Design Icon – Architect

Architect Alison Rainey’s first degree was in ceramics, where she reveled in the three-dimensional construction of clay, drawn to form, texture and finish. Her graduate degree from ASU in architecture allows her to shape buildings, communities and lifestyles. She was at Merz Project, an architecture studio in Phoenix, when it was acquired in 2010 by Shepley Bulfinch, an international architecture, planning and interiors firm that dates back to Boston in the 19th century. Now led largely by women, the firm focuses on healthcare, higher education and urban development. Rainey is a principal at Shepley Bulfinch, the 2020 AIA Ten Award winner, and the incoming president-elect of AIA Arizona. Her passionate work in urban development has been a benefit to her firm nationally and to our own Roosevelt Row redevelopment in Phoenix.