Ben Pennell

Co-Founder & Creative Director

Co-Founder & Creative Director

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Benjamin Pennell is the Co‑Founder and Creative Director of The Living Labs, LLC, and a Visiting Professor of Practice in the School of Architecture at Virginia Tech. A graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, he works at the intersection of architecture, sustainable urbanism, and multimedia arts. His portfolio spans experimental residential projects to multifamily housing, earning national recognition such as Architectural Record’s 2025 Design Vanguard award. Pennell’s leadership synthesizes design, science, and storytelling to create projects that are both aesthetically compelling and socially transformative.

/ Education

2019: M. ARCH Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA

2015: B. ARCH California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, CA

/ Recognition

2025: Design Vanguard Award – Architectural Record Magazine

2021: Nomination – World Architects’ Building of the Year, for 1011 2nd St

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Meet the Team