Specht Architects was founded on the vision of creating elegant, comfortable, and timeless buildings that are rooted in the unique environments in which they exist, and shaped by the character of the people who will inhabit them.
Specht has been named as a “Top 100” architect by New York Magazine, and one of the “50 up and coming firms from around the world” by Wallpaper* magazine. Scott Specht also recently gave a TEDx talk about the future of housing in the United States.
Our projects have been featured in over 100 publications worldwide, and have received numerous awards from the American Institute of Architects, the Architectural League of New York, The Texas Society of Architects, and many others.
More important than the awards, however, is the fact that we have many repeat clients who appreciate our work and enjoy working with us. We're nice people, and love what we do!
We typically keep the clients for our residential work private, but below is a selected list of commercial and institutional clients.
Austin Independent School District
Blue Hypermedia
Concrete Incorporated
Design Guidelines
Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA)
Good Edit
Good Machine
HDNet - Open City Films
Number Seventeen
Powerful Media
San Jacinto Building
Texas State University--San Marcos
Zurich Global Asset Management
Founder and Principal
Scott is the founding principal at Specht Architects with over 25 years of experience designing and managing institutional, commercial, and residential projects. Before founding Specht Architects (formerly known as Specht Harpman), he worked as a senior designer for Daniel Libeskind Architect and collaborated with that office on its winning New York World Trade Center master planning proposal. He also worked for several years with Kohn Pedersen Fox and Associates Architects in New York, and was the Designer on a number of tall building projects around the world, including the Chifley Square project in Sydney, Australia, and the Niaga Bank headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia. He is a licensed architect in Texas and New York, is NCARB certified, and is a member of the American Institute of Architects.
Scott received his Master of Architecture degree from Yale University, where he received the George Nelson Scholarship and the Franklin W. Gregory Scholarship.
In addition to his work with Specht Architects, Scott was a featured speaker at TEDx, and his independent design work has been exhibited in two SoHo gallery shows. His design work has also been publicly featured at a Yale University exhibition, the Van Alen Institute, the Municipal Art Society of New York, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.
Senior Project Architect
Jakeb received his Bachelor of Architecture degree with honors from Kansas State University where he was awarded the AIA Henry Adams Certificate. Having over a decade of experience, he has contributed to projects varying in scale from residences, commercial renovations to large multi-tower commercial developments.
Before joining Specht Architects' Austin office, Jakeb worked in Chicago for Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Griskelis Young Harrell and Wilkinson Blender Architecture. He is a licensed architect in Texas and Illinois, is NCARB certified, and is a member of the American Institute of Architects.
Senior Project Architect
Travis is a project architect with over 10 years of professional experience and a Bachelor of Architecture from The University of Texas at Austin. His work features an emphasis on custom residential projects with additional experience in higher education & restaurant projects.
His experience before joining Specht Architects' Austin office includes time with Lake | Flato Architects in San Antonio where he contributed to the nationally recognized design for the Arizona State Polytechnic Campus. Travis also worked in Austin for Brian Dillard Architecture and Dick Clark + Associates where his work consists of houses that have been featured on the AIA Austin Homes Tour.
Architectural Designer
Matthew received his Post-Professional Master of Architecture from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. He received his Bachelor of Architecture from The University of Texas at Austin, where he was awarded the Oglesby Traveling Fellowship (he traveled through Japan for a month), the university-wide George H. Mitchell Award for his work with Jason Sowell, and was published in Wallpaper* Magazine’s 2010 Graduate Directory for his work with Billie Faircloth.
Prior to joining Specht's Austin office, Matthew's design experience spanned academic buildings with Tod Williams | Billie Tsien Architects in New York City, and award winning high-end custom residential and commercial projects with firms in Austin, TX.
Architectural Designer
With over 14 years of professional experience across a broad spectrum of scales and typologies, Matt has been an influential leader and advocate for design. His designs have sought to take on complex problems that require uniquely refined and elegant solutions within modest means.
Before joining Specht Architects, Matt worked at an Austin based boutique residential architecture office, where he managed some of the firm’s largest and high-profile projects. These projects served as case studies that he developed into office-wide standards, procedures, and details, streamlining project deliveries for other teams.
