Paul Westlake is a Senior Principal and Lead Designer of DLR Group, an integrated multi-disciplinary design firm with 30 offices worldwide. Paul is one of the youngest architects ever to be elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in the category of design, and received a state level Gold medal from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Prior to merging with DLR Group in 2016, Paul was Managing Principal of the legacy firm Westlake Reed Leskosky, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio since 1905, and ranked #1 overall among U.S. architectural firms in Architect Magazine’s 2014 AIA Top 50 ranking. Over the course of his career, Paul has designed a range of award-winning and widely published projects, involving technically challenging project types such as major arts and cultural facilities, healthcare complexes, federal office buildings and courthouses, and educational facilities. His projects in both renovation and new construction have received more than 200 significant design awards. Most recently, Paul has focused on planning and design for the cultural arts and currently serves as DLR Group’s Global Cultural + Performing Arts Leader. He also has nationally recognized expertise in historic preservation and adaptive reuse, has served as Lead Designer for several GSA Design Excellence projects, and has received multiple design awards from the GSA and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
His work has been honored by the House of Representatives of the State of Ohio, exhibited at Harvard University and the Akron Art Museum, and published in Architecture, Architectural Record, Interiors and Contract Magazine.
As a Graham Foundation and an AIA Foundation scholar at Harvard, Paul co-founded the Harvard Architectural Review (recognized internationally as a leading journal of architecture theory) while earning a Master of Architecture with faculty commendation. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts cum laude with distinction in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science in economics magna cum laude, with a major in finance, from the Wharton School.
Paul has been a registered architect in 48 states and Alberta, Canada, and has worked on projects throughout the United States, Africa, Europe and the Middle East.