About Us
We are proud of our designers. Many firms might give second thought to employing women or mothers, minorities, part-time workers, or people working remotely from home. Our designers are all this and more. They gracefully balance the demands of work-life and home-life.
Our team, in addition to being top of their class, are hardworking professionals with many years of experience and expertise.
Sagrada comprises 180 years of combined temple specific design, and over 300 years of design experience.
Sagrada Familia
The name Sagrada Design Studio is inspired by the iconic Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain. The phrase Sagrada Familia means “Sacred Family,” a concept that reflects one of our core values as a firm. We believe family is sacred, and our company culture supports this belief by providing opportunities for talented mothers to work remotely from home, allowing them to remain present with their children while continuing meaningful professional work.
The word Sagrada also means “sacred,” which resonates deeply with our passion for designing religious and spiritual spaces. Projects such as temples, churches, and other meaningful buildings allow us to contribute to environments that hold deep significance for the communities they serve.
Finally, the Sagrada Familia itself is a powerful symbol of thoughtful, inspired design. Originally designed by Antoni Gaudí, construction began in 1882 and continues today—over a century later. Its long and careful creation reminds us that great design takes time, dedication, and vision. The result is architecture that is both meaningful and breathtaking, a philosophy that guides the work we strive to create.
Image Source: https://www.nasjonalmuseet.no/en/collection/object/OK-14856
Our Philosophy
Widely recognized Danish designer Hans J. Wegner is considered one of the most influential furniture designers of the 20th century. He designed more than 500 chairs, each embodying his dedication to craftsmanship, comfort, and timeless design.
His renowned Round Chair, introduced in 1949 exemplifies this philosophy. This chair was an immediate success, but throughout his career, Wegner made the effort to continue to improve and refine the design.
His approach to design reflects our own. His relentless pursuit of refinement and improvement serves as a reminder that great design is achieved through thoughtful attention, craftsmanship, and dedication. At Sagrada Design Studio, we embrace this same mindset by thoughtfully refine every detail, and ensuring the spaces and furnishings we create are both meaningful and enduring.
Why Sagrada Exists
Sagrada Design Studio started with just three people and a simple belief: great work happens when talented people are given the opportunity to do what they do best.
When we started Sagrada, we wanted to create something different. We saw incredibly capable people—people with talent, experience, creativity, and a strong desire to contribute—who didn’t always have a place in the traditional workforce. We believed they deserved an opportunity, and we believed that if we built the right environment, they could do extraordinary things.
So we created that environment.
What started as a team of three has grown to nearly twenty people, and along the way we have built a team that we are incredibly proud of. We have sought out people who are exceptionally talented, technically strong, dependable, and passionate about what they do. Many of our team members bring years of specialized temple experience, while others bring remarkable expertise in Revit, documentation, graphics, procurement, project management, and the technical details that make a project come together.
We don’t believe everyone has to fit the same mold to be successful. In fact, some of the people who have become most valuable to our team are people whose talents might have been overlooked in a more traditional workplace. At Sagrada, we look for what people can do—and then we build on it.
Better Together
One of the greatest strengths of Sagrada is that we don’t work in silos.
Our team members may not all work in the same building, but we have built a strong community and an equally strong line of communication with one another. We constantly share ideas, experiences, lessons learned, and even the things we know to watch out for. When one person encounters a challenge or discovers a better way of doing something, that experience becomes knowledge the whole team can benefit from.
We are continually learning from one another and building on each other’s experience. That collaboration keeps all of us at the top of our game.
It also means that our clients benefit from something much bigger than the experience of any one designer. They have access to the collective knowledge of an entire team—people who are constantly communicating, asking questions, solving problems, and helping one another make the work better.
We believe that is one of the things that sets Sagrada apart.
The technical ability within our studio is exceptional. Individually, our team members are highly skilled. Collectively, their knowledge and experience are something much greater. Our shared experience, technical expertise, creativity, and practical problem-solving allow us to produce work at a level we believe is unmatched.
More Than a Team
We care about one another—not just as coworkers, but as people. We celebrate each other’s successes, support each other through challenges, and genuinely want one another to have a good life outside of work.
That matters to us.
When someone has a deadline right before Christmas, for example, the response isn’t, “That’s your project.” The response is, “How can we help?” We jump in, divide up the work, and do what we can to make sure that person can step away and be with their family. We know that work is important, but we also know that the people doing the work are even more important.
We also work hard to show our team just how much they mean to us. We want the people who work at Sagrada to know that they are valued—not just for what they produce, but for who they are and what they bring to our team. We look for ways to celebrate them, recognize their contributions, and create moments where we can simply enjoy being together.
Our Christmas party has become one of those special traditions. It is our opportunity to step away from the projects, deadlines, and day-to-day work and celebrate the people who make Sagrada what it is. We put a lot of thought and love into making it special because our team is worth celebrating.
That kind of care has become part of who we are.
Our team may be spread across different places, but there is a genuine sense of belonging among us. We have created a culture where people look out for each other, share what they know, and step in when someone needs help. It is a rare thing—and something we never want to take for granted.
We genuinely love what we do.
We love design, but we also love the process behind it—the problem solving, the technical challenges, the details, the collaboration, and the satisfaction of seeing something come together that didn’t exist before. We love working with people who care about their craft and take pride in doing things well.
Most of all, we love our people.
Sagrada exists because we believe that when you give good people a place to belong, meaningful work to do, and the opportunity to use their strengths, they can accomplish far more than anyone expected.
And when those people begin to care about one another, share their experience, lift each other up, and work together toward something bigger than themselves, something truly special happens.
That is Sagrada.
We started with three people. We have grown to nearly twenty. And while our size has changed, our purpose hasn’t: find great people, give them an opportunity, build something exceptional together, and take care of one another along the way.
Founders
Mia Holden
Sterling Holden