With a design career of 50+ years, W.A. "Bud" Lawrence has built a legacy of authentic traditional and period style home designs, both nationally and internationally.
Winning numerous design awards across many home styles, including Old French, Spanish, Creole, English Tidewater, and Plantation, he is one of the nation's top classical designers. His work has been featured in several publications including the New York Times, Southern Living and Better Homes and Gardens. All of his designs capture the essence, style, proportions, and details of timeless regional styles.
Having studied architecture at Louisiana State University, W.A. Lawrence has also been an influential advocate of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA), is certified by the National Charette Institute (NCI) and is a member of The New Urban Guild. Bud's experience as a Licensed General Contractor has given him the unique advantage among designers in a hands-on understanding of complex construction considerations and the ability to solve for those considerations at the earliest of design phases.
W.A. Lawrence continues to shape the landscape of authentic traditional home experiences. In addition to luxury home design and TND projects, he is actively creating new solutions that address housing affordability.
Design Influences:
Bertum Goodhue, Addison Mizner, Wallace Neff, Hays Town, Richard Morris Hunt, Maurice Fatio, McKin, Mead, White, and others
Congress for the New Urbanism
Strong Towns
Institute of Classical Architecture & Art
National Homebuilders Association
The Urban Guild
• Aurora Award
• Best in American Living
• Best of Show: A.I.B.D. National
• Designers Choice: A.I.B.D. Regional
• Multiple National and Regional First Place: A.I.B.D. Awards
• New York Times
• Design Line
• Better Homes & Gardens
• Southern Living
• Builders Magazine
• Concrete Homes Magazine
• Gulf Coast Magazine
Having the largest residential design firm in the state of Louisiana, Bud was approached by a colleague to help form the Louisiana Society of the American Institute of Building Design. Bud was proud to have been a founding member of the American Institute of Building Design (AIBD) in Louisiana and served as president of that society several times. After moving to Florida, he became a member and office holder in the Florida Society of AIBD.
Beginning in 2001 Bud began attending the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA) in Manhattan. He recalls that at the time, it seemed to be the only place on the planet where one could go to properly learn the classical languages. He spent the next 6 years attending almost every course offered by ICAA at the time.
Bud, alongside a close colleague of his, Bobby Morales, was instrumental in convincing the ICAA to work with AIBD in Florida to teach over 100 residential designers, architects, interior designers, and contractors seven courses in classical languages. It was an incredible success, and it was the first time that the ICAA had gone outside of Manhattan to bring its message to a larger audience. After that very successful venture, the ICAA and Period Style Homes sponsored a series of five seminars around Florida and Louisiana on historic architectural styles. There was strong interest among architects and designers to learn about housing styles.
Shortly after that series, the ICAA and Period Style Homes worked together to put on another series that went to five different states from coast to coast, showing architects and designers a number of historic architectural styles. At each seminar, Bud taught popular historic styles found in the local area. He taught Spanish Colonial in Santa Barbara, California; Greek Revival in Columbus Ohio; Tidewater style in Charleston, South Carolina, etc. There was a wonderful response to this series, and everyone wanted to learn more about the styles they were designing in. The ICAA has since broadened its reach to numerous states, gaining significant momentum amid a resurgence of interest in classical & traditional design.
Bud considers it a privilege that he was invited to be a member of the New Urban Guild, which is a group of classically trained architects, designers, land planners, and others dedicated to advancing correct traditional and classical design principles in housing and urban design.
The New Urban Guild designers primarily use the charrette design process. Bud has been involved in and led a number of design charrettes for various TND projects. These are very rewarding projects, as they bring together a number of top-tier designers on a single project.
Nearly every new urbanism development enforces guidelines that mandate architects and designers to craft their residential, multifamily, and commercial structures in specified traditional aesthetics. As a town architect for various Traditional Neighborhood Developments (TNDs), Bud has meticulously reviewed countless plans from architects, designers, and contractors.
He's seen first-hand the difficulty position developers find themselves, who's project success depends on quality plans that the public will see as beautiful and attractive. Bud recalls that on many development projects for which he served as town architect, that over 95% of the plans submitted had serious flaws in regard to the interpretation of the particular style and almost all of the plans had serious proportion problems.
All other market variables being equal, the selection of design talent is a key distinction between TND projects that suffer and those that thrive. Bud has been a big proponent of educating designers and project stakeholders alike in order to ensure the best possible success for development projects. Bud's full design catalog spans over 16,000 house plans (including TND designs) that are offered to builders and developers, as well as educational materials that include seminars and reference books across a number of popular home styles.
Bud's design talent has been especially sought after in the luxury home market, where homeowners require authenticity in the application of the particular style of their home. These homes have earned Bud various awards and recognitions in the industry.
It has long been a passion of Bud's to provide the highest quality of design expertise not only to luxury projects but also to affordable homes. This includes applying a detailed focus on smaller homes and ensuring the designs are cost-effective to build... all while keeping the proportions and the detailing authentic to the intended style. While many other "affordable housing" initiatives are content to put lower-income homeowners into the equivalent of a box container, Bud believes that affordable homes shouldn't have to sacrifice beauty or dignity.
One such example is Bud's work on the Katrina Cottage Series for emergency shelters that could be quickly constructed in response to a disaster, but that also provided dignified housing for an extended period. While small in footprint, these cottages were beautiful and charming. The project was a collaboration of various notable designers from around the country, including Andrés Duany and Steve Mouzon. Lowe's purchased the copyright to several of Bud's Katrina cottages to be sold as kit homes.
Bud's current endeavors include addressing the housing crisis by means of affordable predesigned house plans, made available for purchase on PeriodStyleHomes.com, and also in making advancements with manufactured homes to provide even more affordable options for potential homeowners, especially in rural areas.
The leadership at Period Style Homes, having worked side-by-side with Bud for over two decades, is honored to carry forward the initiatives and values that Bud has established. We continue to provide top-tier design and service to the most discerning clientele while simultaneously seeking to make beautiful home designs accessible and affordable for larger audiences.
