DON RUGGLES

As CEO Emeritas of Ruggles Mabe Studio, Don Ruggles has been responsible for more than 1,000 projects and managed construction budgets totaling in excess of $6 billion. Project locations have spanned from the Denver area to across the United States and multiple foreign countries. Don has spent extensive time studying architecture in Europe and Asia and brings a traditional sensibility to his work. Under his direction, the firm has developed a design process that blends time honored styles with the unique aspects of each site and the visions held by the client.

His work has received multiple Home of the Year awards and has been featured in Traditional Home, Colorado Homes & Lifestyles, LUXE, The Aspen Times, The Rocky Mountain News, The Denver Post, The Denver Business Journal and The Wall Street Journal. In 2014, the firm was honored by the Oxford Preservation Trust for work on a historic townhome in Oxford, England.

Don graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Architecture and is licensed to practice in Colorado, Texas, Utah, Illinois and Wyoming. Don served as president and chairman of the board of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA) for seven years and is currently emeritus to the board of directors. He also serves on the advisory boards for the University of Colorado Denver, College of Architecture & Planning (UCD CAP); the Human Architecture Planning Institute (HAPI); and the Building Beautiful Institute.

Don has spent the past 50 years committed to the design of space including studies outside the private practice with a focus on classical and traditional design. He recently wrote the book “Beauty, Neuroscience & Architecture,” which investigates how timeless forms and patterns in architecture and design affect our health and well-being. The book won an Independent Publisher Book’s (IPPY) Bronze Medal and is being made into a full-length documentary featuring more than 20 professionals from around the world detailing the important role beauty plays in our lives. The movie, titled “Built Beautiful,” is due to premier on national public television in 2021.

Don is a past member of the international Design Leadership Network, has served on the national ICAA juries for the Ross Awards and the Alma Shapiro Awards. He recently served as a juror on the Colorado AIA CARE Awards and has been a guest lecturer at the UCD CAP, where he has frequently served as a juror for student projects. Don was honored to be the first architect inducted into the Colorado Homes & Lifestyles “Circle of Excellence” and he was awarded the ICAA Rocky Mountain Chapter’s Clinton Family Fund Medal for continuous service dedicated to the advancement of traditional architecture in the Rocky Mountain region.

Don’s interests are classical piano, art and all sports. He is married with two grown children and three grandchildren.