STG Design is an architecture, interiors and planning firm founded in 1976 and based in Austin, with further offices in Houston, Nashville and Phoenix. The initials come from the firm’s earlier name, Susman Tisdale Gayle, which its LinkedIn page still carries. STG works on corporate offices, commercial high-rises, multifamily, hospitality, science and technology space, schools, public buildings, industrial projects and healthcare. In Houston it designed O27, a 32-story, roughly 520,000-square-foot office tower that Broadview Real Estate unveiled in October 2026 for 4701 Westheimer Road near River Oaks District. The design has a curving shape, a penthouse crown and a planted terrace above a nine-story parking deck. No groundbreaking date or equity partner has been announced.
The LinkedIn page still carries the old name, Susman Tisdale Gayle. The practice dates to 1976, and Jim Susman, FAIA remains chief executive — half a century of continuity in a market that has reshaped itself several times over in that period.
STG Design is employee-owned and works from four offices, each fronted by a named principal: Jim Stephenson in Austin, Kelli Straub in Nashville, Jeff Ervin in Houston, and Alexandra Ayres as managing principal in Phoenix. Firmwide, Will Gresham directs architecture and Straub directs interiors, with an Austin-specific interiors director alongside.
The practice is organized by named groups with designated leads — high rise, industrial, multifamily, hospitality, higher education, corporate and commercial, and K-12. Eight services sit across them, including some that are often bolted on elsewhere: strategic planning and analytical services, design technology, sustainability and resilience consulting, construction phase services and quality assurance.
Sustainability staffing is unusually specific. There is a director of sustainability, Yuki Gottschaldt, plus two separate sustainability leads and a dedicated design technology lead — which means the firm’s commitment as an AIA 2030 Challenge signatory has named people behind it rather than a policy page.
Corporate and technology clients include Oracle’s Waterfront Campus, Indeed at The Domain, BAE Systems, 3M and National Veterinary Associates. Higher education covers the University of Arizona Recreation and Wellness Center and Honors Village, and Welch Hall and the Gates Dell Complex at the University of Texas.
Austin’s adaptive-reuse history runs through the portfolio too — the Seaholm Power Plant redevelopment and Seaholm Residences, Thinkery, and The Junior League of Austin. International work comes through the Box series in London, Warsaw and Chicago.
Community partnerships named on the firm’s own pages are long-running rather than one-off: Thinkery, Community First! Village, Boys & Girls Clubs, Meals on Wheels and The Trail Foundation.
Project filters on the site span eleven expertise areas, including science and technology, healthcare, industrial and non-profit work — a wider range than the high-rise and multifamily reputation suggests.
