4.9/5.0130+ Google reviews
Architecture Studio in Tucson, Arizona
A registered-architect studio on Broadway Boulevard designing homes and workplaces around one material the desert gives away free — light. Every commission begins with a sun study of your site, before a single wall is drawn.
- AIA Member Firm — Registered Architects
- Sun & Shade Study With Every Commission
- Fixed-Fee Phases, Agreed in Writing
AZ Registered Architects #38214 · #41176 — NCARB Certified
02 — The studio position
The desert is not a hardship to engineer against. It is a brief: mass where the sun is brutal, glass where it is kind, shade you can set a table under.
Linea is a small studio by intention — two registered architects, one interiors lead, one structural engineer, and no project we don’t draw ourselves. Since 2009 we have completed more than 240 commissions across metro Tucson, from courtyard homes in Sam Hughes to tenant workplaces downtown.
Every project starts the same way: we model your site and run the sun across it, solstice to solstice, before proposing a plan. It is cheaper to move a wall in a model than to air-condition a mistake for thirty years.
— W. Voss, Founding Principal, Linea Architecture

03 — Booking
Book Your Consultation
A one-hour sit-down at the studio — your site, your budget, and a first read of what the sun will let you do. No fee, no obligation.
What the hour covers
- Site orientation, sun path, and shade strategy
- Scope, budget band, and permit outlook
- A written fixed-fee proposal within one week
Prefer to talk? (520) 555-0147“They walked the lot with a compass before they ever mentioned money. That told me everything.”
— R. Calloway, Barrio Viejo residence
04 — Studio Services
Nine to ninety rooms — drawn by the same two hands.
Every commission below is led personally by a registered architect, from the first sun study to the final site visit.
RES · 01Custom Residential Architecture
New homes from first sketch to final walkthrough — courtyard plans, deep shade, and rooms placed by the sun.
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RES · 02Renovation & Additions
Opening up mid-century and older homes without losing what made them worth keeping.
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COM · 03Commercial & Workplace
Offices, clinics, and tenant improvements that stay comfortable through a punishing summer.
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COM · 04Adaptive Reuse
Warehouses, storefronts, and historic shells given a second working life downtown.
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LND · 05Courtyards & Outdoor Rooms
Ramadas, pools, and planted courtyards — the rooms without a roof that desert life is lived in.
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STU · 06Feasibility & Site Studies
Before you buy or build: a sun study, zoning read, and honest budget band for the lot you’re eyeing.
Explore- View all
studio servicesFull index
05 — How a commission runs
Four phases. Fixed fees. No surprises after the first meeting.
- 01
Listen & measure
A one-hour consultation, then a site visit. We survey, photograph, and model the lot — and run the first sun study before any design begins.
- 02
Sketch & agree
Two or three massing options with honest cost bands. You choose a direction; we fix the fee for everything that follows, in writing.
- 03
Draw & permit
Full construction documents, engineering coordinated in-house, and we carry the permit set through the city ourselves.
- 04
Build & stand by
Site visits at every milestone, a punch list we hold the contractor to, and a one-year check-in after you move in.
06 — The studio
Four people. Every drawing signed by one of them.
Linea Architecture stays small on purpose — the person you meet at the consultation is the person stamping your permit set.

PRACTITIONER 01 Warren Voss
Founding Principal
AIA · NCARB · AZ Reg. Architect #38214
Founded the studio in 2009 after twelve years in large-firm practice. Leads every residential commission personally.

PRACTITIONER 02 Diane Mercer
Design Principal
AIA · LEED AP · AZ Reg. Architect #41176
Directs commercial and adaptive-reuse work. Sat four years on the city’s design review board.

PRACTITIONER 03 Bridget Aldana
Director of Interiors
NCIDQ Certified · IIDA
Carries every project from shell to shelf — finishes, joinery, and light fixtures specified to the millimetre.

PRACTITIONER 04 Neil Prentiss
Structural Lead
PE — AZ Prof. Engineer #54307
In-house engineer since 2016. If Linea draws it, Neil has already confirmed it will stand.
Practitioner intro video — slot reserved (see /guide/)
07 — Selected work
Two hundred forty commissions, one climate.
A cross-section of the studio’s built work across metro Tucson — every project photographed after its first full summer.

