Meet Courtney St. John!

Courtney’s journey to architecture began through hardship. As a teen growing up in Paulding, Ohio, she experienced the loss of her family home. Though a difficult experience, her love of architecture was kindled as she watched the process of restoration through drawings of how their new home would look. The lessons she learned through watching her family home be built from the ground up set Courtney on a path to pursue a degree in Architecture.

While studying at The Ohio State University, Courtney had the opportunity to study abroad in seven different countries all around Europe. Her passion for architecture was reignited as she studied the unique architecture. She enhanced her sketching abilities and returned home filled with gratitude for the learning experience.

During her undergraduate studies, Courtney and a group of her peers hosted an event that brought local, state, and national level professionals together for a three-day symposium, centered around Women in Design. She loved the opportunity to showcase the importance of females in a male-dominated industry.

Courtney went on to pursue her Master of Architecture at the University of Tennessee. She was awarded the Extraordinary Professional Promise Award. This award is only given to one student every year, and our girl got it!

Her favorite project during school was completed during her master’s degree, called Filament Tower. It is a 30’ tall tower made of a 3D printed base and 27 carbon fiber wound components. The tower explores computational

design and robotic fabrication of lightweight structures. Courtney was instrumental in this project, where she had the opportunity to coordinate the printing of the 3D bases at ORNL and help write the majority of the syntax for the pattern of the components themselves. Similar to her childhood home, the same satisfaction came with watching one of her full build projects come to life.

Courtney loves to push the boundaries of design while incorporating new and developing technologies. This led to Comma being the perfect fit. She’s excited for her professional career to take off while working and contributing to the growth and design that encompasses Comma Designworks.

When she isn’t designing sick buildings, you can find Courtney playing volleyball, being outdoors, or trying new beers at her local breweries. She also enjoys spending time with her boyfriend, Matt, and her two pups. Their favorite spot to visit is the beach and letting the pups play in the water and sand.