
Background
Since being founded in Phoenix in 1984, Ryden Architects, Inc. has successfully provided our clients, colleagues and communities of Arizona and the Southwest with a unique blend of professional services in architecture, planning and historic preservation. We have earned honors from Arizona’s architectural community as a leader in innovative contextual design, heritage conservation, and community sustainability. Ryden Architects’ professional portfolio demonstrates our interest in a broad range of project and building types. Our firm works at many different scales from buildings to towns, creating designs and master plans for places that are new, old or historic. We specialize in the stabilization of archaic building materials and systems such as adobe, timber and stone, or lime-mortared brick masonry. Much of our work revolves around the sensitive repurposing of existing buildings and the harmonious introduction of new construction in an existing environment. Ryden Architects provides the full range of architectural services from Predesign phase through Design to finished Construction.
Don Ryden, AIA | Architect, Historical Architect, and Planner
Born and raised in Phoenix and educated at Arizona State University’s College of Architecture (1973), Don Ryden has watched and wondered at the direction of the tremendous post-WWII growth of the Old Southwest. Having a life-long appreciation for the local heritage, indigenous building methods and environmental design strategies of the past, Don continues striving to make a difference today in the way people approach building design and urban development for the future.
Don Ryden is a well-rounded professional who tirelessly pursues the practice of architecture with a sincere concern for the environment, respect for the cultural context, and adherence to the timeless doctrines of harmonious design. He relishes his role as architect, planner, and advocate of historic preservation. Don advantageously uses his gift of sketching as one of his best tools in the design process and communications. His personal skills as a designer, artist, manager, and communicator are reflected in his professional reputation and in the success of his design firm.
Mr. Ryden devotes most of his professional time and energy within three major disciplines - architecture, planning, and historic preservation. His personal concerns for energy conservation, environmental
Erik Ryden | Preservation Planner & Designer
Erik Ryden possesses complementary passions for planning and architecture as expressed through the principles of sustainable design and social justice. He is adept in working at all scales of the built environment from houses to high-rises, yard-scapes to town-sites. His formal education in urban planning has been supplemented by a decade of practical experience in architectural design.
Erik is particularly experienced in the ultimate expression of sustainability – historic preservation and resource management. For more than ten years being mentored by preservationist Don Ryden, AIA, he has amassed practical knowledge in historic resource management, Section 106 consultation, archaic materials conservation, architectural history, and contextual in-fill design. Erik excels in collaborations with his colleagues and clients through incremental projects that ultimately affect the greater good of the community. He possesses the ability to span the gaps between planners and architects, agencies and public.
All of Ryden Architects’ recent award-winning projects bear the mark of his design talents for architecture, planning, and preservation. His skills in computer-aided rendering and graphic design serve Erik well in designing and composing beautiful books, reports, brochures, and posters that promote public education in historic preservation and Main Street economic development.
Fort Verde State Park, Camp Verde
Yuma QMD/Prison State Park, Yuma
Riordan State Park, Flagstaff
First Pinal County Courthouse, McFarland
State Historic Park, Florence
Oracle State Park, Oracle
Babe Haught Cabin, Tonto National Forest
Elias-Rodriguez House, Tempe
Navajo County Courthouse, Holbrook
Jones House Porches, Phoenix
Swindall House, Phoenix
