Work with Us
GCCDS works with individuals and organizations to create architectural design and planning solutions that benefit those in need in the Gulf Coast region. If you are interested in collaborating with GCCDS, or would like to find out more about our work, please contact David Perkes or email info(at)gccds.msstate.edu.
David Perkes, Director
Gulf Coast Community Design Studio769 Howard Ave.
Biloxi, MS 39530
228-436-4661
dperkes (at) gccds.msstate.edu
David Perkes
director
David Perkes is an architect and Associate Professor for Mississippi State University. He is the founding director of the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio, a professional outreach program of the College of Architecture, Art + Design. The design studio was established soon after Hurricane Katrina and is providing planning and architectural design support to many Mississippi Gulf Coast communities and non-profit organizations. The design studio works in close partnership with the East Biloxi Coordination and Relief Center and has assisted in the renovation of hundreds of damaged homes and over fifty new house projects in East Biloxi. The Biloxi house projects were awarded an Honor Citation from the Gulf States Region AIA in 2007.
Before creating the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio, David was the director of the Jackson Community Design Center and taught in the School of Architecture's fifth year program in Jackson, Mississippi, for seven years. Under his leadership the Jackson Community Design Center assisted many community organizations and received numerous national and local awards, including a Mississippi AIA Honor Award for the Boys and Girls Club Camp Pavilion. A sustainable Habitat for Humanity house built in Jackson was selected by the "Show Your Green" recognition program and featured on the AIA Design Advisor. David was selected as the designer from Mississippi in January 2004 issue of International Design in which a designer is featured from each state. David has a Master of Environmental Design degree from Yale School of Architecture, a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Utah, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Utah State University. In 2004 David was awarded a Loeb Fellowship from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Contact David at: dperkes (at) gccds.msstate.edu
[close]We are the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio
Britton Jones
landscape architect
Britton Jones is a landscape architect at GCCDS. He earned his Masters degree in Landscape Architecture from Auburn University as well as a Bachelor of Environmental Design.
After working the past four years on various projects of vastly different scales and scopes across the country, Britton has now settled in Biloxi and enjoys working on a number of projects that are deeply immersed in the Mississippi Gulf Coast region. He is intrigued by the form and function of social and ecological edge conditions.
Britton's favorite compound machines are a fixed-gear bicycle and a garlic press.
Contact Britton at: bjones (at) gccds.msstate.edu
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Laura Shagalov
intern architect
Laura Shagalov is an Intern Architect at GCCDS. She received a Master of Architecture degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Urban & Regional Studies degree from Cornell University. She is interested in the social and environmental aspects of housing, from affordability to ecology and landscape design. Laura is continually exploring how accessibility, health, and special needs can be addressed through the design process.
Laura has worked as a designer in the San Francisco Bay area, where she managed sustainably and universally designed residential remodels and new construction. She is LEED accredited, and participated in a LEED Platinum affordable multi-family housing project in northern California. Laura has also worked as a Research Fellow on an analysis of affordable, energy-efficient homes for the University of Minnesota.
Laura is dedicated to service and education and has worked with English language learners and newly arrived refugees in a variety of settings. She is a newcomer to Mississippi, and is excited to immerse herself in a new part of the country. When not in the studio, Laura is likely playing with clay or honing her accordion skills.
Contact Laura at: lshagalov (at) gccds.msstate.edu
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Sarah Jones
intern architect
Sarah Jones is an Intern Architect for the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio. She first came to Biloxi in October 2006 as an independent volunteer interested in seeing how she could support the disaster response and relief efforts to Hurricane Katrina. She was shocked and overwhelmed to find the coast in such a state of devastation over a year after the hurricane, but felt encouraged by the spirit and dedication of the many volunteer organizations and the people of the Gulf Coast community. During her initial stay, Sarah worked on labor crews through Hands On Biloxi hanging and painting drywall. Eventually, she began working with Architecture for Humanity and the Design Studio performing neighborhood and housing surveys, designing home renovations, and developing a master plan for John Henry Beck Park.
As a result of her previous experience in Biloxi, Sarah was offered an Americorps position for 2007 working as an Intern Architect in the Design Studio. A year later she became full-time GCCDS staff.
Sarah brings with her a Masters in Architecture from the University of Minnesota and a passion to help those in need. The Gulf Coast holds special meaning for Sarah because New Orleans is where her Mother and Grandmother immigrated into the United States after losing everything during World War II. Working with the Gulf Coast has become an opportunity to give back to a community that gave a second chance to the people she loves most.
Contact Sarah at:snaughton (at) gccds.msstate.edu
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Mike Grote
project manager
Michael Grote is a project manager at GCCDS. He holds a degree in Architecture from the University of Houston Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, and a Masters in Building Construction - Design Build from Auburn University.
Mike originally came to the Gulf Coast with Architecture for Humanity in June of 2006, working alongside the GCCDS throughout his time here. Since coming on board as GCCDS staff, he is helping to develop much of the studio's project delivery, management and administration capacity, and works with studio instruction during the Biloxi Studio spring semester programs.
Contact Mike at: mgrote (at) gccds.msstate.edu
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Kelsey Johnson
community planner
Kelsey Johnson is a Community Planner at GCCDS. She received a Masters of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Michigan, focusing on environmental and land use policy and planning. The majority of her studies concentrated on planning issues and policy in coastal towns. Kelsey was fortunate to gain experience studying at the Duke University Marine Laboratory in North Carolina where she studied coastal and ocean policy and planning in an area that was at the forefront of these issues. She also spent a semester at the School for Field Studies in the small fishing village of Puerto San Carlos, Baja California Sur, Mexico and was able to learn more about the unique dynamic between the marine environment and the communities that depend directly and indirectly on them.
Kelsey has previously worked in the Water Resources Department of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments in Washington, D.C., and as an AmeriCorps member in the Community and Economic Development Department at Focus: HOPE in Detroit, Michigan. She has spent the past four years working for nonprofit arts and cultural centers in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Ocean Springs, Mississippi, but is excited to be back in the planning field in such a dynamic and inspiring region.
Contact Kelsey at: kjohnson (at) gccds.msstate.edu
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Sarah Grider
public design intern
Sarah Grider is a public design intern with the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio. She is a native of the Deep South, having lived in Alabama and Mississippi her whole Life. She earned her Bachelor's Degree of Architecture from Mississippi State University, where she supplemented her university education through academic research, community service, and outreach. Before joining the GCCDS team, Sarah worked on several projects throughout rural Mississippi with the Carl Small Town Center, including an ASCA Collaborative Practice Honorable Mention project, "Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Public Transit Study: a study of place, people and design thinking." Working as a Public Design Intern has provided Sarah with a wonderful outlet to bring together her passion for design and the desire to be an asset, champion, and active member of the local community.
When not working away in the studio, Sarah can be found either camped out on the beach with a good book or in the kitchen cooking with lots of butter.
Contact Sarah at: sgrider (at) gccds.msstate.edu
[close]Past Gulf Coast Studio Staff and Volunteers
