Moody Nolan

Moody Nolan is a Columbus, Ohio architecture firm founded in 1982 and the largest African American-owned architecture practice in the United States. The firm designs healthcare, higher-education, civic, sports, and housing projects nationwide, with a strong record in public and institutional work. Moody Nolan is serving as architect of record on the Cincinnati Downtown Marriott convention hotel, working alongside design architect Cooper Carry on the 700-room tower. Known for a legacy housing initiative that designs and donates a home to a family in need each year, the firm pairs a large institutional practice with a community-minded reputation built over four decades.

Moody Nolan started in Columbus, Ohio, in 1982, when Curtis J. Moody opened his own architecture office. It has since become the largest African American-owned and operated architecture firm in the United States, with more than 350 people working out of twelve offices around the country.

The practice combines architecture, interior design and experiential design into a single integrated approach, and it applies that across a wide span of building types: civic, education, healthcare, housing, commercial, retail, recreation, sports and cultural institutions. The firm frames its work as placemaking rather than form-making, using the built environment to connect people to one another and to their communities.

That philosophy has drawn national recognition. In 2021 the American Institute of Architects gave Moody Nolan its Architecture Firm Award, the institute’s highest honor for a practice, making it the first African American-owned firm to receive it. The company’s headquarters remain in Columbus, the city where the firm began.