COM · BROADWAYBroadway workplace — five storeys, shaded to 41°C 
RES · FOOTHILLSCatalina Foothills residence — planted roof, west wall blind 
INT · SAM HUGHESSam Hughes addition — a stair the afternoon sun climbs 
LND · ORO VALLEYOro Valley courtyard — water, shade, and thirty quiet metres 
URB · DOWNTOWNPaseo master plan — six blocks re-shaded for walking 
DTL · MATERIALWindow reveal study — sandstone, concrete, bronze
- commissions completed
- 240+
- permits approved first pass
- 96%
- avg. cooling-load reduction vs. code baseline
- 38%
08 — Client accounts
What owners say a year after moving in.
Rated 4.9 across 130+ Google reviews — a sample, quoted with permission.
- March 2026
They modelled our lot and showed us the sun crossing the courtyard in June before we signed anything. The house came in on the fixed fee, and the porch is ten degrees cooler than the street. We measure it for fun now.
Rafael & June CallowayBarrio Viejo
- January 2026
Warren attended every site meeting himself — nineteen of them. When the contractor tried to substitute the window frames, Linea caught it from the submittal, not from the wall.
Priya NatarajanCatalina Foothills
- November 2025
Our tenant improvement was permitted first pass, which our GC said he had not seen in years. The office needs the AC roughly half as often as our old space three doors down.
Tom ReidyDowntown
- August 2025
A 1948 bungalow, opened up without losing its face. Diane found square footage in the roofline nobody else saw. Neighbours knock to ask who drew it.
Elena VasquezSam Hughes
- May 2025
The feasibility study talked us OUT of the first lot we wanted to buy. They lost a bigger commission by being honest, and earned this one. The courtyard house they drew instead is the best thing we own.
Mark & Steven Delgado-HartOro Valley
09 — Where the work stands
240 commissions across metro Tucson.
Plotted from studio records, 2009–2026. Every pin is a built project standing in the sun today.
- Catalina Foothills46
- Oro Valley31
- Sam Hughes38
- Barrio Viejo22
- Downtown35
- Dove Mountain17
- Tanque Verde26
- Vail12
10 — Fees & engagement
How the money works — before you ask.
Architecture fees have a reputation for vagueness. Ours are fixed by phase and agreed in writing before each phase begins.
- FEE · 01
The consultation
One hour at the studio, no fee. You leave with a first read on scope, budget band, and what your site will allow.
- FEE · 02
Feasibility & sun study
A fixed-fee package — site model, sun study, zoning read, budget band. Credited in full against design fees if you proceed.
- FEE · 03
Design through permit
Fixed fee per phase, tied to deliverables — never a percentage that drifts with construction costs.
- FEE · 04
Construction observation
Milestone site visits billed as a fixed monthly retainer for the build duration. No hourly meters running.
Typical residential commissions at Linea Architecture land between 8–12% of construction cost in total — quoted precisely, phase by phase, before you commit to anything.
11 — Where we practise
Serving greater Tucson — district by district.
Each district below links to its own page in a full deployment, with local casework and review-board notes.
- Catalina FoothillsHillside lots, view corridors, HOA design review
- Oro ValleyNew custom homes and courtyard plans
- Sam HughesHistoric-district renovations and additions
- Barrio ViejoAdobe restoration and infill
- Downtown TucsonWorkplace and adaptive-reuse commissions
- Dove MountainDesert-edge residences
- Tanque VerdeLarger lots, equestrian outbuildings
- MaranaCommercial and light-industrial work
- VailNew-build residential
12 — Questions, answered plainly
What clients ask before they commit.
Q01What does an architect cost in Tucson?
For full service — design through construction observation — most residential commissions at Linea Architecture total 8–12% of construction cost. We quote it as fixed fees per phase, agreed in writing before each phase begins, so the number you sign is the number you pay.
Q02Do I need an architect, or can a drafter do it?
For simple permitted work, a drafter may be enough. You hire an architect when the site is difficult, the budget matters, or the building has to perform — in this climate, that is most projects. A registered architect also carries liability for the drawings, which a drafting service does not.
Q03What is the sun study you run on every project?
We build a 3D model of your site and simulate the sun across it from winter to summer solstice. It tells us where glass is free daylight and where it is a cooling bill — before the plan is drawn. The study is included in every commission and in our fixed-fee feasibility package.
Q04How long does a custom home take?
Typically 4–6 months of design and documentation, 1–2 months in permitting, and 10–14 months of construction. We give you a written schedule at the sketch phase and update it at every milestone.
Q05Can you work with my contractor?
Yes. We are happy to work with a builder you trust, and we can also recommend three contractors we have completed multiple projects with. Either way, we review submittals and visit site at every milestone — the drawings get built as drawn.
Q06Do you take on renovations, or only new builds?
Roughly half the studio’s work is renovation and addition — including historic-district properties, where we handle the review-board process ourselves.
Q07What happens at the first consultation?
One hour at the studio, no fee and no obligation. Bring photos of the site or house, your rough budget, and your list of rooms. You leave with an honest read on feasibility, a budget band, and a written fixed-fee proposal within the week.
13 — Final section
Build for this sun, not against it.
Book a consultation at the Broadway studio — or call and talk to an architect, not a receptionist.
