Francesca Renouard - AIA Seattle

I AM AIA

Francesca Renouard PE, SE

I am a structural engineer, born and raised in Seattle, with a particular passion for existing buildings. I grew up in a family of architects focused on historic preservation: much of my childhood was spent working on my parents’ restoration projects in their hometowns in Montana and Itay. I have worked for the past 12 years at SSF Engineers focusing primarily on adaptive reuse, historic preservation, and seismic retrofit projects. My lifelong goal is to preserve and protect Seattle’s unique historic buildings for future generations to use and experience.

I joined AIA Seattle because…

I care deeply about the A/E/C community. I come from a family of architects (both my parents, my aunt, my sister, and my brother-in-law are architects), and, by default, much of my extended family and friends are also architects. As a structural engineer, AIA provides valuable opportunities to stay connected with the broader architectural community and stay up to date with the latest codes and technologies that have cross-discipline impacts.

I was drawn to architecture as a profession because…

I was highly influenced by my childhood upbringing to appreciate the built environment and the ways that buildings can impact user experience, however I had a strong affinity to my math and science classes. Structural engineering felt like the perfect fit for an analytical person who wanted to work on buildings.

I explain what I do for a living to family or at a party as…

Providing the bones that hold a building up – the skeleton that’s not always visible but provides necessary strength and support. I like to say that I help make the architect’s dream come true.

How has my community helped me get where I am?

I have been blessed with fantastic mentors who have challenged me and provided opportunities to make connections with many exceptional cross-industry colleagues and to work on many iconic PNW buildings. These opportunities started early, specifically when I was a high school junior and got to job shadow Dan Say at SSF. I eventually came back to SSF as an intern during my junior and senior years at UW. During that time I got to work on the Alaska State Capitol building renovation and was also taught how to design a new single family residence from start to finish. These examples of being challenged to work on projects that expanded my knowledge have continued throughout my career and eventually evolved to managing projects, becoming a mentor myself, and becoming more involved with the A/E/C community beyond the office, working with organizations such as Historic Seattle, the Seattle URM program, and King County Landmarks. I have felt encouraged and welcomed every step of the way.