreed her redesign for the bathroom was better, sealing her fate to become a designer. She started studying graphic arts and drafting in high school, then went on to receive a Bachelor of Architecture from Drexel University.

Melanie sees good architecture as functional art that is simultaneously beautiful and purposefully implemented. Her goal is to create meditative spaces that create a positive relationship between the user and nature. Strongly believing that this approach has a positive effect on wellbeing, she incorporates natural elements like daylight, natural ventilation, and plantings into her designs.