Melissa Farling

Melissa Farling, FAIA, LEED AP, has joined HDR as managing principal of the Phoenix office. In her new role, Farling will oversee business development and operations and ensure that design innovation remains at the forefront of every project. With more than 20 years’ experience, Farling is well known for quantifying the behavioral and physiological impacts of architecture and applying those findings to environments, ranging from correctional facilities to commercial projects. Farling has co-chaired the AIA Academy of Architecture for Justice (AAJ) Research Committee since 2006, served as one of the principal investigators on the first neuroscience-architecture research conducted in a jail setting in 2008 and assisted with the AAJ Sustainability Committee to create “Green Guide to Justice” in 2010. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in architecture at University of North Carolina at Charlotte and completed both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in architecture at the University of Arizona. She most recently served as research/project director for Jones Studio in Phoenix.