Daniela Holt Voith, FAIA, ASID, IIDA, LEED AP BD+C, is a founding principal of Voith & Mactavish Architects and our director of design. Holding degrees from Yale University School of Architecture and Bryn Mawr College, Daniela has dedicated her career to promoting the advancement of design for educational environments. Her client-focused practice supports leading edge pedagogical thought and encourages mindful ways of living and learning. Daniela has developed a method of practice that moves fluidly from planning initiatives to building design. Her many long-term relationships with educational institutions result in designs that carefully suit her clients’ missions, reflect their architectural identities, and assist in achieving their strategic goals. She is also consistently looking for ways for her projects to be sustainable in innovative ways. Her work has received numerous national and local accolades.

Daniela is also an educator. Since the early 1980’s she has taught at Yale University as a TA, University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University, and has developed and taught Bryn Mawr College’s design studio program. She often serves on juries for professional awards in architectural design and construction quality, as well as serving on academic reviews.

Daniela has also consistently sought out opportunities to make a positive impact in her community. Mayor Michael Nutter appointed her to serve on the city’s award-winning 2008 Zoning Code Commission, which revised the city’s 50-year-old code. Daniela is currently President of the Institute for Classical Architecture & Art – Philadelphia Chapter; Director of the Carpenter’s Company of Philadelphia; and Board Member of the Design Leadership Foundation, whose mission is to ensure a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the fields of architecture and design.

Daniela loves to travel, bike, and ride trains. This is facilitated by her ability to speak French and German. This love for exploration – so far having visited over fifty countries and territories – is physically expressed in her collection of early 20th century lithograph train posters. Other joys in Daniela’s life include her family, basketball, cooking and playing the recorder.