YAAM Dragon Boats Outing
Join AIA Cleveland’s Young Architects and Associate Members (YAAM) Committee for an evening out on the river with the Cleveland Dragon Boat Association. Attendees can expect a brief training, followed by a cruise up and down our industrial river.
Lunch & Learn: Single Family Attached Fire and Sound Rated Wall Assemblies
A 50-minute presentation topic: "Single Family Attached Fire and Sound Rated Wall Assemblies". This presentation is great for all architects who design townhouses and multi- family housing.
Body of Work: The Familiar and the Present: The Life and Work of David Ellison
Save the date | More details coming soon
Location: The D.H. ELLISON Co.
2002 W. 41st Street • Cleveland, Ohio 44113
Historic Resources Committee Meeting
The mission of the AIA Cleveland’s Historic Resources Committee (HRC) is to promote, advance and advocate for the preservation of Northeast.
RSVP to:
Katie Lester, hbmarchitects.com
Marie-Rose Andriadi, mrandriadi@gmail.com
“Look Up” Take-a-Hike Architecture Tour
AIA Cleveland partners with Take a Hike Cleveland to provide tours of downtown Cleveland’s architecture.
Parkitecture: Summer Edition – From Private Estate to Public Park at Huntington Reservation
2 AIA LU | HSW
Parkitecture: Summer Edition is an interdisciplinary, in-person evening program co-presented by AIA Cleveland, the Cleveland Section of the Ohio APA, and the Cleveland practitioners of ASLA Ohio. The program is held on-site at Huntington Reservation, Cleveland Metroparks (Bay Village, OH), and is structured as two sequential, complementary segments.
PART 1 — DESIGN CASE STUDY PRESENTATION (~60 minutes, with Q&A session held before the tour):
PART 2 — INTERPRETIVE PARK WALK (~45 minutes, immediately following the presentation):
PART 3 - COOKOUT & SUNSET OVER LAKE ERIE (~ The walking tour ends along the beach with a discussion of the seasonal rhythms of the lake's ecology)
Huntington Beach address: 28492 Lake Rd, Bay Village, OH 44140
Parking: Use the main parking lot off of Lake Road, or across the street near Bay Arts.
Meeting Location: Lake Picnic Area, located in Huntington Reservation, north of Lake Road between Columbia and Bradley Roads in Bay Village.
“Look Up” Take-a-Hike Architecture Tour
AIA Cleveland partners with Take a Hike Cleveland to provide tours of downtown Cleveland’s architecture.
“Look Up” Take-a-Hike Architecture Tour
AIA Cleveland partners with Take a Hike Cleveland to provide tours of downtown Cleveland’s architecture.
Lunch & Learn: Stick With It! Elevating Greater Cleveland through Design Excellence
What do OHM Advisors, the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, Assembly for the Arts, and Bialosky have in common?
Strong missions to elevate Greater Cleveland through initiatives rooted in community values. The panel will explore how local advocates can support Cleveland’s current momentum through collaboration, context, and ‘making Cleveland stickier.”
Lunch provided
Dunham Tavern Museum & Gardens
6709 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland OH 44103
All are welcome! Click here to see the flyer.
AIA and LACES CEUs
Historic Resources Committee Meeting
The mission of the AIA Cleveland’s Historic Resources Committee (HRC) is to promote, advance and advocate for the preservation of Northeast.
RSVP to:
Katie Lester, hbmarchitects.com
Marie-Rose Andriadi, mrandriadi@gmail.com
Understanding Window and Door Performance Terms
Join us for a continuing education presentation and happy hour at Pella Westlake’s Showroom
975 Crocker Rd., Westlake OH 44145
4:30 p.m. Happy Hour
5:15 p.m.. CEU Course
Presented by Pella Continuing Education
Credits: 1 HSW | AIA Course #3124
Lunch & Learn: Lunch & Learn: AI in Your Firm: Practical Tools for the Tasks That Eat Your Day
AIA Approved: 1 LU | Elective
Every week, architects lose hours to tasks that have nothing to do with design: writing proposals from scratch, summarizing meeting notes, trying to keep up with social media. These aren't complex tasks; they're just relentless. And they're exactly what AI was built to handle.
In this practical, demo-driven session, Bryon McCartney, CEO of Archmark and business growth coach to more than 5,000 architecture firms, shows you how to put AI to work on three of the biggest time drains in your practice: meeting notes and follow-ups, proposals writing, and social media content creation.
Using AI tools like Claude and Gemini, Bryon walks through real examples of how AI can take a task from two hours to twenty minutes, without sacrificing quality or your firm's voice.
Whether you've never opened an AI tool or you've been experimenting without a real system, you'll leave with specific tools, practical examples, and a first step you can take before your next project meeting.
