Alex Bogaerts CEO
Xander Bogaerts Principal
Mark Abanatha Senior Vice President
Laura Cunningham Vice President
Caryn Satovsky-Siegel Director of Interior Design
Elizabeth SmithBusiness Manager
Darpan Arora BIM Manager
Andra McKenzie Architect, Project Manager
Martin Missaiel Architect, BIM Modeler/Technician
Michelle Smith Project Manager
Molly Thomas Interior Designer
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Alex Bogaerts has over fifty years of experience in architectural design. He has an established track record of client satisfaction in projects ranging from custom residential, multi-family residential, office, commercial and mixed-use projects, both nationally and internationally, including numerous projects with multi-million dollar budgets. His client list includes religious congregations, professional sports, music and business leaders, who have sought out his creative designs and trusted reputation. Alex excels at working within client budgets and needs, and has developed outstanding presentation, leadership and communication skills, not only with clients, but also with various municipal and governmental planning and approval boards. Noteworthy projects include apartment/condominium complexes, exquisite custom homes, senior living facilities, shopping centers, office buildings, industrial, public use buildings, and recreation/resort developments.
Projects completed by AVB & Associates span multiple states, Canada, Nevis Island, St. Kitts, St. Thomas, Virgin Gorda – BVI, Italy and Damascus, Syria.
Elizabeth has a wealth of experience in combining financial information with business operations, applying integrative theory to complex issues, and demonstrated history of team development. Her role at AVB consists of overseeing financial accounting and reporting, billing systems, and overall office management. Elizabeth strives to ensure and improve the performance, productivity, efficiency, profitability and customer and employee satisfaction.
Darpan Arora is an Architectural Designer & BIM Manager at AVB. Joined in July 2020, he has over 7 years of industry experience, including working on residential (single & multi-family), corporate commercial as well as healthcare projects. He graduated from Lawrence Technological University with a Master of Architecture degree in 2018 and has a Bachelor of Architecture degree from India. He believes in leveraging BIM to enhance productivity and efficiency of projects he works on. Being a LEED & WELL accredited professional, his interests also include promoting sustainability in built environment through his work.
Bio Coming Soon
Martin Missaiel joined AVB in the spring of 2022 and joined the architectural field in the spring of 2015. He graduated from IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology) and is an Illinois and Michigan-Licensed Architect. He has worked in firms in the Chicago and Washington DC areas, completing projects of different types, scales, municipalities, and client markets. He brings to the firm an experience of efficient design development and code analysis, as well as a passion for sustainability and accessibility.
Andra attended Alma College for her Bachelors with a major in French and minor in Art. During this time she was able to study abroad. Andra then went on to achieve her Bachelor of Architecture and Masters from University of Detroit Mercy. Architecture isn’t Andra’s only passion, but she has a love of photography and fine art. Andra has been with AVB since December of 2013.
Michelle started with the firm right out of high school. She worked full-time and graduated Magna Cum Laude with an architectural degree from Lawrence Technological University. During that time, she became a valuable asset to the firm specializing in residential and multi-family construction drawings. After taking a break to raise her children she rejoined the firm in 2013. Since then, she has focused mainly on all types of multi-family buildings, becoming an experienced project manager. She has also taken the lead writing specification for many of the firms’ multi-family projects
Caryn is a talented interior designer with extensive experience in a vast array of projects, from custom single family homes, senior living, hospitality and multi-family projects. Caryn is adept at working in all facets of the firm’s projects; conceptual planning, design development, selection and specification architectural material finishes, interior detailing, and furnishings. Her work has earned the firm two Detroit Home awards.
Laura was brought into Alexander V. Bogaerts and Assoc. (AVB) to round out the experience managing multiple projects independently using strong organization and communication skills. Her successful track record with client, landlord and franchise expectations, quality control, budget accountability, schedule management, consultant management and staff scheduling, are a huge plus to the AVB team. Laura has experience with a vast knowledge of multiple project types, both ground up, renovation and historic rehabilitation such as Mutli-Family, Hospitality, Retail, Educational, Automotive, and Institutional. She has completed extensive work in all phases of projects including codes, planning, design, community and state approval processing, production of construction documents, construction administration and project close out.
As Director of Architectural Documents, Laura is responsible for overseeing a large number of AVB projects in terms of office staffing, budgets and schedules; this also overseeing Office standards including drawing standards, BIM services and quality of production. Laura works side by side with the other Managers to make sure all projects run smoothly and ensures a high level of productivity. Laura believes whole-heartedly in working collaboratively within a group of people using their individual skills to achieve the greatest results!
Mark has significant experience and background in site planning, architectural design and municipal processing for a wide variety of project types including Multi-family, Senior Housing, Commercial, Mixed-Use, Office and Single Family. Mark is responsible for the initial startup phase of projects which includes: Detailed municipal code and local ordinance compliance, interaction with city planners and attending planning commission and council meetings. Mark develops preliminary site and architectural design concepts for various project types, coordinates with the project team including owners, consulting engineers, landscape architects and lighting engineers to make sure the project successfully navigates the municipal approval process.
As a Senior Vice President, Mark is responsible for overseeing municipal processing for the majority of the firm’s projects. Mark is a key point of contact for the client, community representatives, consultants and our AVB team members working on the project. Mark ensures that everyone involved in the initial design and municipal processing phase of the project is communicating with one another to meet critical city submission time tables, and that the project conforms to the communities zoning and planning regulations. Mark will then coordinate with our AVB construction drawing team members to make sure that the approved design is carried through into the construction drawings phase of the project. Our AVB team’s ultimate goal is to provide our clients with a seamless and successful project from the initial design drawings to the finished building.
Having an award-winning architect as a father who built up his own architectural firm from scratch, coupled with his mother who is a very talented artist with exceptional taste in interior design, Xander has been immersed in architecture and interior design and developed a passion for it.
Xander began working for his father at Alexander V. Bogaerts & Associates in summer of 1996, and returned full-time in 2000. Since 2000, Xander has been fortunate to work with talented and experienced key employees at the firm, each with a specific focus on the architectural process: initial client meetings, design/planning, code compliance, interior design as well as structural engineering. The projects included mainly single family and multi-family projects, with some commercial projects along the way as well.
In between undergrad and graduate school, Xander lived in San Francisco, California from ’96-’98. He worked at a design-build company that built high-end live/work condominiums in SoMA (South of Market) district. This invaluable opportunity provided hands-on experience of the design process through finished construction, in which he designed, drafted and oversaw construction of fully custom units with an industrial design theme. All projects at this company were rehabilitation of existing structures, and Xander coordinated all consultants and select sub-contractors in each project.