Matt received his Bachelor of Architecture at Kent State University and his Master of Architecture at Ohio State University. Upon graduation, he joined Robert Maschke Architects (RMA) in Cleveland, Ohio. At RMA, he was responsible for the design and execution of many award-winning projects that have been widely published. Matt’s contributions guided the transition of RMA’s design dialogue from an analog to a digital studio. In 2015, Matt was the recipient of the Emerging Professional Award from the Cleveland Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Cleveland, Ohio) for recognition as an outstanding member of the next generation of leaders, contributing to the workplace and further developing the profession of Architecture.
Office Director
Dawn is an experienced operations and administrative manager with 20 years of experience in industries ranging from investment banking, asset protection and estate planning for UHNW clients, to hospitality management for multi-brand corporations . She is responsible for a wide array of management functions that facilitate the smooth operations of the office, staff and clients. Prior corporate experience includes terms at Palm Equity LLC, Duane Morris LLP., and Landry’s Inc.
Accounting
Molly is an accounting manager with more than 25 years’ experience serving professional service firms. A member of the Specht team since 2015, she handles client billing, budgeting, and financial reporting. Previously, Molly worked with law firms, public relations agencies, and construction/development companies. She is a former CPA with an accounting degree from UT-Austin and a master's in Interdisciplinary Studies from Texas A&M—Corpus Christi.
Micro Housing in the U.S. TEDx Amherst 2015
A Lecture by Scott Specht
2017 Resource Guide - Architects
'Design Hunting' by Wendy Goodman
'The Profound Roots' by Nina Neronova
'Barn-Inspired Living' by Jane F. Kolleeny
'Architects' Choice' by Nigel F. Maynard
'Prize Possessions' 'All in the Family' by Jane Margolies
'Home Hotlist: More than Zero' by MItchel Alan Parker
'AIA Austin Awards' by Rick Price
'Top Deck' by Henry Urbach
'Interior Eye' by Craig Kellogg
'Outside In' by Henry Urbach
zeroHouse
'Industry Non-Standard' by Raul Barreneche
'44th Annual Design Review'
'Bouwen voor de Toekomst'
'zeroHouse'
'Frame by Frame' by Abby Bussel
'Students Build from the Ground Up' by Ingrid Whitehead
'Zero Impact, Full Comfort'
'La Casa in Tasca' by Claudia Manini
'Materials Study' by Karen Singh
'Freeze Frame'
'Go Green'
'Sure Grip' by Henry Urbach
'High-Performance Prefabs' by Sheri Koones
Big Ideas for Small Spaces by James Trulove
'Lo Mas eco del Mercado' by Soledad Garcia Huidobro
'Taking Stock' by Henry Urbach
'zeroHouse'
'Eco-Friendly House'
'Eco Prefab Revolution' by Jeff Herlitz
'Sense and Sensibility' by Edie Cohen
Custom made art objects (by both the Austin and New York offices) for their annual benefit auction
'Bringing the Outside In' by Yuffie Yu
House & Home
'Small Apartment Big Style' by Li Yang
Design Awards Architectural Interiors by S. Claire Conroy
'Habitat ècologique'
'Think Green' by Arden Ward
written by author Marc Kristal
written by author Sergio Costa Duran
'zerohouse'
'Design DIrectory 2008'
'zerohouse'
'The Adapters' by Carol Flake Chapman
'Hitting the Books' by Jayne Merkel
by author Elana Frankel
'The Building Blocks' by Mayer Rus
Manhattan Micro LoftDesign Award
Micro Housing in the USTEDx Amherst
Manhattan MicroLoftBest of Year Award
Concrete MediaDesign Award
zeroHouseArchitecture + Sustainability
New Canaan ResidenceDesign Award
Weston ResidenceBest of Houzz
Manhattan MicroLoftMerit Award
zeroHouse
Studio Award
Doyle HallDesign Award
Oasis AdvertisingHonor Award
Coffee Lid Collection2015 exhibition