Plural Office is an architecture firm in Austin, Texas that designs structures nationwide.

Work
As a group of architects and researchers, we are committed to shifting paradigms by creating equitable and environmentally sensitive places, spaces, and cities. Our team has completed projects in Texas, Oklahoma, Washington, and Minnesota, and we're currently working on projects in Texas, Wisconsin, Missouri, New York State, and Kansas.
Built projects
Projects in process

Across our areas of expertise, we offer services in architecture, interior design, and sustainability consulting.

Process
Our process is ever-evolving, adapting to new inspirations, technologies, and contexts. We begin by listening, collaborating with our clients to envision possibilities for what their project can become. Early on, we establish core concepts and an ethos that will guide us, allowing the spirit of the project to remain legible from start to finish. We don’t believe in a standard approach but in refining a toolbox that facilitates iteration on complex design challenges. We sketch, research, model, debate, restart, and refine in search of clarity.

Alongside our construction projects, we research issues that affect and are affected by the built environment.

Research
Building structures with materials that capture carbon. Designing structures that maximize energy efficiency. The many points of ingress into conversations surrounding sustainability, and the myriad opportunities for the building industry to mitigate the climate emergency–these compose just a subset of the topics we're researching for our journal Perspectives. Whether we're investigating the environmental benefits of non-action or counting the virtues of cross-laminated timber, our research ensures our principles aren't just empty words–they're built into Plural architecture.

Plural’s built work stands as a testament to care and attention to detail. It’s also a reflection of our team's experience.

Team
Principals, founders, and licensed architects Josh Carel and Adelle York have lived and designed in cities young and old, on both coasts of the U.S. and a few places between. Their understanding of the technical intricacies of architecture, in conjunction with their sense of social and environmental responsibility, yields balance. They design structures that are resilient, both in the enduring quality of their construction and the value they bring to their communities. Director of Constructability Scott McDonald previously worked on a vast scale of award-winning structures, ensuring their feasibility at every step of the process, ultimately overseeing their translation into built work. He’s now doing the same for Plural projects in Texas, Minnesota, Kansas, and Wisconsin. Alex Daniel, a Texan who spent the better part of a decade teaching in Korea, reminds us that the practice of architecture is also a study in writing.

Josh Carel, AIA, CPHC

Partner, Director of Architecture

Josh Carel is a licensed architect in Texas, Arkansas, Idaho and Washington State and a Certified Passive House Consultant (CPHC). Prior to founding Plural Office, he lived and practiced in Tulsa, Seattle, and Boston and has a wide range of experience in context and project type. He holds a Graduate Certificate in Urban Sustainability from Harvard University, a Master of Architecture from the University of Washington, and Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Oklahoma. Josh co-taught Construction Methods and Materials at the University of Washington for several years and has been an invited design critic at the University of Texas, the University of Washington, Boston Architectural College and Wentworth Institute of Technology. He is a partner and leads the architecture division at Plural Office.

Adelle York, AIA

Partner, Director of Design

Adelle York is an urban researcher and architect licensed in Texas and Missouri. She holds degrees from the University of Oklahoma and the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where she focused on the relationship between large-scale ecological systems and cultural dynamics. Her approach to sustainability is holistic, understanding that creating healthy communities is just as vital as reducing carbon emissions. In more than one arena, her eye for design has won acclaim. She has guest lectured at the City University of New York (CUNY) on the history and practice of sustainability; won local and national awards for Low Impact Design and community empowerment proposals; taught design studios with the Harvard Design Discovery Program and the Art Institute of Seattle; and been an invited design critic at universities across the nation. At Plural Office, she is a partner and the leader of the research division.

Scott McDonald, Assoc. AIA

Director of Constructability

Scott McDonald joins us from Northwest Arkansas where he practices and runs Deft Construction. He holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the Fay Jones School Of Architecture, where he focused on furniture design and steel fabrication. He has managed the Fay Jones School of Architecture wood shop and led the construction division of the University of Arkansas design-build program. Prior to joining Plural Office, he was a design associate at Marlon Blackwell Architects and Brya Architecture, then transitioned into building custom homes for Insite Construction. Scott bridges the gap between functional design and construction; he finds his niche in producing constructable solutions to sophisticated architectural challenges. Scott is the Director of Constructability at Plural Office and leads our projects in Northwest Arkansas.