Shawn Ankeny, AIA

Landscape. Light. Tectonics. Dynamics at play in the architecture of Shawn Ankeny. Educated on the East Coast – at Middlebury College, then Harvard University – Shawn choose to root her experience in the Rocky Mountains, the land of iconic forms. Not one to compete with nature, she creates structures that achieve a rare balance: they are understated yet spectacular.   Her designs come together in dramatic lines and strong forms—beam by beam, steel to glass.

Consider the eloquent example of Fairway Estates: Each room, infused with light, becomes a carefully-composed threshold between outdoors and in. Her vision translates the coziness of a cabin into the spaciousness of modern life. Reflecting her client’s individualism, she embraces a diversity of architectural styles, grounded in her universal sense of space, functionality, comfort and refinement. She strives to create contextual, long-lasting works of architecture while working within the practical parameters of each project.

Like many design professionals, Shawn began her career in the city, working for The Stein Partnership and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners in New York. Summer stints in New Mexico and France instilled a familiarity with varied construction methods and historic preservation. Recruited West, she worked in Jackson for Carney Architects (now Carney Logan Burke Architects) for more than seven years. Bolstered by the profound experience of designing and building a house with her husband, Andy, also an architect, she ventured off on her own, opening Ankeny Architecture and Design in May 2005. Since starting her own firm, she has worked on a variety of projects ranging from new custom residential to downtown commercial renovations to new ranch constructions. Committed to community, she spent three years on the Teton County Planning Commission and now serves on the Teton County Historic Preservation Board. In practice and in person, Shawn exudes the inspired professionalism indigenous to Jackson Hole.