Studio
OUR ROOTS
In 2005, after working at Emily Little Architects (founded by Emily Little, FAIA, in 1983) for four years, Paul Clayton bought the firm and co-founded Clayton & Little. Over the next 15 years as principal, Paul grew a five-person architecture firm into an interdisciplinary design firm with offices in two cities, and a team of more than 40 full-time professionals including architects, designers, and staff. Having strengthened the firm’s core capability with a mix of hospitality, restaurant, retail, and other commercial work, Paul expanded the firm’s offer to incorporate Interior Design and Experience Design.
Brian Korte, FAIA, joined the firm in 2015 and leads the San Antonio studio. Paul named Brian along with Sam Manning, AIA; Nathan Quiring, AIA; and George Wilcox, AIA, partners in 2016. In February of 2020, Brian was elevated to The College of Fellows of The American Institute of Architects. In October of the same year, Clayton & Little changed its name to Clayton Korte to signal a change in firm leadership, ownership, and design direction. Though the firm’s name changed, its focus remains on creating layered, rich places that celebrate their environment and exalt the human experience at the intersection of architecture, interiors, authenticity, and craft.
STUDIOS
Clayton Korte’s “one office, two doors” spirit is made manifest with offices in Austin and San Antonio, Texas. Our Austin studio is located in the renovated Balcones Building (circa 1964), a steel-framed brick-infill structure originally built as a speculative office. The two-story structure is set into a hillside abutting one of Austin’s principal thoroughfares and overlooks Pease Park, Austin’s first park. Clayton Korte occupies studios on both levels and shares studio space with Word + Carr Design Group, a landscape architecture firm. With a staff of 28, including architects, interior designers, creatives, marketing, and accounting staff, the makeup is quite diverse. The dynamic growth of Austin into one of the nation’s most desirable places to live inspires our growing interdisciplinary team and informs projects of all scales across a variety of typologies.
Opened in 2015, our San Antonio studio is in the heart of downtown on a quiet stretch of the iconic San Antonio Riverwalk. Known as the Green Gate Building, this little downtown jewel is wedged between the Exchange Building and the Original Blanco Café and connects us to the city’s urban fabric and the river. With a rich and colorful history, the Green Gate was once a burlesque, subsequently resurrected as a Christian night club, and served a variety of mixed office settings until Clayton Korte renovated the two-level light-filled space. Our open office environment is walkable to nearby restaurants, coffee shops, and several of the firm’s active urban projects. Nearly half of our 12-person staff either bikes or walks to the office each day.
LIFE AT CLAYTON KORTE
At Clayton Korte, we believe great ideas can come from anyone — regardless of their level of experience. Our open studio environment situates senior staff right alongside junior staff. All are encouraged to contribute to design excellence and are granted opportunities to swing hard at high profile projects. The firm fosters a culture of design excellence and an ethos of constant improvement through professional development, mentorship, and other means of growth.
Outside our studio walls, members of our staff are encouraged to engage in a variety of civic-focused activities to foster connection with local communities. Staff members are involved with charitable organizations including the Nature Conservancy, Meals on Wheels, area food banks, and holiday gift drives benefiting children, and professional endeavors like Women in Architecture, TxA and AIA Design Awards Committees. Every year, Clayton Korte donates a portion of our billable time to non-profit work benefitting such organizations as the Women in Architecture Foundation.
INTERNSHIPS
Clayton Korte’s internship program provides three to six-month positions to students and recent graduates at both studio locations. Students are integrated into the firm’s design practice, and receive mentorship and experience on active architecture and interiors projects. Interns are exposed to a variety of experiences from digital or physical model-making to visualizations, and assist project teams at various design phases. Fluency in Revit, Enscape, SketchUp, and Adobe Suite is preferred. The higher the skill level an intern brings, the quicker they can be in integrated to specific project teams.
We fill internships for summer in March of each year. To be considered for a summer internship, please submit your cover letter, resume, and digital work sample (max. 10 MB) by the end of February to careers@claytonkorte.com.
