John is a design leader in both the architecture and environment practices of Waggonner & Ball. He works with clients and design team members to set the firm’s creative direction. As Design Director of WBAE’s work for Beijing City International School (BCIS), John coordinates closely with the BCIS education team, associate architect BIAD, and developer/construction manager Yuecheng Group. He has facilitated numerous workshops with BCIS students and teachers to gather input for design for projects including the Wangjing Campus, a brand new PK-12 school for 2,700 students.

John joined the firm in 2008 to contribute to the Dutch Dialogues workshops in which Dutch and American engineers, designers, and planners collaborated to rethink water management in New Orleans using a nature-based approach. He led the firm’s efforts on the Gentilly Resilience District, a HUD-funded plan inspired by the Dutch Dialogues and guided by Waggonner & Ball’s Urban Water Plan. At the campus scale, John led a Stormwater Master Plan for Tulane University to improve spatial quality at the historic campus by focusing first on water. He was a key design team member, from start to finish, for the Beijing City International School (BCIS) Early Childhood Center, a green oasis for young children in the hyper-urban context of Beijing.

With his fluency in multiple media, John carries the firm’s rich tradition of hand drawing, which he finds particularly useful during collaborative sketch sessions with both clients and colleagues. Since 2013, he has served as Design Consultant to Ripple Effect, a non-profit working to build “water literacy” in K-12 schools via curriculum innovation and teacher training.

Committed to design education, John frequently lends his time to students of all ages. He is currently an Adjunct Lecturer at the Tulane School of Architecture where teaches studio in the Design Program.