Call (520) 555-0147

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
AIAMember firm since 2011
2Registered architects on staff
240+Commissions completed
17 yrsPractising in the Sonoran Desert
NCARBNationally certified

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

Two Linea principals reviewing a massing model at a daylit worktable
FIG. 02 — THE WORKTABLE, TUCSON STUDIO

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

“They walked the lot with a compass before they ever mentioned money. That told me everything.”

— R. Calloway, Barrio Viejo residence
Prefer to talk? (520) 555-0147

05 — How a commission runs


Four phases. Fixed fees. No surprises after the first meeting.

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 03

    Draw & permit

    Full construction documents, engineering coordinated in-house, and we carry the permit set through the city ourselves.

  4. 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.

  • Portrait of Warren Voss, founding principal, in the Linea studio
    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.

  • Portrait of Diane Mercer, design principal, in the Linea studio
    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.

  • Portrait of Bridget Aldana, director of interiors, in the Linea studio
    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.

  • Portrait of Neil Prentiss, structural lead, in the Linea studio
    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.

  • Mid-rise workplace building with deep bronze sunshades under a clear desert sky
    COM · BROADWAYBroadway workplace — five storeys, shaded to 41°C
  • Sandstone residence with planted roof terraces and deep-set glazing
    RES · FOOTHILLSCatalina Foothills residence — planted roof, west wall blind
  • Double-height living room with sculptural stair and filtered desert light
    INT · SAM HUGHESSam Hughes addition — a stair the afternoon sun climbs
  • Travertine courtyard with water channel, sunken lounge, and desert planting
    LND · ORO VALLEYOro Valley courtyard — water, shade, and thirty quiet metres
  • Aerial of a walkable mixed-use district with shaded paseos and desert trees
    URB · DOWNTOWNPaseo master plan — six blocks re-shaded for walking
  • Junction of honed sandstone, board-formed concrete, and a bronze reveal
    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.

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.