Meet Tamara Layman | Architectural Interior Designer, NCIDQ, ASSOC. AIA

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tamara Layman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tamara, what matters most to you?
What I believe in most is pursuing a beautiful, ordinary, life-well-lived. It is a practice about which I continually center myself and my work as an architectural and interior designer. I first became familiar with the idea during architectural graduate school about 20 years ago. While studying for my master’s degree in Architecture at CU Denver I enrolled in a course named “Architecture and the Ultimate Concern” taught by George Hoover who was an accomplished Colorado-based architect and an inspirational professor. Ultimate concern is a phrase that sums up one of the most important universal human conditions: that we are existential beings (think: carpe diem) most profoundly worried about what constitutes a good life. What is good after all and how do we reach it? How does it relate to the built environment and our roles as designers? We deliberated a brief history of philosophy and my Aristotelian-based foundation became clear to me: Good is the activity of pursuing happiness, over the course of an entire lifespan, by deliberately planning, building, and achieving all the truly good things, like knowledge, friendship, health, wealth of experience, and appreciation of art – for the enrichment of our ordinary lives. Pursuing a life-well-lived, in this sense, has very little to do with gross self-indulgence, fame and popularity. Rather, truly good things are attainable by anyone who works toward them, and their achievement elevates both the individual and the universal human condition. So, design should always help people do this. As architectural designers, working at every scale from large urban planning to intimate personal surroundings such as the home, this ultimate concern should be our guiding principle.

My background is here in Colorado and I am the fourth generation to call the area home, although my dad lived my whole life in New York City where I have often enjoyed the bustle of humanity, its arts, food, and culture. Although I love to travel nationally and internationally, my attachment to family and friends here along with my love of hometown Boulder has rooted me permanently. Living here against the natural backdrop of the striking wild mountains, contrasted with my visits back east into the pulse of the city, has resulted in a spectrum of inspirations that are deeply influential upon my continuing personal and professional growth. Some examples: the experience of nature and that of art can produce the same profound effect upon me, and although I have near obsession for natural materials, traditional techniques, and handcrafted things, I am also greatly impressed by new technologies and innovative ideas. My husband, who has worked in the wine industry for nearly all 24 years of our marriage, has imprinted a deep love of food-culture too. Before architectural school, I earned a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts and Humanities with an emphasis on sculpture and art history from the University of Colorado, Boulder. I am grateful to have been raised and lived so long in a place of such natural beauty, supported by so many genuinely wonderful people, and to be inspired by the vast abundance of beautiful-ordinary life.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I am co-founding partner of KATA by Design, a boutique residential design practice based in Boulder Colorado. We work to seamlessly integrate architecture and interior design to accomplish a wholistic vision for each client project. At the heart, we believe that good design elevates a life-well-lived. My co-founding partner, Kay Galligan, and I have been close friends and colleagues for over 20 years and first met while studying architecture together as grad students. With backgrounds in residential, hospitality, and commercial design, our experience spans a wide range of styles. Within the KATA practice, however, we are focused mostly on homes – renovations and new builds – that benefit from our dual specialties of architecture and interior design. Many of these collaborations also consider our passion for environmentally conscious, place-based design solutions.

Homes are vessels. Within their walls we can cultivate the activities that promote continual growth and well-being. The idea of home as vitally important to elevating the human experience is deep-rooted in the design philosophy. A thoughtfully designed home enhances our ability to embrace a meaningful, mindful, and sustainable lifestyle where we may slow down, connect to loved ones, retreat in private sanctity, and explore curiosities. From new homes to small renovations, our collaborative process begins by delving into the site and then into the everyday details of how each client hopes to experience essential activities like nourishment, connection, and relaxation. We ask lots of questions! It is delightful to discover the uniqueness and sameness of each client’s vision. What we discover together simultaneously becomes the “ground” upon which we build a design concept and our North-star as we intentionally craft a home that feels authentically suited to its inhabitant and its place. We pair our wealth of expertise, both professional and personal, to apply a compelling perspective to the architectural and interior design solution presented. I know that we have found success when harmony between client and site is achieved.

We established the company 2 years ago shortly after being personally impacted by the Marshall fire that devastated our local community. Prior to the fire, as a team, we were producing a too-full roster of client projects for another firm and felt spread thin and out-of-touch with our sources of inspirations. Living very near the devastation caused each of us to reflect upon the delicate relationship between our personal well-being and the quality impact upon our work. Our true ambition is to curate spaces that support a good life; that is the achievement of all the fundamentals for a beautiful, ordinary, life-well-lived. We realized we, ourselves, must be able to strive for health, friendship, developing knowledge, and appreciation of art and culture in order to guide a client project toward these same goals. Our shared vision ignited our efforts to form KATA by Design.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Of course, I suggest the art venues: BMoCA, DAM (also for amazing example of Libeskind architecture), MCA Denver, and the Kirkland Museum.

While in Denver, go eat at Rioja. Just do it – beautiful, delicious.

Attend a class at Studio Arts Boulder – I was a board member for many years and am very excited to see their new facility open soon.

Be sure to take in an independent film at The Dairy and cruise their gallery.

Oysters and bubbles at Brasserie Ten-Ten which, thankfully, has reopened after a long Covid-shutdown.

Take a night-drive (or day-drive) up Flagstaff or Sunshine Canyon to see the lights or the view – it is a must.

If going up Sunshine Canyon, possibly stop at the historic Gold Hill Inn, where in the summer you can either dine indoors or enjoy live bluegrass in the Beer Garden.

Do tapas hour at DaGabi Cucina and check in on our dear friends who are the owners.

Maybe take in music at Chautauqua or the historic Boulder Theater.

Visit downtown Louisville for its charm and eat pickles at Waterloo!

Hike! For sure. Chautauqua is always an excellent choice, of course, for someone who has never visited Boulder.

Or head for Estes Park and see the spectacular beauty of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Or nix all the above and go for a week-long back-pack trip in our amazing wilderness areas.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Although I have a well-spring of family and friends who deserve tons of credit for my success, I would like to give huge accolades to the group of women who worked side-by-side with me through architectural graduate school and then over these past 20+ years as colleagues professionally, including topmost my business partner Kay Galligan and my former closest collaborator Natasha Clews. There are 7 of us that connect often to offer each other friendship, knowledge, and resources; the first 5 remain in Colorado as designers and creators: Kay Galligan | Architect Co-founder at KATA by Design, Natasha Clews | President at LaNapoule Art Foundation, Emily Adams | Architect and Founder at NeoEra, Brendan Ash | Bray Architecture, Jaime S McDonald | Architect at Studio 646. Ray Brand | Architect & Sr. Interior Designer at CID Design Group is located in Portland, OR and Kate Arnest | Architect and Principal at Arnest Architecture LLC is located in Dallas County, Iowa. Alongside each other we have grown successful in architectural design, a field which is still lacking an equal presence of women in leadership roles.

Website: https://www.katabydesign.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kata.by.design/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamara-layman/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KATAbyDesign