Leanne R. Baribeau, AIA

Leanne attended the University of Arkansas School of Architecture from 1999 to 2004 and then went to work for Tim Cooper Architects from 2004 - 2009 doing large scale and small scale residential architecture. After the recession, Leanne went to work for Core Architects from 2009-2014 and worked solely on commercial projects.

At Core, she was the project architect on Highlands Oncology Cancer Center (a 55,000 square foot cancer treatment facility), Founders Hall (a 76,000 square foot dormitory on the U of A campus), and Hunt Tower (a 260,000 square foot, 10-story commercial office building in Rogers Arkansas). All of these projects have been pivotal learning experiences that have changed how Leanne thinks as an architect. After five years at Core and two children, she was very excited to join the modus team.

Since joining modus, Leanne has worked on multiple elementary school projects, retail projects, mass timber student housing, and multifamily developments. For the past three years, she was project manager on the University of Arkansas’ Adohi Hall. Adohi was the largest mass timber project in the United States during its time of construction. It was also the first mass timber residence hall in North America. This project taught her all the design constraints and freedoms gained from building with CLT and mass timber.

Leanne's thinking on architecture has evolved over the past few years as she herself has personally evolved over the years. As a practicing architect and mother, she now thinks that architecture is simply ‘good’ design. This could be anything from a door handle to a master plan. The term ‘good’ is a loaded word as it serves to mean thoughtful, joyous, healthy, economical, sustainable, safe, and purposeful. What is beautiful to one person may not be beautiful to another, but if it is beautiful because it serves a worthy purpose, then it is truly ‘good’ architecture.