Samantha Kay Garrett

Architect, Artist, Friend
Owner | Principal

Phone:

404-333-9372

Email:

samantha@skg-arch.com

Behind the Studio: The Story of SKG Architecture

Foundations Laid Early

Before I ever knew what the word architecture meant, I was sketching scenes in the pantry.

I grew up just outside Atlanta, and from the time I could hold a pencil, I was designing little worlds and building them out of cardboard, wood, scraps, whatever I could get my hands on. I’d draw up my weekend build plans, and my dad and I would head to the garage to bring them to life. He taught me how to use tools, how to build things correctly, and how to persevere when something didn’t work the first time.

My aunt saw that early spark and started sending me woodworking kits from the hardware store. I built them all without instructions. She told me I should be an architect before I even knew how to spell the word. Every summer, I’d visit her farm in Arkansas with a list of projects I wanted to tackle in her workshop: birdhouses with copper roofs, contraptions, even full-blown site plans (or at least, my kid-version of them).

In middle school, I took one of those career quizzes; the kind that tells you what you’re “meant to be.” Mine said architect. I remember being quietly thrilled… and quietly ashamed. I’d only ever heard architecture talked about as a man’s job. I didn’t tell many people. But something inside me held onto that word.

Shaped by Study

After high school, I went to the University of Colorado to study Environmental Design. Two years in, I realized the program wasn’t the right fit for where I wanted to go as a designer, or as a person. I made a hard call: I transferred to the University of Arkansas. What I didn’t realize at the time was that switching from a four-year program to a five-year professional one would mean starting all over again as a freshman.

It could have felt like a setback. Instead, it felt like a clean slate. I took the opportunity seriously and threw myself into my work. I stayed up late in the studio, worked internships in Atlanta and Memphis, and in my fifth year, spent four months studying abroad in Rome, a city that reshaped my entire sense of scale, light, and legacy. I came home with one semester left and two job offers on the table: one in Charlotte, one in Atlanta.

Then the world stopped.

It was 2020. COVID hit. Both job offers disappeared. My graduation celebration was canceled. After seven long years in undergrad, there was no send-off, no final critique, no closure. I packed up, said goodbye to Fayetteville, and moved home to Atlanta, unsure of what would come next.

Built by Experience

Eventually, I remembered a teaching assistant from Arkansas who had taken a job in Pensacola, a place my partner and I had long talked about moving to. I reached out, and she connected me with an opportunity at a firm that valued community-centered design. I said yes, packed up again, and moved. That’s where my career officially began.

Since then, I’ve had the chance to work on some of the most meaningful buildings in downtown Pensacola, homes, historic renovations, commercial spaces that bring people together. I studied for and passed all six licensing exams and became both a licensed architect and interior designer. In the same year, I became the first woman associate principal at the firm.

But something inside me was still building.

Stepping Into My Own Blueprint

Over time, I realized I wanted to create something of my own, a practice rooted in integrity, personal connection, and a belief that buildings belong to the stories they hold. That’s how SKG Architecture was born.

Stories matter to me because of how I was raised. My dad taught me to create your own history, to get your hands dirty, to work hard and play hard, but to always clean up after yourself and step into a room with integrity. He also taught me to listen — really listen — and remember what people say, what lights them up, what matters to them. That value is stitched into every part of my work. Clients often tell me I remember the small things they barely realized they said; a story, a material, a morning ritual and somehow, it shows up in the design. I don’t take that gift for granted.

I’ve also been shaped by the people who saw something in me before I fully saw it myself. From my aunt who mailed me building kits, to friends and mentors who still send me photos of architecture just because it reminded them of me. People tend to plan trips around the buildings they want to show me or pause mid-walk to say, “You’d love this façade.” That kind of recognition, of who I am and what I’m meant to do, has been its own kind of foundation.

Where Stories Live

I believe buildings are more than shelter. They’re where people get married. Where babies are born. Where we mourn, laugh, fail, try again. Architecture doesn’t fix emotions, but it can shape the space where stories unfold. People walk into a building carrying one story, and leave with another.

This is mine.

I’d be honored to help tell yours.

Samantha Kay Garrett, AIA, NCARB, RID