About
Who We Are
AE7 is a multi-disciplinary design firm built to be a global organization. Our practice transcends traditional borders, providing innovative approaches to evolving challenges. We succeed through structuring our practice differently through the principles we apply, the markets we reach, the cultures we intimately know, and the solutions we ultimately offer. This character informs a design approach largely unrestrained by conventional limitations. The breadth of knowledge we draw upon for services ranging from concept through construction is as diverse as our workforce, reflecting our collective transnational imagination. We operate as partners to our clients for each project, providing comprehensive services and flexible solutions that ensure development potential that exceeds expectations. Across the globe, AE7 is comprised of architects, landscape designers, planners, engineers, visualization specialists, and project managers who offer an unparalleled range of services.
Approach
Creative vision, strategic thinking, and ambitious solutions are at the core of our practice.
Value-added: Linking Design and Business Feasibility
We combine planning and design expertise with financial modeling, development consulting, and visualization to empower our clients to make informed, strategic decisions. Along with this holistic approach, we bring creative vision and inspiration to every project, cultivating beautiful, unexpected, and enduring experiential designs. Our unconventional approach helps us think beyond the scope of a project to maximize value from multiple standpoints and enable our clients to capitalize on every opportunity that we make possible.
Tailored Solutions, Global Scale
We are a truly international firm uniquely positioned to address global challenges. Hailing from over forty countries, our staff reflects the diversity of our global communities and brings an array of cultural knowledge and expertise to each project. Our teams’ background and experiences intermix to create design solutions grounded in unique global perspectives, tailored to the individual localized needs of the client.
While having access to the resources of a global firm, AE7 embodies a small-practice’s sense of shared purpose. This combination gives us the benefit of supplying each of our clients with the knowledge and specialties of a robust corporation while maintaining the swift adaptability and shared investment in outcomes of a tight-knit workplace.
Team-based Creative Process
Whether collaborating virtually or in-person, our globally diverse team members develop long-standing creative relationships unrestricted by geography. By embracing our cultural and experiential diversity we learn from each other, enhance design ideas, and fuse innovative solutions. From junior designers to principals, each individual has an opportunity to contribute their unique insight to the process. With this sense of diverse collaboration driving our practice, AE7 has built a business that reflects our values and creative passions.
Our Story
AE7’s North American practice combines global perspectives and local know-how to create innovative projects at all scales. As our first US-based office, AE7 Pittsburgh formed in 2014 when one of the firm’s founders, Jeff Wetzel, expanded the practice in Dubai by returning to his hometown and the place where his design career began. These roots define our culture, instilling a spirit of local pride and history within a firm that is deeply invested in bringing together the regional and the global. This is also the mentality that guides us as we take root in other cities and regions around the country.
Our Culture
From interns to principals, everyone on our North American team contributes their insight and creativity to each project, cultivating an environment that encourages inclusivity and collaboration. We believe mentorship works both ways and are dedicated to elevating each other as individuals and members of a diverse team. While our US offices continue to grow — with outposts now opening in cities around the country — we pride ourselves on having a “small studio” feel, where close relationships are forged and creativity flows freely.
