Blair Begnaud graduated from the UL Lafayette School of Architecture & Design in 2017 with her Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies. She continued her studies at UL Lafayette to earn her Master of Architecture in 2019.
“As I moved forward into graduate school for a Master of Architecture, I accepted a graduate assistantship with the Office of Sustainability at UL Lafayette under the excellent mentorship of Gretchen Vanicor. This was the job that shaped my interest in sustainability and inspired me to focus my career on sustainable architecture,” Blair said.
She is now an architectural designer at Modus Studio in Fayetteville, Ark., where she has continued her specialization in sustainability and became a LEED Green Associate in 2019.
During her time at UL Lafayette, Blair worked on many projects.
“I was part of a team that built a tiny house called the MODESTEhouse for one of the 2016 flood victims," she said. "Additionally, with the Office of Sustainability, I was able to work on two interdisciplinary teams. One of my teams took part in the Vertech International Greener Cities Competition 2018 and won first place. And then in 2019, another team I was part of participated in the EPA National Campus RainWorks Challenge and took first place.”
Blair’s studies also took her to Europe for Study Abroad.
“I took the study abroad trip in the summer of graduate school with Dan Burkett. It was fantastic getting to just simply sit, admire, and sketch architecture all over Italy,” she said about her favorite class. “My sketchbooks from those classes are some of my most treasured possessions.”
Blair stayed busy as an undergraduate student with time spent in a special projects class designing a new type of enclosure for a woman to safely breastfeed or pump. With their final design, the group applied for a design patent.
She also mentored first-year design students in the University’s Peer Mentors program: “This was one of my favorite experiences in school and I made some wonderful friends while doing this.”
Blair says her choice to attend UL Lafayette came easily — she attended summer art camps in Fletcher Hall as a child and is a third-generation UL Lafayette student.
“I felt it was always part of the plan,” she said.
