“To me, architecture is what quietly shapes how we live and move every day. It’s in the skyline that defines a city, but also in the small details, like a handrail that just feels right when you reach for it. I love how the right design decision can make something feel effortless, even though it took a hundred little choices to get there.”
Laura Cochran
Raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Laura received her Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Arkansas.
Since joining Wheeler Kearns Architects in 2019, Laura has shaped residences and mission-driven projects through thoughtful, site-responsive designs that elevate client experience and impact. Her experience include Two Gables, featuring two gables linked by a glazed breezeway that harmonizes the house with its wooded ravine site, as well as forward-thinking educational environments such as Art in Motion, a new creative-arts high school, Intrinsic School’s Downtown Campus, and Ednovate School campuses in Los Angeles. Her passion for using design to improve lives extends to nonprofit work, including a shelter for PADS in Waukegan, where trauma-informed design principles create a nurturing and uplifting environment for those facing homelessness.
Laura is deeply committed to mentorship, guiding high school students in the firm’s in-house “WKA-Lift” program and learning from experienced architects as a mentee in AIA Chicago’s Bridge Mentorship program.
In her free time Laura enjoys camping, biking, volleyball, sketching, and traveling. She resides in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood.
Education
| 2016 | BArch, Fay Jones School of Architecture, University of Arkansas |
Professional Affiliations
| 2026-2027 | Chicago Women in Architecture (CWA) Programming Chair |
| 2024-2025 | Chicago Women in Architecture (CWA) Committee Member |
| 2022-2023 | AIA Chicago Bridge Mentorship |
| 2021-2023 | ACE Chicago Mentor |