Elizabeth Sowell, AIA

Elizabeth Sowell, AIA (Ibby) joined Clark Mente Architects, Inc. in January 2004. She is a Texas and NCARB registered architect and has an M-Arch from the University of Texas at Austin. As a managing partner, she is responsible for business development as well as project design, production and construction administration. Her work has ranged from the firm's later Velocity projects, including Velocity Slaughter and the Main Branch; the United Heritage projects; and, the firm's residential projects.

She began her career in Baltimore working for GWWO Architects, Inc. and served as support staff for several preservation projects. Initially interested in preservation and restoration, she moved to Texas and took a job at the Texas Historical Commission and two years later, in 1999, began working at the Main Street Architecture division. There she helped develop architectural solutions for the restoration and adaptation/reuse of Main Street City buildings throughout Texas. During this time, she became increasingly interested in adaptively reusing buildings whose significance was more local than historical. For these cities, preservation and sustainability meant using the structures they had and adapting them to suit modern needs.

Later, in early 2001, Ibby joined Steinbomer and Associates, Inc. where her experience ranged from the Texas Association of Counties high-rise in downtown Austin to several high-end residential projects. As a team member, her experience involved both design and production of construction documents and specifications as well as construction administration.