that I’d worked with in the past, and I thought of my friend from university.” Michelle, at that time, had been working with another architectural firm for 18 years specializing in sports and entertainment architecture and was ready for a change. When Brent reached out, she decided it was a good opportunity “to take the reins of a company with him as a partner and do our own thing.” “We didn’t want to change the firm too much,” she clarifies. “Dutra Architect already has a great reputation. It’s known as a firm that cares about clients, that cares about contractors, and that really wants to do a good job. That’s what the company has always stood for. We don’t want to change that. We want to grow the company while maintaining that reputation.” These days, Dutra Architect works for a diverse array of clientele, and their projects run the gamut of typologies – according to Brent and Michelle, they do basically everything except multiresidential, as that market is already saturated by larger firms. Currently, they are working on a hospital, a veterinary office, some tenant improvements and revitalizations, some pickleball courts, and some bank branch renovations. “There are not a lot of things we won’t do,” Brent says. “We’ve done projects from 500 square feet to 100,000 square feet. Nothing’s too big for us; nothing’s too small for us.” The majority of the firm’s work is untendered and generated by repeat clients. When evaluating opportunities with new clients, Brent says the “fit has to be right.” OCTOBER 2025
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