With more than 40 years of experience in planning and architectural design, Adam Gross provides the broad design direction for Ayers Saint Gross and works in close collaboration with many of the firm’s longstanding clients. Adam joined the firm in 1984 and has watched it grow from an eight person staff to where it is today, with more than 190 employees. During that time, he has completed over 100 campus planning processes and his visionary urban master plans have impacted cities including Baltimore, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Providence, and Miami.  

Adam’s goal as an architect and planner is to engage people and places to create uplifting designs that enrich the world. He believes good design should combine recollection and innovation, with spaces that are grounded in history while also creating something new. He’s passionate that all voices should be heard in the design process and that designers need to be responsive to a client’s criticisms, desires, and needs. 

Named an “Influential Marylander” by The Daily Record in 2015 and 2017, Adam has a particular passion for improving Baltimore City, collaborating on the planning for Inner Harbor 2.0, Rash Field, Pratt Street Redevelopment, Harbor Point Master Plan, and Johns Hopkins University. He is also interested in building the architectural profession and has written and lectured extensively on urban design, collegiate architecture, and master planning. In addition to his mentorship within the firm, Adam has taught at several universities, most recently as the Fay Jones Chair in Architecture at the University of Arkansas and the Kea Distinguished Professor of Architecture at University of Maryland.