Nick Mehl received his B.Arch from the University of Notre Dame, where he spent a year in Italy studying the classics of architecture and urban design. After working for several years in the offices of Murray & Downs (Northern California) and Good Fulton and Farrell (Dallas), Nick moved to Austin, Texas where he received his M.Arch from the University of Texas at Austin.
When Nick Mehl opened his own practice in 2002 he saw the need for modern environmental architecture at an affordable price. Homeowners of the next generation were increasingly unimpressed with their housing choices but could not afford the homes featured in glossy magazines. Mehl found that being sensitive to a client’s budget and finding creative ways to make modern architecture affordable opened up the doors to a growing segment of clients – generally young to middle-aged urban professionals.
Nick Mehl has been featured in Austin Monthly Home, Odic Force magazine and as part of the “Mod Squad” in the Austin Amercian Statesman as well as on HGTV’s “What You Get for the Money” and is a licensed Architect in the state of Texas.
Meet Nick Mehl’s Home: 800 W. Oltorf Street
Go to Modern Home Tour Featured Architects
An Interview with Nick Mehl
Q: What is it about architecture in general and modern architecture in particular that excites you enough to make it your profession?
A: Architecture in general – especially residential architecture – combines art, science, math and psychology into one discipline. I appreciate that the quality of design can totally affect one’s quality of life. Modern architecture takes the freedom of artistic expression and the relationship to nature to the next level.
Q: Tell us something about you or your work that differentiates you and/or your work?
A: If anything, I take my clients’ budget very seriously and I know what can keep a budget in check and what can really blow a budget. Beyond that, I come from an educational background that centers around classical training so that even my modern designs have a good sense of scale and proportion.
Q: Give us your list of the five buildings, anywhere in the world, that have most inspired your design philosophy.
A: The Pantheon and St. Peter’s Basilica (Rome), the town planning of Seaside, FL, Carlos Scarpa’s Brion-Vega Cemetary (Italy), Frank Gehry’s Chiat Day Office Building (Venice, CA).
Q: In 500 words or less, describe what you would do, architecturally, to Austin if you could design it to be your dream city.
A: I would begin with the urban design of this city. I feel like Austin (and all American cities) really needs better urban and sub-urban planning that makes the central core much more dense, limits sprawl, encourages walking and gives us multiple transportation choices. Once we get that figured out, maybe 100 years from now, building design will be of secondary importance.