Brigham City Mormon Fort, Winslow
Clark House, Florence, Arizona
Silver King Hotel, Florence, Arizona
Corral House, Yuma QMD, Yuma, Arizona
Queen Creek Elementary School, Queen Creek
Henning Block, Holbrook, Arizona
Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort,
Adobe Building, Kiel Ranch,
North Las Vegas, Nevada
Douglas Mansion, Jerome State Historic Park
Fremont Street Porches, Tombstone
Restoration/Stabilization Projects
Pendley Homestead, Slide Rock State Park
Various at Phoenix Union High School
Lobby Addition for Phoenix Union Municipal Center
Industrial Arts Building as Offices
Domestic Arts Building as Offices
Science Hall as Offices
Liberal Arts Building as Offices
Main Street Facades, Yuma
Historic Tweed House as Offices, Phoenix
Greystone Bungalow as Offices, Phoenix
Central School as an Arts Center, Peoria
Oakland Apartments as SRO Housing, Phoenix
Arizona and New Mexico
Passenger Station, Clifton
Thomas House/Baird Machine Shop, Phoenix
Molina Block, Yuma
TISA Building and BOQs at Navajo
Army Depot, Bellemont, Arizona
Historic Swindall House as
Golf Clubhouse, Phoenix
Barnett Building Facades, Mesa
Sahuaro Ranch, Glendale
Yuma QMD Corral House, Yuma
Silver King Hotel, Florence, Arizona
Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort,
Las Vegas, Nevada
Sydney Moeur Residence
Reconstruction, Phoenix
Heard Building (7 stories), Phoenix
Hanny’s Building (3 stories), Phoenix
Old Main, UA, Tucson
Herring Hall, UA, Tucson
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Mission Church, Scottsdale
Historic Building Analysis
Mine Rescue Station, Globe
Clifton Historic District
El Zaribah Shrine Temple, Phoenix
Winslow Residential/Commercial
Historic Districts
Victoria Place Neighborhood District, Phoenix
Pendley Homestead, Slide Rock State Park
La Posada Hotel and Santa Fe
Railroad Train Station, Winslow
Woodland Historic District, Phoenix
Oakland Historic District, Phoenix
Fort McDowell Historic District
Historic Kitchell House, Phoenix
Yuma Main Street Historic District, Yuma
Eagar Townsite, Eagar School,
Colter Ranch Historic District, Eagar
Buckeye Historic District, Buckeye
Henning Block, Holbrook
Queen Creek Elementary School, Queen Creek
Evergreen Historic District, Mesa
West Second Street Historic District, Mesa
Wilbur Historic District, Mesa
Temple Historic District, Mesa
City of Tempe MPD Update
Science Building, Arizona State University
Central School, Bisbee
Kingman Powerhouse
Central School, Peoria
Phoenix Union Railroad Passenger Station
Kentucky Camp, near Sonoita
Arizona & New Mexico Railroad
Passenger Station, Clifton
Clifton Town Hall, Clifton
Grace Lutheran Church, Phoenix
Elias/Rodriquez House, Tempe
Carnegie Free Library, Tucson
Tovrea Castle, Phoenix
Constable Ice and Fuel Co. Warehouse
(Ice House), Phoenix
Facade of the Hotel Beale, Kingman
Due Diligence Report for the
Professional Building, Phoenix
Due Diligence Report for La Posada Hotel
and Santa Fe Railroad Station, Winslow
Fort Yuma, Winterhaven
Babbitt-Polsen Warehouse, Williams, Arizona
New Dawn Hotel, St. Johns, Arizona
Silver King Hotel, Florence
Sacred Heart of Jesus
Catholic Church, Tombstone
Navajo County Courthouse, Holbrook
Facade for the
Paramount Theater, Casa Grande
Pascua Yaqui Cultural Center, near Tucson
Henning Block, Holbrook, Arizona
Sydney Moeur Residence
Reconstruction, Phoenix
Heard Building (7 stories), Phoenix
Hanny’s Building (3 stories), Phoenix
Old Main, UA, Tucson
Herring Hall, UA, Tucson
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Mission Church, Scottsdale
Freeman House, Snowflake, Arizona
AZ State Hospital Admin. Bldg., Phoenix
Flagstaff Freight Depot, Flagstaff
Butterfly Lodge, Greer
Tanner Chapel, Phoenix, Arizona
Queen Creek Elementary School
Barlow-Massicks House, Prescott Valley,
Harrington Birchett House, ASU, Tempe
Papago Park National Guard Armory, Phoenix
Historic Area Design Guidelines
Oakland Neighborhood, Phoenix
Woodland Neighborhood, Phoenix
Victoria Place Neighborhood, Phoenix
Tovrea Castle, Phoenix
City of Mesa
Fort McDowell/Beeline Highway, Ft. McDowell Indian Reservation
Apache Trail, State Highway 88
Roosevelt Addition Neighborhood, Tempe
Hoover Dam Bypass Project, NV/AZ