Brie Gregory, architect
Little Rock
Louisiana native Brie Gregory likes to describe her decision to study architecture as a “happy accident.” While attending orientation prior to entering Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, she had intended to enter the interior design program but, at the last minute, took a hard right that changed her life.
Something within me wanted to sign up for architecture,” she said. “I’m not really sure what it was. Maybe I saw it as more of a challenge, like doing a whole building is more challenging than doing the interior of a building. Part of me always likes being challenged by certain things, like doing puzzles. I always said it was a happy accident, but I guess you can say it was more like trusting your intuition.”
Even if, to this day, she does not fully understand what made her do it, Gregory’s success in the field ever since has borne out that it was the right move. She completed her bachelor’s degree in architectural studies, followed by a master’s in architecture, all at LA Tech. Her original plan was to head to New York, where she had worked briefly for a firm during college, but the COVID-19 pandemic and her husband, who she married in 2019, changed her plans, and she settled into a job at Taggart Architects in North Little Rock for the long haul. There, she has built a reputation as a multifaceted professional who is malleable for a lot of different projects.
“In school, you learn how to design and how to problem-solve in what we call ‘Big A’ architecture, the pretty buildings in a magazine kind of thing,” she said. “That’s what most people think they want to do whenever they’re in school. Once you get into the field, that’s where you really find your niche. Every architecture firm is different and approaches things differently, and that also has an influence on how someone approaches what specialty they want to go into.
People do have their thing that they specialize in, and we definitely have people in our office that do that. Personally, I have been more of a generalist as an approach to things. I like being able to jump from one thing to another that vary in scale and project type. It just keeps things really interesting. I would rather do that than kind of rinse and repeat a project type over and over.”
At Taggart, Gregory worked on some multifamily projects and, of late, has focused on master planning and urban infill, work that has yielded projects she notes with particular pride.
“One project that’s going to be done probably here in the next month is Sixth Avenue Plaza in Pine Bluff. That one is one of my very first projects that I took from feasibility study and programming all the way through construction administration,” she said.
My current project that I’m drawing on, that I’m doing the same thing with, is Riverside Park and Event Center in Batesville. I think what makes those so exciting is every project and client comes to you with a different set of parameters, both constraints and opportunities for each project, and it makes them unique.”
At 27, Gregory is squarely in the “new generation” category of architects, one which boasts more gender equity than in past eras. That said, there are still areas where women are playing catch-up in the profession, such as in areas of licensure, a milestone she accomplished only recently.
“I definitely see a higher ratio of women in current architecture programs today, and I would say there’s a significant growing population of women under 30 who are in the field,” she said. “At the same time, there is a difference between being in the architecture field and actually being a licensed architect. I’m not sure what the specific statistics are, but the number of women who are actually licensed architects is significantly lower [than men].
“In fact, one of my biggest goals was to become licensed as an architect, which I accomplished earlier this year. Now that I’ve accomplished that, I’d like to one day assume one of those leadership positions so that others can see a woman in that position and hopefully inspire more women into making their mark in this profession.”
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