Historic Resources Committee Meeting
The mission of the AIA Cleveland’s Historic Resources Committee (HRC) is to promote, advance and advocate for the preservation of Northeast.
RSVP to:
Katie Lester, hbmarchitects.com
Marie-Rose Andriadi, mrandriadi@gmail.com
Lunch & Learn: Don’t Accept Mental Health Differences at Your Firm… Embrace Them!
AIA Approved: 1 LU | Elective
Could a new way of looking at mental health issues in the business world be key to stronger talent recruiting and increased profitability? DS Architecture’s Jeffrey Meyers has committed his firm to building a cognitively diverse workforce and has discovered significant benefits to successfully accommodating mental health conditions. From ADHD to Bipolar Disorder to Depression, mental health affects thousands of the most creative, productive, and essential professionals. Research shows that embracing the mental health of your employees has a powerful positive influence on efficiency, productivity, and employee retention rate. Meyers will share his personal story of creating an environment where neurodivergent people thrive and how to use a cognitively diverse workforce as a competitive advantage.
Design Awards
Tinkham Veale University Center
Case Western Reserve University
11038 Bellflower Road
Cleveland, OH 44106
More information coming soon!
Historic Resources Committee Holiday Get-together
The mission of the AIA Cleveland’s Historic Resources Committee (HRC) is to promote, advance and advocate for the preservation of Northeast.
RSVP to:
Katie Lester, hbmarchitects.com
Marie-Rose Andriadi, mrandriadi@gmail.com
“Look Up” Take-a-Hike Architecture Tour
AIA Cleveland partners with Take a Hike Cleveland to provide tours of downtown Cleveland’s architecture.
AIA IIDA Golf Outing
Join us for the 2026 AIA IIDA Golf Outing. Click the button below to sponsor or to register to golf.
Lunch and Learn: Architectural Powder Coatings
Provider: Sierra Pacific Windows
Credits: 1 AIA LU H/S/W
Description:
Powder coating is a dry finishing process known for durability, performance, and a smooth application process on many products from everyday appliances to tough machinery. This learning unit will take an in-depth look at powder coatings while outlining the history of their development.
“Look Up” Take-a-Hike Architecture Tour
AIA Cleveland partners with Take a Hike Cleveland to provide tours of downtown Cleveland’s architecture.
Sand Fest 2026
Our chapter’s signature event combines volleyball and sandcastle construction to present a unique opportunity for Cleveland architects and designers to engage with the public on one of Cleveland’s premier beaches (Edgewater Beach just west of Downtown Cleveland). Join us for a day of friendly competition for a great cause, as all proceeds support the ACE Mentor Program’s scholarship fund.
Participate
This year, Sand Fest is blasting into the future with our “Cleveland in the Year 3000” theme! Imagine what our city, and our world, might look like a thousand years from now. Will Cleveland have floating neighborhoods over Lake Erie? Gardens growing on skyscrapers? Stadiums powered by clean energy and transportation that moves through the air instead of the streets? As technology evolves, so will design. From futuristic landmarks and next-generation transportation to reimagined versions of Cleveland icons, the possibilities are endless.
Sponsor
Event sponsorships are available at multiple levels and include team registration benefits. For more information on sponsorship levels and what they include, please go to: https://tinyurl.com/AIA-Sandfest-Sponsor-Sheet
Early bird registration ends June 19, and registration closes July 10. Please be sure to carefully read the full competition rules for both the sandcastle and volleyball competitions by downloading the PDFs at aiacleveland.com/sandfest, as some rules may have changed.
Volunteer
Looking to get involved? Join our Community Outreach Committee!
We are looking for volunteers to strengthen the Community Outreach Committee’s impact on the Cleveland community! Sand Fest is a perfect opportunity to get involved. This sand sculpture and volleyball competition attracts hundreds of visitors and allows design professionals to connect with the community while showing off their creativity. We’re looking for volunteers to help plan and run the event—no sandcastle experience needed!
If you’re interested in joining the Community Outreach Committee or volunteering for Sand Fest, please email Chris Dewey at cdewey@dvaarchitecture.comand Emily Leu at emilymleu@outlook.com.
Sketch & Sip: Drawing the City
Location:
Richard L. Bowen & Associates, Inc.
2019 Center St, Suite 500
Cleveland, OH 44113
Young Architects and Associate Members (YAAM) Committee Meeting
We are a committee dedicated to bridging the gap between passion and practice in the built environment, embracing advocates, students & emerging professionals.
All AIA members welcome!
