Kennaugh Architecture is an Austin-based design firm forged through tenacity over time, family and faith, and an embedded emphasis on how things are made. Relationships are central to every project, whether they are with the client, the contractor or the brick layer. Sean’s diverse construction background, mixed with his architecture and project management experience, seamlessly integrate both foresight and execution. Sean seeks clients who are willing to collaborate openly and candidly to ensure professional trust and mutual respect, resulting in strong yet intimate design work. Paramount to his approach is integrating nature into design in order to allow for a greater connection with the Divine. Driven by personal passion and intrinsic motivation, Sean will happily converse with you about justice, redemption and learning the hard way. He’ll be the first to share a passage from a novel, recommend a contemporary work of art, or engage in a poetic discourse about Texas sports.

Meet the Team.

  • Principal + Project Architect

    I grew up wanting to be a veterinarian. After a series of personal defeats brought on by my own youthful stupidity, I found my way into construction, which suited me because I liked working with my hands and I liked working outside. I used to say it was a better use of my wildness (I occasionally described myself as “an outside dog”). One day, while working as a laborer at a particularly fraught job site, I smelled a gas leak and moved into action to have the project shut down. After that, I was promoted to foreman; I solidified learning Spanish and toiled in the Texas heat working on foundations of historic projects, such as St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Denison, TX, completed in 1876 and the McCulloch County Courthouse in Brady, TX. To me, construction is the greatest team sport other than Dallas Cowboys football. There is simply no way to detach the design and the people who work on it. I have a deep respect for the value of the build process and I carried this with me when I decided to go back to school to get my degree in Architecture. During my time at the University of Texas at Austin, I worked as a teaching assistant in order to pay the bills, and it was around this time that I found out I was expecting my first child. After I graduated, I went to work for a local Austin Architecture firm, Clayton & Little (now Clayton Korte), a firm built on the foundation of Emily Little’s legacy of Historic Preservation work. Even then, I was drawn back into the construction realm and, because of my experience, I became the site manager for the firm’s annex office remodel branded Design Office at 2201 North Lamar. I worked as liaison for Paul Clayton and was able to collaborate with many of the talented members of Burnish & Plumb Construction Co. Following that, I was recruited to work at Classic Constructors and later Risinger Homes. I doubt I’ll ever be done oscillating between architecture and construction—it feels more holistic and human to me that way. When COVID hit, I convinced my wife to let me start my own thing. It’s always been a goal of mine to be present in my children’s life and I wake up every day doing my best to soak in the sweetness.

    Photography by: Jessie Shaw

    Words by Wilson Hack


  • Senior Architectural Designer + Interiors

    Autum graduated with a bachelors degree in interior architecture from The Ohio State University. After graduating, she spent the last 6 years as a project designer back home in Florida. She moved to Austin in the fall of 2023. Her passion for interior architecture doesn’t start at the front door, because she believes architecture and interior deisgn should weave together seamlessly.

    “My goal is to create spaces that bring a unique and ‘out of the box’ perspective”

    Her personal interests are drawing, jewlery making, and embroidery. Within these hobbies, she has learned attention to detail, color exploration, and working with different patters & textures.

    Photogarphy by: Elizabeth Marie Peterson