Six studios. One shared conviction: good design starts with listening. Meet the people who bring it to life every day.
Every project at Shanks Architects passes through the hands of people who bring decades of combined experience across worship, memorial, learning, civic, interior, and visualization design. Many have built their entire careers here, which shows in how the firm works: less like a set of separate departments, more like one long-tenured team. All of them shape the buildings this Dallas firm sends into the world.
Decades of combined experience in business development, creative direction, and firm leadership.
David Shanks knew at twelve that he would be an architect. Two buildings from his Dallas childhood convinced him: a glass-walled modern house and the Neo-Gothic auditorium of Cliff Temple Baptist Church, where he and his wife, Susan, still worship today.
In 2006, after years leading a firm known nationally for church design, he left to start something of his own: a firm built around a broader idea of what architecture could do for a city and the people in it. Shanks Architects has grown, over twenty years, into a multi-studio practice spanning worship, memorial, civic, learning, and interior design.
What motivates you? It’s the question I wish every client would ask before a project begins. It opens the door to why architecture matters, to each person and to the culture.
David Shanks
Sr. Associate, Creative Director
Chris Taylor works as Creative Director across all studios at Shanks Architects, helping clients turn size, scope, budget, and vision into a shared architectural concept. He has worked in church architecture since graduating from the University of Texas at Arlington, and first crossed paths with David Shanks on a collaborative project for Prestonwood Baptist Church, years before joining the firm.
Get feedback internally from as many voices as possible before you come to your architect. The more you talk it through beforehand, the better you’ll communicate what you want.
Chris Taylor
Sr. Associate, Creative Director
Chris Taylor works as Creative Director across all studios at Shanks Architects, helping clients turn size, scope, budget, and vision into a shared architectural concept. He has worked in church architecture since graduating from the University of Texas at Arlington, and first crossed paths with David Shanks on a collaborative project for Prestonwood Baptist Church, years before joining the firm.
Get feedback internally from as many voices as possible before you come to your architect. The more you talk it through beforehand, the better you’ll communicate what you want.
Chris Taylor
Chris Griffiths leads the JST Studio. He carries forward the JST legacy of over five decades of specialized memorial design. Chris oversees project development from the moment a client says “go” to when they get the keys. He coordinates the engineers, navigates codes and ordinances, so the design vision is still intact when the project is finished.
My best strength is listening. You can’t meet expectations if you don’t listen to what is being said.
Chris Griffiths
For more than three decades, John Gary led JST Architects alongside Bob Killingsworth, growing a firm specialized in funeral, cemetery, and memorial design into a nationwide practice that continues to serve clients coast to coast. JST became part of Shanks Architects in 2022, and John continues to lend his experience in strategic planning and new business development. He is a retired SCCA-certified race car driver who traded his race car for a Mercedes Sprinter and now spends his time traveling the Southwest.
For more than three decades, John Gary led JST Architects alongside Bob Killingsworth, growing a firm specialized in funeral, cemetery, and memorial design into a nationwide practice that continues to serve clients coast to coast. JST became part of Shanks Architects in 2022, and John continues to lend his experience in strategic planning and new business development. He is a retired SCCA-certified race car driver who traded his race car for a Mercedes Sprinter and now spends his time traveling the Southwest.
Design Professional
Works across construction documents and technical detailing, with a particular interest in designing inclusive, sensory-friendly public spaces.
Works part-time in financial administration. Her kids call David Shanks “PJ” (he’s their grandpa) and count his drafting table among their favorite places to visit.
Keeps construction documents precise and code-compliant across projects of every size. Outside of work, she and her husband chase new places and the occasional rollercoaster.
Has worked alongside David Shanks for more than 30 years, first at another firm and now at Shanks. His mission is to pass on that experience to younger architects.
Met David Shanks at a Rangers game in 2019, interned through college, and joined the team full-time after graduating.
Made the leap from studying 3D animation at the Art Institute of Dallas into architecture, and now supports project coordination and marketing for JST Studio.
Has specialized in construction specifications for around 40 years, with church buildings as a throughline across his career. He and his wife, Debbie, share a soft spot for spicy cashew chicken and British television.
Supports the whole office as, in her own words, chief vibes officer. Her past roles, from house manager to party planner, all show up in how she keeps things running.
Moved from facilities work at Texas Instruments into architecture and project management. He measures a good day by being there when someone, colleague or client, needs help.
Studied architecture across three countries before joining Shanks. Her stated career goal: to collect skills like Pokémon and evolve.
With a primary focus on JST Studio, Kitty assesses client needs and fulfills them as creatively as possible.
Handles accounting for JST and Interiors Studio. Her favorite days off involve cruises, vacations, and time with her grandkids and great-grandkids.
Helped launch Shanks Architects in 2007 and keeps the firm’s people and systems running today. Outside the office, he’s usually deep in a coding project or a Rubik’s-cube-style puzzle.
Leads projects from concept through construction with a background in the arts and hands-on time at job sites. She calls architecture an experience, one that can inspire and elevate everyday life.
Listens and communicates with her clients and her team. Across all studios, Skyler guides the process of bringing each space together as desired.
Shanks Architects’ second-ever designer, on staff since the firm’s earliest days. She’s helped build everything from small chapels to full church relocations.
Across our six studios, Shanks Architects brings together architects, interior designers, project managers, and support staff, all working from the same conviction: that architecture works best as a partnership.