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Catalyst's Newest Associate Elizabeth Lassuy Brings Wealth of Experience Firm’s Reputation for Earth-Conscious Architecture Draws Seasoned Designer from Arizona’s Largest Firm  PRESCOTT,
AZ–
Ever get that funny feeling you’re being watched? Catalyst Architecture, an award-winning sustainable-design firm based in Prescott, has been under the interested gaze of veteran designer Elizabeth Lassuy for quite a while. An architect-in-training with education and experience in urban geography, green building, permaculture, and construction management, Lassuy has a strong interest in earth-conscious and community-based design and has been following the work of Prescott-based Catalyst Architecture’s Jeffrey Zucker since the late 90’s. Earlier this year, she decided it was time to meet her mentor. She approached Zucker and his partner, architect Matt Ackerman, and asked for a job. And got one. In April, Lassuy joined the firm as an associate and designer. She brings with her a background in construction management, affordable housing advocacy, ecologically oriented design/build and permaculture design. Before joining the firm, Lassuy worked with Phoenix-based Orcutt/Winslow Partnership, a high-profile design group that specializes in education and healthcare facilities and is one of Arizona’s largest architecture firms. Her experience there varied from working on large-scale institutional projects such as the $83 million expansion of Beatitudes Campus, a senior housing project located in Phoenix, to doing pro-bono work on a small addition to the Pappas School, a school for homeless children located in the city’s downtown. Lassuy’s extensive construction background includes overseeing design and construction of commercial and industrial projects, plus a variety of alternative and sustainable projects. These range from green custom homes to an off-the-grid, 12-person dormitory built with straw-bale and adobe construction that uses passive and active solar heating energy systems. She also designed and oversaw construction of a large greenhouse featuring local site-available stone for its thermal-mass wall, a gravel-trench foundation, straw-bale walls and locally harvested log posts. Lassuy’s impressive combination of skills and interests makes her a valuable firm addition, said Zucker, who cut his own design chops in the 1970s building award-winning alternative structures and apprenticing as a project architect and construction supervisor for Paolo Soleri’s Arcosanti in Cordes Junction. “We want to be on the leading edge of sustainable design and green building, as we have for decades,” he said. “Elizabeth’s practical knowledge coupled with enthusiasm for design areas such as co-housing, alternative construction and community building, will help us achieve that goal.” It’s a natural fit on both sides, Lassuy said. “They’re very earth-conscious, community oriented and familiar with co-housing,” she said, referencing Zucker-designed Manzanita Village, Prescott’s first co-housing project. “Architecture is the arena in which many of my interests can come together.” Lassuy earned a bachelor’s degree in urban geography in 1990 and a master’s degree in architecture in 2004 from Arizona State University. She grew up in Arizona, frequently visiting Prescott as an avid outdoorsman to enjoy rock climbing, hiking and camping. Before moving to the city, she lived in Tempe, where she served on the board of Newtown Community Development Corp., a non-profit organization that promotes community building and the development of affordable for-ownership housing using a land trust model. This summer, Lassuy and Ackerman, along with architect Michael Frerking of Living Systems Architecture created an informal facilitation group, dubbed the Local Code Initiative, to work with Yavapai County Officials and other local governmental agencies striving to create more sustainable planning and building codes. Lassuy brings to the group experience working with David Eisenberg, executive director of the Development Center for Appropriate Technology, a Tucson-based nonprofit organization that works to expand the awareness of the consequences of creating and regulating the built environment. Catalyst Architecture, located in Downtown Prescott, specializes in public, tribal, commercial, and custom-residential work. Firm principals Jeffrey L. Zucker, LEED AIA and Matthew B. Ackerman, LEED AIA emphasize earth-conscious design and are accredited by the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. Together, they are one of the Southwest’s most experienced sustainable design teams. |
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