WHO WE ARE

Nahra Design Group is an award-winning, full-service Architecture and Interior design firm.  Headquartered in Washington, DC and founded in 2010, the firm purposefully embraces design projects of several genres and has significant focus on retail, hospitality and ground plane placemaking design.  Additionally, we are experts in mixed-use retail base building design and consult on a wide variety of development projects across the United States.

We design with purpose, in collaboration with our Clients and Communities.  Our Clients include real estate developers, institutional organizations, business owners, and builders.  Our Client’s goals are primary to what we do and through these partnerships we seek to create meaningful experiences with strong ROI.

We are passionate about our work and offering exemplary project solutions that are aesthetically striking, functional and environmentally responsible.  We pride ourselves on our balance of individual creativity, collaborative design process, and responsive, professional practice.  We believe it is the spirit and synthesis of these ingredients that allows us to consistently deliver added value to a project team.

JOHN NAHRA

MANAGING PRINCIPAL

John is the founding Principal of Nahra Design Group. As leader of firm operations, he recruits and directs a talented staff of design professionals who collaborate to execute projects of many scales. With an endless passion for architecture, John pursues each project with the philosophy that good design creates value.

He has designed and overseen construction on a wide range of projects including custom residential design, multi-family residential, retail prototype development and roll-out in various geographic regions, restaurant/retail design and commercial mixed-use base building design and renovation. His expertise in the design-build construction industry lends him specialized insight into issues of constructability and construction procurement. John prides himself on providing exemplary client service throughout the entire design and construction process. He pushes each of his projects to be aesthetically excellent, functionally efficient, and economically and environmentally responsible.

In addition to professional practice, John is a visiting teaching adjunct at The Catholic University of America School of Architecture and Planning where he has taught in the graduate design program, with a specialty in real estate development. This time in the classroom allows him to test new ideas, balancing research with practice.

John is licensed to practice architecture in the Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Virginia. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), National Council of Architecture Registration Boards (NCARB) and the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). He earned dual undergraduate degrees in Architecture and Civil Engineering from the Catholic University of America where he finished first in his class. He also holds a Master of Architecture from the Catholic University of America. John’s original home is Davenport, Iowa where he still has many family ties.

John Nahra

WHAT WE DO

Our expertise has a wide range, and we draw on this diversity of knowledge and understanding to inform, develop and strengthen each unique project.

  • RETAIL & HOSPITALITY

  • MIXED-USE RETAIL CONSULTING & PLACEMAKING

  • COMMERCIAL BASE BUILDING & INTERIORS

  • INSTITUTIONAL & EDUCATIONAL

  • SINGLE & MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL

  • CONSTRUCTION PROCUREMENT & CONSULTING

Nahra Design Group is licensed in Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virgina & West Virginia.

Nahra Design Group is a CBE certified company in the District of Columbia.

WHO WE WORK WITH