Ben Willis, SARA

Ben helps create places that empower communities and ecosystems to thrive.

Since 2014 he has been a part of Union Studio, drawn to their mission-driven work at a variety of scales, their commitment to the civic & environmental responsibility of buildings, and their dedication to bringing traditional & regional building practices into contemporary times. He has worked on community planning initiatives, existing building retrofits, and affordable, modular, multifamily, student, and Living Community Challenge housing projects across the country. He is actively involved in expanding the office’s culture of mentorship and inclusive sustainability. In the fall of 2019, he and his husband relocated to Philadelphia, where Ben now leads Union Studio’s mid-Atlantic satellite office.

An occasional writer, he has contributed essays to the Common Edge Collaborative, a national website that connects the public to pressing issues in the built environment. When not behind a computer screen, he’s a runner, a singer with the Chestnut Street Singers, and an active community volunteer, serving with the Community Design Collaborative and as a vestry member at St. Peter’s Church, a progressive Episcopal parish in Philadelphia. He was a co-founder and director of design for Collegium Ancora, a professional chamber choir in Rhode Island.