Senior Project Manager Gabriela Shelburne, Designer Hunter Pattershall, and Designer Anne Awori each bring a unique background and skillset to the Studio G team.
Gaby, originally from Peru, chose architecture as her career because it “blended two things that I’m good at:” art and math, she said.
Hunter is from Lowell, MA, which they said is “a really interesting place to grow up architecture-wise,” with its plethora of old mill buildings. When they were little, Hunter said they built buildings with blocks and Legos, and was encouraged to go into architecture by their family and school librarian.
Anne grew up in Kenya and intended on going to fashion school, but started out in business school. She eventually moved to the United States, where she learned about architecture. By chance, she met some interior architects who told her about what they do, and she said she was “fascinated” by it. Though she was enrolled in fashion school, before she even started, she told the school she wasn’t going to attend. After finishing her MBA, she went on to earn her Master’s degree in Architecture.
Role at Studio G
Hunter is a designer at Studio G, working on the DYS Taunton Southeast Regional Youth Center facility project right now. “I have taken on the bonus roles of materials librarian and Lunch & Learn coordinator,” they added. “Both of these really speak to me because everything that we put into the buildings and continue to learn about affect what we do going forward,” they said. “It’s really fun and fulfilling to me to do that and I love learning new things.”
Anne works in our housing & institutional studio and is working on several projects right now. “I love housing,” she said. “It speaks to me. I believe that everybody deserves to have a good home environment no matter what your background is or income bracket [is].”
Anne added that she really appreciates working on “mission-driven” projects. “Working here at SGA has just been a blessing, because I get to work on the two things that I like,” she said.
Gaby has been with Studio G for more than 13 years, starting as a designer and working her way up to a senior project manager. She leads the housing studio and manages affordable housing projects from feasibility study through construction administration.
“I am a strong believer that no matter where you are socially on the economic ladder, everyone deserves a dignified place to call home,” she said. “We are working on projects from transitional housing for previously homeless individuals to limited equity cooperatives,” she added – all with a “different array of affordability.”
On Studio G’s Mission and Work
“All of the work that we do is our mission,” Hunter said. “We are making these spaces habitable in the most inclusive and equitable and diverse way.” They added that it is “really easy to cut corners, but we don’t do that.”
Anne said that while “making money is obviously why you have a business,” it is “not at the forefront of the conversation” at Studio G. “It doesn’t feel commercialized,” she added. “We actually care about the work we’re putting out there.”
Gaby said that “the projects we work on have strong values and values that we believe in. It doesn’t feel like I’m going to work. When I get up in the morning and I come here, it’s just something I love to do. To me, that’s important.”
Career Goals
“My career goal is to become a registered architect,” Anne said–both in the US and in Kenya. She said she would also like to design more affordable and sustainable housing in Kenya.
Hunter is “moved by architecture of the body,” and they hope to “blend architecture and help people understand how they can inhabit space” by designing things such as sensory and wellness rooms. Hunter is also a recently certified massage therapist, and is looking for ways to combine architecture with that by focusing on materials and finishes that contribute to a person’s well-being.
“To keep learning is my career goal,” Gaby said, adding “to keep expanding my knowledge, my understanding of the field, and help other women grow.”
Dream Projects
Hunter said their dream project is an “all-inclusive wellness co-op,” that would be a “one-stop shop for all your needs,” including things like nutrition and acupuncture and combine eastern and western medicine. “Healing is exhausting,” they said, so “the less you have to travel to do it, the better.”
Gaby said, “Professionally, I think every project is my dream project because I really believe in the goals of each of them and what we’re trying to achieve. Personally, my dream project is to renovate my 180-something year-old house without breaking the bank.”
Anne said she would love to design an “eco-lodge” that would bring together artists and other people from different places to “go hang out and be creative.” She said it would be “like a retreat,” and ideally be located in a forest or similar environment that would provide fresh air and a place to unwind and “come up with good ideas.”
