About Our Firm
The need for great architecture is stronger today than it has ever been. But the role of the architect has changed. It’s no longer enough to design beautiful buildings or change the silhouette of a city. Great architecture involves a deeper engagement with the people involved in creating a building, with the communities they will be a part of, and being a conduit between them all. It requires a broader knowledge of industries, technology and culture. It means being more attentive and more empathic, and preventing risk from falling through the cracks. Our designs become others’ futures. So, we don’t stop at design.
Both art and science, architecture is a practice that is never perfected. Instead, those of us dedicated to its craft know ours is a never-ending endeavor to design better, enduring solutions for the people who need them. And those needs are changing. Tomorrow’s answers will look different, but how we find them will always come from Architecture in Progress.
Declaration of Interdependence
We declare, as the professionals of Dekker, to continue to build and hold to a culture of interdependence. A company greater than the sum of its parts, we are more than a collection of people. Through greater respect and connection, we can build bonds with a broader team to raise projects whose scale is equal to that of our ambitions.
WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS EVER BEFORE US:
That relationships always eclipse projects,
That humility builds while prides breaks,
That the highest measure of success is the accomplishments of our clients,
That the spirit of entrepreneurship is vital and infectious,
That risk cannot be eliminated, must be calculated, and should be disclosed,
That innovation begins with a common language, and only when all voice are heard,
That function and form can and should co-exist,
That design has the power to heal and to harm,
That it is always about more than the building,
And that we are stronger together than apart.
A History of Progress
Art Dekker Architects was founded in 1959 by the father of current principal Dale Dekker. In 1998, Dekker Perich & Associates and Holmes Sabatini & Associates merged to become Dekker Perich Sabatini, which brought together multiple specialties under one roof. It was a revolutionary group of people suited to solve increasingly complex challenges. Today, Dekker is a collective of creatives, entrepreneurs, change agents, thinkers, dreamers, innovators, and technical experts. In 2024, we became a 100% employee-owned firm.
For more than 65 years, our clients’ challenges have grown, and thus, so has our team and our reach. Today, our offices span New Mexico, Arizona and Texas, each with a team of passionate and talented people intent on making the best impact possible on the neighborhoods they serve. We can’t predict the future, so we can’t tell you exactly what tomorrow will bring. But we do know it will include using architecture and design to help people experience the world differently.
