On October 15, Anderson graduates Susan Peace-Vernon and Baylie Weeks returned to campus to talk with students about their firm, Tribus Design Studio, as well as sister companies, which include Dillard Jones Builders and DOMA Architects.
They addressed the significance of interior designers having a seat at the table in the beginning of the design process with the architect and builder/construction management team, along with critical skills of collaboration and communication throughout the construction management process.
Pictured from left are Baylie Weeks and Susan Peace-Vernon, both of Tribus Design Studio; AU School of Interior Design Dean Anne Martin; and Jon Warrigton, Vice President of Design, Dillard Jones Builders.
Peace-Vernon, a 1994 graduate, earned her associate degree when Anderson was a two-year institution, then transferred to Western Carolina for further study, but returned to Greenville, where she married and continued to pursue her design career. When Anderson became a four-year baccalaureate degree granting institution, she returned and became one of the first four-year graduates in December 1994, in Interior Design. She is carrying on her family’s legacy of home building and creative pursuits.
Weeks, junior designer at Tribus, is a 2018 Anderson graduate. During her senior year at Anderson, Dean Anne Martin shared with seniors that Tribus was interested in having students assist with installations of luxury homes during fall break at the Cliffs and The Reserve Lake Keowee. Weeks responded to this request by taking her fall break to assist with these installations, little did she know that experience lead to a part-time job the final semester of her senior year, and she secured full-time employment with Tribus prior to May graduation. Weeks specializes in eclectic, cozy and collected design, bringing vibrancy to spaces through her appreciation for color and statement pieces. She finds Tribus’ projects in diverse geographical locations exciting challenges presented by a broad spectrum of architecture and clientele.
Peace-Vernon and Weeks, representing Tribus Design Studio, were joined by architect Jon Warrigton, Vice President of Design, Dillard Jones Builders; and DOMA Architects marketing team at the AU School of Interior Design.
Incidentally, Warrington is the father of AU Junior Interior Design major Liza Warrington. Tribus, Dillard Jones and DOMA have locations in South Carolina at Greenville, Bluffton and Johns Island, Beaufort; and in North Carolina at Asheville and Cashiers.
“Our students were the beneficiaries of hearing from these accomplished graduates who not only shared their career pathway as well as shared phenomenal success with multiple projects which included collaboration with architects, construction management/builder and landscape architects,” Martin said.