About Us

—  We are a San Antonio based architecture firm who believe in context-sensitive, sustainable design that strengthens and benefits communities.


Our Mission

Since the firm's humble beginnings, our dedication has been rooted in the sense of community and our role as architects has been to collaboratively work with our clients on projects that strengthen and benefit the community. We are more than an architecture firm, we are a family of specialists, specifically chosen to bring a unique set of skills and expertise to every project we touch. We find that this approach allows us to better foster our mission of: 

 

DESIGNING COMMUNITY


Our History

Our firm was established in 1982 by Lewis Fisher and Jim Heck. The two met while working for famed Texas firm O'Neil Ford in the 1970's and eventually joined forces to form their own firm to focus more on religious institutions and revitalizing historic districts across Texas. After 30+ years of nationally recognized projects, Fisher Heck’s leadership has transitioned to three of the firm's principals: Marc Johnson, David Hannan Jr, and Mark Navarro. The three new partners will continue the firm's focus on religious institutions and revitalizing historic properties within urban and rural settings, while also establishing a significant presence within the educational sector.   


We are a full service architecture design firm located in San Antonio, Texas. We are recognized for our extensive experience and expertise in the following project types:

 

Religious

Historic Preservation, Restoration & Rehabilitation

Higher Education

Civic

Urban Development

Adaptive Reuse

Commercial

Museums

Interiors

Residential

 

Fisher Heck is a certified Small Business Enterprise (SBE) and is a proud member of several local, regional and national organizations. These include the American Institute of Architects, Texas Society of Architects, Partners for Sacred Places, Keep San Antonio Beautiful, Society for Design Administration, Preservation Texas, Downtown Alliance San Antonio, San Antonio Conservation Society and Texas Public Radio.

Our Experience


Our Core Values

We believe in context-sensitive, sustainable design that respects the land, its natural features and surrounding entities. When you work with us, you will not find any preconceived notions or aesthetic criteria your project must conform to. We do not design for ourselves, but rather for our clients and the community they live in, work in, play in, learn in and pray in. We also understand people will probably never recognize our buildings because we don’t have a particular style. It is not about us. It is about who our clients are and we want to design buildings that are unique to them. This entails that our most important quality must be to listen intently to our clients in order to draw out of them the deeper meaning of what they want or need, beyond just the numbers. We recognize our responsibility in transforming communities, businesses and personal success in the most positive way forward with each and every project we take on. 


Our Process

For over 30 years, we have made listening our highest focus with every one of our projects, regardless of size or budget. Our clients are more like partners and with each partnership, clear communication remains the foundation for it’s success. Each of our projects is unique and often times require a custom approach to collaboration and idea sharing throughout the length of the project. We highly encourage client participation and collaboration from start to finish, which has resulted in many of our clients being repeat clients.

 

Within the office, we utilize 3D software along with Building Information Modeling (BIM) to better communicate our designs to our clients as well as our consultants and colleagues. Furthermore, we hold inter-office design review presentations at least once a month to give everyone in the firm a chance to weigh in on projects currently in the schematic phase - beer with chips and salsa helps as well!

The construction industry is always changing in relation to materials and methods of construction. In order to stay up to date with these trends, we invite specialists within the construction industry to our office for bi-monthly Lunch 'N Learn presentation. These presentations can range from door hardware to custom curtain-wall systems and everything in between.

 

When a project finishes, we like to have the project manager for that project present to the office on lessons learned, what worked and what did not, and what were some unique aspects to the project. This is also sometimes followed up with an office site visit to the finished project. This approach helps our firm strive to always be improving and innovating with every new project.


Our Community


Our Founders


Our Services

Planning

Site Master Planning

Facility Master Planning

Programming

Site Analysis & Selection

Space Planning

Feasibility Studies

Marketing Concepts & Materials

Cost Estimating

Phasing

Urban Renewal & Revitalization Planning

Architecture

Conceptual Design

Schematic Design

Design Development

Construction Documents

Bidding & Negotiation

Construction Administration

Record Drawings

Interior Design

Building Relocation 

Special Furnishings Design

BIM Modeling

3D Visualization Rendering

Specification Writing

Sustainable Design

Urban Design

LEED Certification & Documentation

Consulting

Building Forensics

Grant Writing Assistance

Historic Structures Reports

Materials Research

Code Analysis

Accessibility Evaluation, Studies and Design

HABS Documentation

National Register Nominations

Design Guidelines for Historic Districts

Post Construction Evaluation

Furniture Selection

Historic Preservation Tax-Credit Project Certification

Contractor Selection Assistance


Employment

We are always on the lookout for talented designers, architects, and interns who have a passion for community-focused design across various project typologies. All applicants should have experience with Autodesk, Adobe and Microsoft software products. We value candidates that are detail oriented and take great care in all aspects of their work. If you are interested in joining the Fisher Heck team, please send us a your resume and cover letter in digital form. If a position is available at that time, we will contact you for an interview.