ELS is pleased to welcome Sean Slater, AIA as our Director of Retail and Mixed-Use. Sean joins ELS after spending the past sixteen years practicing architecture and urban design in Austin and Atlanta. He has devoted much of his career to creating memorable and sustainable spaces for a variety of regionally sensitive styles, climates and demographics. Sean has been an integral leader and team member on domestic and international mixed-use developments which blended large format retail with small shops, food services, department stores, civic functions, housing, hospitality, office and educational facilities with integrated parking, transit and pedestrian access. Sean earned his professional degree in architecture from the University of Texas at Austin and is a registered architect and an active member of the Urban Land Institute and ICSC.

Diana Hayton, AIA, LEED AP BD+C has been promoted to Associate Principal to help strengthen our historic and adaptive reuse market sector leadership, and to bring critical senior management skills to our project delivery process. Diana’s contributions to the ELS portfolio include the California Theatre in San Jose, the Historic Old Administration Building in Fresno, the Oakland Fox Theatre, Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco, the Downtown Berkeley YMCA, and the expansion and renovation of the former McDonald’s Olympic Swim Stadium at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She attended Cornell University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering. She also earned a Master of Architecture degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Diana is registered to practice architecture in the state of California.

Ryan Call has been promoted to Senior Associate to assist with our leadership expansion in the area of retail and urban design. Ryan has collaborated on numerous projects at ELS including the Sunnyvale Downtown Master Plan, the Las Montanas Marketplace Master Plan in Indio, the City of Fort Collins Midtown Commercial Study in Colorado, and the Mueller Town Center Master Plan near Austin. He attended Washington State University where he earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree. Ryan is registered to practice architecture in the state of California and is an active member of the Urban Land Institute. Ryan is also committed to supporting our local community through his leadership role with Berkeley Design Advocates.

We are pleased to welcome Connie Nitta Curtis, AIA back to the firm as Associate Principal. With more than 30 years of experience, she serves as a senior project manager, a mentor and senior technical resource specialist for the firm. She has managed some of ELS’s most significant mixed-use projects, including Pioneer Place, Block 50, a 210,000-square-foot retail and entertainment center in Portland, Oregon, and Village of Merrick Park, a 400,000-square-foot shopping center in Coral Gables, Florida. She recently completed work on the NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE, a 7,100-seat entertainment venue in Los Angeles, California. Connie received a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1978. She is licensed to practice architecture in California and is a member of the American Institute of Architects.

We are pleased to announce that Diana Banh has joined our firm as our new Marketing and Communications Manager. Diana has eight years of experience in marketing, communications, and public relations within the architecture industry in the Bay Area. In her new role, she will be responsible for executing the firm’s marketing, communications, and social media platforms, as well as serve as the firm’s media contact. She will work closely with the firm’s principals and associates in marketing, strategic planning, client relationship management, project pursuits, and communications/ publicity for the firm. Diana received her Master’s degree in design strategy – with a focus on urban design and placemaking – from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s School of Design in 2010, and holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, San Diego. She is a member of SMPS and SPUR.