I founded HAABITT (formerly ATad | Alyson Tanguay architecture & design) in 2008 to work for change in the way architects, builders and consumers choose materials and products for the environments they create. I’m a licensed architect with over a dozen years of experience in architecture, urban design, building materials research and design consulting. My time in this field makes me acutely aware of, and profoundly concerned about, the exorbitant levels of consumption and waste associated with construction. As an architect, I am a superconsumer. I specify all of the building materials for each of my projects both inside and out, and that means I drive considerable market demand--from plaster to plumbing fixtures. I am determined to use that leverage to pioneer pathways to healthy buildings that benefit clients, builders, manufacturers and the larger natural realm.
I have always harbored a fierce love for and allegiance to the natural world, and when I first started practicing professionally, I was unsettled to realize that my professional training no longer aligned with my personal values of environmental stewardship and “enoughism.” HAABITT was born out of my compulsion to work for more responsible consumption in the design and construction industry. When we reimagine our consumption habits, we effect positive change for habitats around us.
Professional and Educational Background
Alyson holds a Master in Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Arts in Architectural History (Magna cum Laude) from University of Virginia’s School of Architecture. She also holds a certificate in Healthier Building Materials from Parsons School of Design / The New School in New York. While at Harvard, she was awarded the Alpha Ro Chi Medal, the AAUW’s Selected Professions Fellowship, and a Penny White Travel Grant, and received the Frederick Doveton Nichols award at UVA.
Alyson worked for several architecture and urban design firms on both east and west coasts prior to founding her own practice, where she managed residential and institutional projects alike across a range of scales. She has designed and managed architecture and urban planning projects of diverse scales at Boston-area firms Utile Inc., Chan Krieger Sieniewicz (now NBBJ), SmartArchitecture, and Flavin Architects. She has also worked for ZGF Architects in the firm’s Portland, OR and Washington, DC offices. Her professional and research efforts have afforded opportunities for intervention and exchange on both east and west coasts of the US, and also further afield in places like Hawaii, Fez, Mumbai, Bogota, Caracas and Costa Rica.
In parallel with her practice, she has taught design studios and seminar courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels. And as a full-time faculty member at Northeastern University's School of Architecture, Alyson developed and co-directed a suite of summer programs for the school's College of Art, Media and Design. She currently resides with her young family near Portsmouth, NH where she enjoys spending as much time outside as possible and traveling to experience new cities, cultures and mountain ranges whenever she can.
Professional Experience
HAABITT [formerly ATad | Alyson Tanguay architecture & design] (2008-present): Single- and multifamily residential projects; feasibility studies; development and design consulting. Current and recent work includes: design planning and public process consulting for a 50-acre, 42-unit open space development in Exeter, NH; design consulting services for a multi-unit, historically- significant redevelopment project in Sausalito, California; a handful of smaller-scale design projects and feasibility studies in and around Boston/Seacoast NH/Southern Maine and abroad. Recognition includes a Mayor’s Award for Historic Preservation (Somerville MA, 2011).
Utile, Inc. (2010-2013): Multifamily residential and mixed-use projects; Institutional renovation and new construction planning and feasibility studies. Notable clients include The City of Boston/BRA, City of Worcester, Boston Public Library, New Atlantic Development, Undisclosed UAE-based client, The Advent School, and a number of community development corporations.
Flavin Architects (2009-2010): Single family residential projects in the Boston metro area
Chan Krieger Sieniewicz, now NBBJ (2008-2009): Urban planning projects, large-scale institutional buildings. Notable clients include the DC Office of Planning and Suffolk University
Smart Architecture (2005-2007): Single family residential projects in the Boston area
ZGF Architects (2002-2004): Institutional planning and feasibility studies; academic and healthcare building projects, marketing efforts. Notable clients include University of Oregon, Oregon Health Sciences University, Bishop Museum of Hawaii, Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority, University of California-Berkeley.
Community Involvement
Town of New Castle Zoning Board of Appeals Board Member, Alternate
Maude H Trefethen School Parent Teacher Organization Eyes of the World Discovery Center/Kittery Forest Preschool Parent Advisory Committee Seacoast Women’s Giving Circle