Edward Richardson Brya, AIA
Founder
Rich is principal architect and President of Brya Architecture. Brya and his firm have maintained a critical design practice that strives to create place specific projects uniquely suited to their clients’ needs. His work is a continuing investigation in the ways of building, and the ability to create meaningful spaces through tectonic manipulations. Brya has been a builder since 1995 as well, giving Rich and his collaborators an opportunity to carry the design ethos of a project through to the smallest details. The rigorous, careful detailing of the work has helped Brya be recognized with several AIA awards.
Rich has lived, studied and worked on both coasts and in the middle, and studied and taught in Ceurnavaca, Mexico. He earned his Master of Architecture degree at the University of Washington, and has a Bachelor of Science in Design from Clemson University. In addition to his work in practice, Brya has taught at the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington and at the Fay Jones School of Architecture + Design at the University of Arkansas.
Brya has served as the Design Awards Chair for AIA Arkansas, and has served on design awards juries for AIA Nebraska, AIA Middle Tennessee, and AIA Central States region. He has volunteered on several National Council of Architectural Registration Boards’ committees, where he helped develop content for the Architect Registration Examination. He is currently the President of AIA Arkansas, and serving on the Board of Directors.
Ryan Harris
Architectural Designer
Benjamin J. Bendall, Assoc. AIA
Architectural Designer
Benjamin is a project designer involved in all project phases from conceptualization to construction. He serves as the studio manager where he oversees daily operations and guides the design team, which usually includes a few seasonal design professionals. He enjoys exploring interesting spatial and material configurations, and is excited by intersections of construction, design, psychology, and technology present in architecture. He appreciates the unique way each project coalesces from diverse visions, circumstances, and challenges into a composition for all human senses. In his work for Brya Architecture, but also in all his endeavors, he maintains an esteem for the authenticity of design and craft, and a respect for the natural world.
He received his Bachelor of Architecture in 2011 from the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture + Design. While attending, he focused on the real-world concepts associated with the Design-Build Program and believes in the value of design at all scales.
Benjamin is currently seeking licensure by studying for the Architectural Registration Exams.
Jack Chennault
Intern
Jack is a student at the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design pursuing a Bachelor of Architecture degree and is due to graduate in 2025. Having spent his childhood in Alaska a love for the game of hockey, nature, and woodworking was cultivated that remains his passions today.
He appreciates in architecture the principles of organic design and the connection that the concept establishes between the structure and the site. He finds additional factors of design like context, culture, and clients and how they are synthesized with architectural typologies to create beautiful forms and functional spaces. He is eager to explore this aspect of the profession through his endeavors which will help him become a perceptive designer of the built environment.
He has a background in the field of construction and fabrication through experience gained with Insite Construction, The University of Arkansas Build Lab, and Designer Graphics. These opportunities have allowed him to further his understanding of assembly, construction methods, and material properties and apply that knowledge directly through design.
In the summer of 2023 he worked on the crew for Insite Construction where he framed walls, hung trusses, and assembled the roof envelope which expanded his knowledge of architecture at different scales. Through fastening elements with a sense of craftsmanship to reading a comprehensive set of construction documents he attained first hand experience of how architectural design work is brought to completion.
In 2024 he is in the studio working for Brya Architecture doing everything from media presence to schematic and graphic design. He is continuing his education of the architecture profession outside of school through observation of an architecture firm’s inner workings.