Charles Heid

Charles is the Founding Principal of HEID Architects.   His passion is to create design solutions crafted from close attention to project contexts and motivated by a desire to connect people with their environment.

Charles has worked professionally for over 20 years in offices located in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Detroit. After earning a Masters of Architecture from the University of California – Los Angeles, he worked on notable international projects while at Frank Gehry’s offices in Los Angeles where he established his design ideals.

Passionate for the style and ethos of southern California modernism, Charles developed an appreciation for the impact material and environment can have on human experience.  Large glass openings and minimized details allow no room for distraction when the desired outcome is connection with nature.  Wood interiors and finishes reestablish a warmth reminiscent of trees where-as cold, sterile surfaces of manufactured materials usually fall short.  Earth tones and colors found in natural stones reveal honest characteristics of our environment and the beauty that is given freely by their formation over millions of years.  Light, air, and sound can all be choreographed into a reduction that is simple and undeniably focused on our experience with nature. 

It is with these ideals that he strives to lead his clients into designs deliberately crafted around the experience of nature and context.  He loves to work closely with his clients to establish their goals and understand their lifestyles so they can benefit from designing with nature that is all too often not recognized.

He holds a Masters of Architecture from The University of California Los Angeles and an Undergraduate degree in Architectural Studies from the University of Illinois - Chicago.

Associations // AIA, NCARB, ULI

State Licenses // Michigan