Location: Virtual
RSVP to :
Kiernan Weese, AIA: kweese@cplteam.com
Maura Flaherty, Assoc. AIA: mflaherty@perspectus.com
“Look Up” Take-a-Hike Architecture Tour
AIA Cleveland partners with Take a Hike Cleveland to provide tours of downtown Cleveland’s architecture.
“Look Up” Take-a-Hike Architecture Tour
AIA Cleveland partners with Take a Hike Cleveland to provide tours of downtown Cleveland’s architecture.
CANCELED & WILL BE RESCHEDULED: Parkitecture Summer Edition
CANCELED - DUE TO AIR QUALITY 7/16/26
EVENT WILL BE RESCHEDULED SOON! CHECK BACK FOR DETAILS.
Parkitecture: Summer Edition is an interdisciplinary, in-person evening program co-presented by AIA Cleveland, the Cleveland Section of the Ohio APA, and the Cleveland practitioners of ASLA Ohio. The program is held on-site at Huntington Reservation, Cleveland Metroparks (Bay Village, OH), and is structured as two sequential, complementary segments.
PART 1 — DESIGN CASE STUDY PRESENTATION (~60 minutes, with Q&A session held before the tour)
PART 2 — INTERPRETIVE PARK WALK (~45 minutes, immediately following the presentation)
PART 3 - COOKOUT & SUNSET OVER LAKE ERIE (~ The walking tour ends along the beach with a discussion of the seasonal rhythms of the lake's ecology)
Learning Format: Live in-person presentation followed by guided walking tour. Predominantly outdoor program; covered area available at the Sunset Picnic Plaza.
Huntington Beach address: 28492 Lake Rd, Bay Village, OH 44140
Parking: Use the main parking lot off of Lake Road, or across the street near Bay Arts.
Meeting Location: Lake Picnic Area, located in Huntington Reservation, north of Lake Road between Columbia and Bradley Roads in Bay Village.
Technology in Architectural Practice (TAP) Knowledge Community | Introductory Meeting for AIA Cleveland
Join us for a virtual meeting to learn about starting a Knowledge Community: Technology in Architectural Practice (TAP) for the AIA Cleveland chapter.
“Look Up” Take-a-Hike Architecture Tour
AIA Cleveland partners with Take a Hike Cleveland to provide tours of downtown Cleveland’s architecture.
Progressive Field Hard Hat Tour: IIDA | AIA
Exclusive members-only behind the scenes tour of Progressive Field!
Brought to you by CLE/AKR IIDA and AIA Cleveland.
Lunch & Learn: Building Facade and Garage Restoration
A presentation that covers general restoration procedures to maximize the life expectancy of existing building facades and garages as well as the nuisances of local ordinance requirements.
Location:
Marous Brothers Construction
36933 Vine Street
Willoughby, OH 44094
Virtual Option also available - course will be live-streamed.
Presented by O’Donnell & Naccarato
AIA Cleveland Chapter Meeting
Join us for a Summer chapter meeting to see fellow members, share your ideas, and hear from our board leadership.
Tuesday, July 7, 2026 - 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Garfield Heights Library
5409 Turney Road, Garfield Hts., OH 44125
Meeting Room A&B
Agenda
Report to membership on AIA26 National Conference
Office location survey and discussion
Design Awards 2026
“Look Up” Take-a-Hike Architecture Tour
AIA Cleveland partners with Take a Hike Cleveland to provide tours of downtown Cleveland’s architecture.
“Look Up” Take-a-Hike Architecture Tour
AIA Cleveland partners with Take a Hike Cleveland to provide tours of downtown Cleveland’s architecture.
“Look Up” Take-a-Hike Architecture Tour
AIA Cleveland partners with Take a Hike Cleveland to provide tours of downtown Cleveland’s architecture.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum Expansion: Tour and Happy Hour
‼️ SOLD OUT! ‼️
Can't wait to see you all there!
5:00 p.m. - Construction Tour with Higley Construction team members
5:45 p.m. - Happy Hour with open bar and charcuterie inside the museum
Historic Resources Committee Meeting
The mission of the AIA Cleveland’s Historic Resources Committee (HRC) is to promote, advance and advocate for the preservation of Northeast.
RSVP to:
Katie Lester, hbmarchitects.com
Marie-Rose Andriadi, mrandriadi@gmail.com
Lunch and Learn: A Strategic Approach to Reconciliation, Value Management, Contingency Planning, Market Conditions, and Market Analysis
This AIA-accredited presentation guides attendees through best practices in cost certainty, emphasizing proactive strategies like CMR reconciliation and value management. Using real-world project examples, it illustrates how early engagement, structured processes, and informed decision-making help align design, budget, and client goals while minimizing risk and rework.
