Reno began his building career in his teens, working construction with his uncles. Today he can tackle anything his house – or his parents’ summer cottage – can throw at him, from additions and decks to wiring and plumbing. He knew in high school that he would pursue a career in architecture because it combined his two enthusiasms: science and art.

A semester abroad in Italy sealed the deal: “As soon as I got off the plane, I climbed to the top of the campanile in the Plaza del Duomo, and the view of Florence left me awestruck. I was speechless. I had never experienced anything like that.”

He earned his Bachelors of Architecture from Syracuse University, joined Centerbrook in 1993 after working for several other firms; He was named an associate in 2004, senior associate in 2014 and was promoted to associate principal in 2017.

Reno has found Centerbrook’s eclectic clientele to be a good fit: “Every project here is a new experience, an opportunity to learn and do something different.”

He has been project manager for, among others, the Academic Science & Laboratory Building at Southern Connecticut State University. His academic credits include serving on the design teams for buildings at Yale, M.I.T., Colgate, Amherst, and Pomfret School. His portfolio also encompasses residential, religious, and cultural projects, among them the Nessel Wing at the Norton Museum of Art in Florida, Park Synagogue East in Ohio, and the widely published Lakewood House in the Northeast.

His design/build chair was judged to be the best in the second Centerbrook Chair Workshop. His modern interpretation of a club chair consists of multiple, horizontal, thin layers of plywood - stacked top to bottom with each sheet separated by a narrow uniform gap and laser cut to resemble a topographical model, including a tapered landing zone. He describes his comfy creation as “a chair with many layers and levels, deceptively simple and surprisingly comfortable.”

• Two-time Centerbrook Travel Grant recipient
• Vice Chair of Guilford Historic Commission
• Could have been an Elvis impersonator