About....

For the past 36 years, Norman Alston Architects has shown the possibilities that are available when important historic buildings and sites are thoughtfully preserved and equipped for modern, productive use. The firm has completed successful, award-winning restorations, renovations, and additions by demonstrating that preservation is economically advantageous, environmentally responsible and culturally invigorating. Our projects are often catalysts for redevelopment of the surrounding community. Successful projects range from important large structures in large urban areas to numerous small projects in rural communities where professional skills in historic preservation are often assumed to be unavailable. We have experienced first-hand the complexity typical to historic preservation endeavors and have sought to become a resource to help clients simplify a process that can appear daunting, and to confidently address the variety of issues before them.

These special skills have expanded to provide benefits to our non-historic projects as well. Renovations and adaptive reuse of existing structures, a cornerstone of urban redevelopment and sustainable building practices, is our strength. In particular, clients come to us with needs that present unusual technical or regulatory challenges.

Founded in 1989, Norman Alston Architects provides the full range of architectural design, documentation and related services on a wide variety of building types from our offices in Dallas, Texas.

Norman Alston, FAIA

P r i n c i p a l

Norman founded Norman Alston Architects 36 years ago to allow him to focus his practice on historic preservation, the fulfillment of his architectural passion. Through his restoration designs, education and advocacy, he seeks to integrate historic buildings into the urban fabric while creating a wider culture of preservation that embraces the unique character of the community’s architectural legacy. As a result of the success of these efforts, he was elevated to Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) in 2019, an honor shared by only about 4% of the Institute’s membership.

He has personally led preservation planning and restoration efforts on more than 100 historic projects, ranging in size from the very smallest up to $54 million in construction costs.

A 1978 graduate of the University of Texas School of Architecture, Norman Alston has been a registered architect in Texas for more than 44 years. He is qualified under the Secretary of the Interiors Professional Qualifications Standards 36 CFR Part 61 for historic architecture as well as being certified by the Green Building Certification Institute as a LEED Accredited Professional. He is trained and certified by the California Office of Emergency Services’ Safety Assessment Program (SAP) to conduct post-disaster building safety assessments . Norman is also certified by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.

Norman Alston is highly active in the community, serving with numerous non-profit efforts. He is a founding board member of Fair Park First, the organization tasked with the management and revitalization of Fair Park National Historic Landmark. He serves as vice chair of the City of Dallas’ Urban Design Peer Review Panel as well as having served two terms on the city’s Landmarks Commission. He also serves on the Antiquity Advisory Board of the Texas Historical Commission, and has served on the boards of Preservation Dallas (President), the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the Dallas Architecture and Design Foundation, He recently served on the advisory committees for two recent bond programs for the Dallas Independent School District.

Norman is a frequent speaker on architecture and historic preservation and has done so at the invitation of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Building Officials Association of Texas, the Texas Association of Museums, the National Association of Church Facilities Managers, the Council for Educational Facilities Planners, Preservation Dallas, Preservation Texas, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Texas Historical Commission and the Oklahoma Preservation Society, and the New Mexico Heritage Preservation Alliance, among others.

Jean Alston

P r i n c i p a l - A d m i n i s t r a t i o n

Although  best known as a registered nurse, Jean has been in the architecture business for almost 45 years, like it or not.  Jean and Norman met while at university and married immediately afterwards, when she embarked on a 43 year nursing career. Through it all she has witnessed the joys and the challenges of not only an urban hospital, but also of an architectural practice. Following her nursing career, she officially moved over to the family business, expanding on the partnership the two of them  had formed 45 years earlier.  Today she brings the thoroughness, discipline and clear objectivity of her medical experience to the sometimes chaotic world of Norman Alston Architects.

Lindsay Akins, AIA

A r c h i t e c t

Lindsay has  more than a decade of working with a variety of large, complex projects with some of Dallas’ most prominent firms.

Her experiences  have seen her participate in and lead projects through all phases of building design, documentation, construction, and historic preservation. Her experience includes working with the Texas Historical Commission on historic tax credits.  She is equally at home  at the computer, on the construction site, or in the client’s board room. She brings that experience and wide-ranging skill set to Norman Alston Architects and utilizes it  in support of the  needs of our projects and clients.

Kim Thomason

I n t e r i o r D e s i g n A s s o c i a t e 

While taking many twists and turns along the way, Kim’s career path has always  been focused on creativity, especially in design. Whether working as a tv camera operator, a substitute teacher, or supporting the family land management business, Kim has grabbed every opportunity to upgrade the physical environment for herself and for those around her.  With her children grown, she took the opportunity to fully commit to design, and  work more closely with one of her other passions, historic preservation, by enrolling in the Interior Architecture and Design Program at Abilene Christian University. It was during her time at ACU that Norman Alston Architects got to know her.  Now she helps round out the firm’s professional preservation offerings as an interior designer with historic preservation knowledge.

Services

Norman Alston Architects is a full service architecture and planning practice, offering creative, client-driven design, clear, thoughtful documentation and construction phase services that express years of experience from both the design and construction perspectives.

Additionally, we offer a number of services developed specifically for the needs of historic preservation projects and the successful management of our fragile cultural and historic resources.

Historic Tax Credits

A popular and powerful tool for qualifying historic buildings, this process is nonetheless often beset by misunderstanding and needless apprehension. We have completed numerous successful applications over the past 20 years and can guide projects through this process from the earliest design decisions through the preparation of the Part 3 documentation of a completed project. Consult the Portfolio to see projects that have included historic tax credit applications.

Our services focus on the architectural components of the application for a building to qualify for the tax credits. We are happy to work with client’s legal and accounting professionals to provide information to be used in their consultation, or even to assist clients in identifying experienced professionals in these fields. Norman Alston Architects does not provide legal or accounting consulting services and clients should seek these services to fully understand the applicability and availability of historic tax credits to their particular situation.

List of Services

• Building Condition Assessment

• Master Planning

• Resource Surveys, Documentation, and Assistance with Determination of Effect

• Historic Research

• Historic Structures Reports

• Historic Materials and Finishes Conservation

• Historic American Building Survey Documentation (HABS/HAER).

• Federal Section 106 and Section 110 Compliance and/or Mitigation

• FHWA Section 4(f) Consulting

• Project and Program Management

• Maintenance Plan Development

• Training

• Grant Writing/Fund Raising and Non-Profit Organizational Assistance