It is with tremendous sadness that we share news of the passing of our colleague James Conner Bryan, LEED AP, Associate AIA. Known to our community as Conner, he died peacefully in his sleep Feb. 3, 2021, at his home in New Orleans.
Conner was intelligent, thoughtful, a loyal friend, and an incredible talent in the field of architecture. He joined Trahan Architects in 2014 and became a leader in the firm’s sustainable design efforts. He embodied the firm’s ethos of kindness, collaboration and artistry. His experience included cultural and educational spaces, hospitality and commercial projects, convention and event centers, and master planning. Conner maintained a firm belief in design that provides smart and adaptive responses to human degradation on the environment: “Today we must ask ourselves: ‘How do we do more with much less?’.”
Conner was pivotal on numerous award-winning Trahan Architects projects, including Magazine Street Residence; College Station Boutique Hotel; New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau Renovation; Expo Georgia Convention Center and Master Plan; Aurora Event Center; The Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria – Arrival Garden and Moody Pavilions; New England Mixed-Use Development; and the Ochsner Center for Innovation. His current projects included an affordable housing development in Texas and a new chapel at Loyola University New Orleans.
In his past experience at Allied Works Architecture, Conner worked on the acclaimed net-zero Sokol Blosser Wine Tasting Room – the first winery in the United States to pursue the Living Building Challenge certification. During his graduate studies, Conner worked at the University of Texas at Austin Center for Sustainable Development, serving as graduate research associate for the university’s Public Interest Design/Build Program for three years. While at UT Austin, he also won a Design Excellence Award as well as the Blake Alexander and Richard Clark Traveling Student Fellowships with which he travelled to Europe to study and document new forms of advanced timber construction, craft and technologies.
Conner was born in Huntsville, Ala., and later graduated from Navarre High School in Florida, where he was a star athlete and honor student. His education included a Master of Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin, 2013; International Program, Technische Universität München, 2012; Bachelor of Design in Architecture, University of Florida, 2009; and the International Program, Vicenza Istituto di Architettura, 2009.
“The grief we feel over the loss of our friend Conner is shared by so many in the design community,” said Trey Trahan, FAIA, founder and CEO of Trahan Architects. “Conner touched our lives through his talent, his commitment to quality and his kind approach to colleagues and clients. It was my blessing to know him, and we will do our best to live up to his ideals.”
Brad McWhirter, AIA, partner at Trahan Architects, said, “In Conner’s own words written in his design portfolio, he believed that ‘architecture has the ability to positively impact and alter our perception and experience in our everyday lives.’ In looking back, it was Conner who had the ability to positively impact and alter our perception and experience in our everyday lives, and he will forever be remembered for that. How lucky we were to have him as a friend and a colleague.”
A private service will be held in Cullman, Ala. with Moss Service Funeral Home officiating. If you wish to honor Conner’s memory, his family asks that donations be made to the American Red Cross.
It is with tremendous sadness that we share news of the passing of our colleague James Conner Bryan, LEED AP, Associate AIA. Known to our community as Conner, he died peacefully in his sleep Feb. 3, 2021, at his home in New Orleans.
Conner was intelligent, thoughtful, a loyal friend, and an incredible talent in the field of architecture. He joined Trahan Architects in 2014 and became a leader in the firm’s sustainable design efforts. He embodied the firm’s ethos of kindness, collaboration and artistry. His experience included cultural and educational spaces, hospitality and commercial projects, convention and event centers, and master planning. Conner maintained a firm belief in design that provides smart and adaptive responses to human degradation on the environment: “Today we must ask ourselves: ‘How do we do more with much less?’.”
Conner was pivotal on numerous award-winning Trahan Architects projects, including Magazine Street Residence; College Station Boutique Hotel; New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau Renovation; Expo Georgia Convention Center and Master Plan; Aurora Event Center; The Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria – Arrival Garden and Moody Pavilions; New England Mixed-Use Development; and the Ochsner Center for Innovation. His current projects included an affordable housing development in Texas and a new chapel at Loyola University New Orleans.
In his past experience at Allied Works Architecture, Conner worked on the acclaimed net-zero Sokol Blosser Wine Tasting Room – the first winery in the United States to pursue the Living Building Challenge certification. During his graduate studies, Conner worked at the University of Texas at Austin Center for Sustainable Development, serving as graduate research associate for the university’s Public Interest Design/Build Program for three years. While at UT Austin, he also won a Design Excellence Award as well as the Blake Alexander and Richard Clark Traveling Student Fellowships with which he travelled to Europe to study and document new forms of advanced timber construction, craft and technologies.
Conner was born in Huntsville, Ala., and later graduated from Navarre High School in Florida, where he was a star athlete and honor student. His education included a Master of Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin, 2013; International Program, Technische Universität München, 2012; Bachelor of Design in Architecture, University of Florida, 2009; and the International Program, Vicenza Istituto di Architettura, 2009.
“The grief we feel over the loss of our friend Conner is shared by so many in the design community,” said Trey Trahan, FAIA, founder and CEO of Trahan Architects. “Conner touched our lives through his talent, his commitment to quality and his kind approach to colleagues and clients. It was my blessing to know him, and we will do our best to live up to his ideals.”
Brad McWhirter, AIA, partner at Trahan Architects, said, “In Conner’s own words written in his design portfolio, he believed that ‘architecture has the ability to positively impact and alter our perception and experience in our everyday lives.’ In looking back, it was Conner who had the ability to positively impact and alter our perception and experience in our everyday lives, and he will forever be remembered for that. How lucky we were to have him as a friend and a colleague.”
A private service will be held in Cullman, Ala. with Moss Service Funeral Home officiating. If you wish to honor Conner’s memory, his family asks that donations be made to the American Red Cross.