Approved for 1 LU|Elective
Learning Objectives
Attendees will gain an understanding of why CMr Reconciliation is important—how it strengthens alignment between the Construction Manager and design team, promotes transparency in cost discussions, and helps ensure project budgets accurately reflect the intended scope and design. Attendees will learn a step by step best practice.
Attendees will gain an understanding of why Value Management through Early Strategic Decisions and Smart Reserves is important—how proactive planning and purposeful contingencies support better design choices, maintain project value, and reduce the risk of costly changes later in the process, and how to keep from value engineering a project away.
Attendees will gain an understanding of why Contingency Planning—establishing contingencies with purpose—is important, and how thoughtful, data-driven reserves contribute to improved project efficiency, stronger cost control, and more informed decision-making throughout the project lifecycle. They will learn how and when to use them.
Attendees will gain an understanding of how current market trends and material pricing can change over the project's duration. This understanding will allow them to better predict future costs and bid day accuracy for their clients.
Lunch & Learn: Design Solutions for Multi-Family Projects, presented by Pella Gunton
Presented by Gunton Pella
In person at the AIA Cleveland Office
Lunch provided!
1 HSW
Selecting a window and door system for use in new or renovated multi-family buildings typically centers on aluminum, aluminum-clad wood, fiberglass, or vinyl windows. All are well-suited for a variety of different design applications whether horizontal, vertical, or punched window looks are sought. Their installation methods are numerous and suited to a variety of building construction types for both new and existing construction. Regardless of the design intent or installation method used, designing and specifying windows and doors into multi-family buildings yields broad design choices, excellent energy efficiency, resistance to rain and wind, and lasting durability.
Learning Objectives:
• Review the materials, product types, and design options commonly used in multi-family projects.
• Compare the design and performance criteria used by architects when researching, designing, and specifying windows and doors for multi-family and mixed-use projects.
• Investigate the design considerations for the use of window and doors in different opening types in multi-family buildings, including punched openings, large combinations, entrances, storefront, and curtain wall applications.
• Specify and design appropriate window installation details for new construction and renovation projects that meet human safety and welfare requirements while contributing to an energy efficient building envelope.
Sketch-n-Sip: Aliberti Art Tile Studio | Pattern, Process, and Place
Join AIA Cleveland for an immersive, hands-on evening with ceramic artist Gregory Aliberti at his studio in the historic Hildebrandt Building.
Working in clay, color, and pattern, Aliberti creates art tile for architectural and public art installations throughout the region, including Strive for Harmony, the vibrant mural that anchors the West 65th Street RTA station. For one night, he is opening his studio to share how a ceramic tile installation moves from first idea to finished work.
Young Architects and Associate Members (YAAM) Committee Meeting
We are a committee dedicated to bridging the gap between passion and practice in the built environment, embracing advocates, students & emerging professionals.
All AIA members welcome!
Location: Virtual
RSVP to :
Kiernan Weese, AIA: kweese@cplteam.com
Maura Flaherty, Assoc. AIA: mflaherty@perspectus.com
Business of Architecture
Business of Architecture is intended to help AIA members and the greater Cleveland design community to enhance their business acumen through expert presentations or moderated panel discussion, interactive peer discussions, and the exchange of practical tools, all centered around topic-specific facets of the design practice.
This Business of Architecture (BoA) session brings together a local panel of finance experts to understand the basics of business finance structure, and strategies for creating and managing an overall financially healthy firm.
Through practical real-world examples, we will examine how firms make money, where they lose it, and the common mistakes business owners make, and how to plan proactively rather than react late. We will explore the relationship between firm operations, project delivery, and profitability, while also addressing outside pressures such as economic cycles, competition, turnover, market instability, and AI.
Financial health in a firm is about far more than managing fees or bookkeeping. It is shaped by the daily decisions that affect staffing, project delivery, utilization, overhead, cash flow, billing discipline, contracts, receivables, scope management, and risk. Financial stability is deeply connected to how a firm operates, how it plans, and how early it responds to challenges rather than reacts late.
This session is designed for professionals at every stage of their career, whether you are leading a firm, mentoring future architects, or navigating your own path. Join us for a candid, practical conversation about building a practice that is responsible, resilient, and financially sound.
EVENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Describe the key drivers of financial health, from overhead and cash flow to utilization and risk management, and explore how smart financial tools can provide stability and support the long-term growth.
Learn the financial responsibilities of leaders, project managers, and emerging owners, including which performance indicators to monitor and how that knowledge should inform proactive decision-making.
Attendees will identify common ways firms lose money and create value, and how decisions around scope, staffing, and billing directly impact profitability.
Recognize major external threats (e.g., competition, AI, turnover, market instability) and understand how anticipating and planning for their impact is essential to maintaining a financially stable and resilient firm.