Maria Simon

Maria Simon is the founder and principal of NomiLab Collaborative. With nearly 20 years of experience across the U.S. and abroad, she has built an intentional practice, one where she can bring her full design sensibility to every project from the first conversation to the last detail.

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Maria is a maker at heart. That instinct runs through everything she does, from her graduate research on the relationship between spatial tectonics and cognitive psychology, to her hands-on approach to materials and craft, and a growing side practice exploring making outside the boundaries of architecture. That same curiosity led her to the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture, where she stays connected to the research informing her work.

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Before founding NomiLab, Maria held design and project management roles at several prominent firms. She served as Site and Architectural Advisor for Hawaiʻi's pursuit of the Obama Presidential Center and participated in the subsequent design competition with Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects in New York City.

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Her work has contributed to several award-winning projects, including Warren Village III, a permanent supportive housing development in Denver that received the 2025 Eagle Award. She believes the true measure of a project is whether people feel their identity and aspirations reflected in the spaces they inhabit.

 

Outside of practice, Maria renovates her 100-year-old home, tries to keep plants alive, and spends as much time as possible in the mountains.