Studio
Taproot Studio is a residential and commercial building design practice based in Dallas, Texas. Our studio is dedicated to the art of customizing buildings and spaces for each client and their unique context.
We approach building design from the outside in, seeking opportunities to connect people to places and to one another with great design. Working together with a team of trusted consultants, we guide the progression of our clients' projects from the first idea board, through permitting and construction to the final landscape installation. We make it our job to ensure that all of our custom home and commercial projects are realized as envisioned and designed. We believe that within the parameters of every project, great design is achievable.
Each of our projects emphasize the discovery and use of unique, added value design elements as a means of maximizing both the client experience in our spaces and the long term real estate asset value.
Services
Read more about our feasibility studies, introductory conversations, full design, construction documentation (blueprints) and construction administration services by clicking here.
Our portfolio of modern and contemporary homes can be found on the residential page. Our commercial portfolio highlights past collaborations with Dallas architects of high acclaim along with a number of international design firm collaborations and architecture competitions won by our studio.
Founder of Taproot Studio, Blake received a bachelor's degree in architecture from The School of Architecture at Oxford Brookes, Oxford, UK. He then returned to the U.S. to work as an apprentice in the Master of Architecture program at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture in Scottsdale, AZ. During that time, Blake began to focus his attention on design oriented around the connection between landscape and buildings.
After spending a year as an apprentice, Blake transferred back to his home state of Texas to acquire his masters degree in architecture from Texas A&M University and build his studio.
Blake Smith
As project design manager, Christopher brings a broad range of expertise in design and construction to project design and execution in the field as a built product.
Chris has a bachelor's degree in architecture from Georgia Tech. and a masters degree in architecture from Rice University. Before joining Taproot Studio, Chris provided nearly a decade of service supervising the construction of high tech concrete structures and providing design build services for boutique scale architectural works with various offices throughout Texas and Georgia.
Christopher Ball
Emily has been with Taproot Studio since its inception as Blake's partner in life as well as business. She has always played an important role as a sounding board and outside eye on projects, but after running her own small business for years, she came on in an official capacity in 2020. As business development manager, she supports the firm's growth and smooth operation by overseeing the financial, marketing, policy development, and accounting aspects of the firm.
Emily Savage
Recognition
Blake has completed a number of award winning projects around the world with residential architects, commercial and planning firms, and in independent practice.
+ Jamsil Sports, Convention, and Retail Complex competition in Seoul, Korea. 2nd prize from a field of several hundred firms was awarded to Blake and his two colleagues, along with the invitation to a final invited stage competition for the re-design of the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, Korea along with the other top 6 firms.
Jury Comment: "The project produces a very well organized design approach connecting the architectural shapes to various outdoor spaces of artificial landscape architecture and indoor programs. It also produces polished architectural gestures with various urban activities and site plan considering urban context where major buildings including hotel and convention are placed close to the subway station."
+ Interpolation: Affordable Housing Complex in Rijeka, Croatia with Zoka Zola Architecture. Blake provided concept design and design development services for the international competition winning proposal by Zoka Zola Architecture. This award resulted in the construction of the 80 unit, 4 garage complex on a heavily wooded site overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
+ Plenitude Master Plan, Khourigba, Morocco, in collaboration with Pliny Fisk, Director of CMPBS. This proposal won a mention in the Institue for Advanced Architecture, Catalonia (IAAC) City Sense Competition resulting in the publication of the project by the IAAC in the book City Sense, Shaping our Environment with Real Time Data.
Other notable project involvement includes:
+ Design team contributions to international competition winning Jining Master Plan Project while working as a project designer at Laguarda Low Architecture and Planning.
+ Honorable Mention in the Gowanus Canal Community Center and Water Treatment Facility Competition resulting in the exhibition of the work at the Old American Can Factory, Brooklyn, NY.
+ Collaboration with Bercy Chen Studio, Austin, Texas in luxury resort design proposals for Cancun, Mexico.