— Dana Gould AIA | PrincipalAcross cultures we share the same aspirations - healthy families, meaningful work, and a connection to our communities and cultural heritage.
I’m proud to help communities preserve and find new life for their cultural assets.
After graduate school I had the incredible opportunity to work for the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Cairo, Egypt. Alongside my American colleagues, I collaborated with Egyptian university students in Darb al-Ahmar, a low-income neighborhood adjacent to the 12th-century Ayyubid wall and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Historic Cairo. Our mission was to preserve the neighborhood’s rich cultural heritage through three pilot conservation projects.
My primary role focused on preservation planning for the adaptive reuse of the historic Darb Shoughlan School, which had fallen into ruin. Our vision, later realized, transformed the building into a community and visitor center where residents could gather and obtain educational and community resources.
For someone who grew up on a farm in central Missouri, this experience was pivotal. My three months in Cairo, and the many travels that followed, gave me the profound understanding: we are more alike than we are different. Across cultures we share the same aspirations - healthy families, meaningful work, and a connection to our communities and cultural heritage. That lesson has guided me throughout my 30-year career.
in 2017, I joined SFS Architecture to combine my passion for historic preservation with community-focused design. My first project was the adaptive reuse of the historic Bonner Springs High School into a new Bonner Springs Government Services Center. Through working with Kerry Newman, I learned the importance of community outreach. Together, we transformed a deteriorated building most recently used as a haunted house into a community asset that honors its historic character while serving the public. The project balanced the preservation of the building’s historic spaces and features while sensitively integrating contemporary architectural components and infrastructure to support its civic purpose.
Partnering with Jackson County, Missouri, Marsha Hoffman and I led the rehabilitation planning for one of Kansas City’s most iconic landmarks: the Art Deco-style downtown courthouse. Through a comprehensive facility condition assessment, space needs analysis, and master planning effort, we laid the groundwork for its future. Through working with Marsha on the firm's many courthouse projects, I’ve learned the intricacies of courthouse design, including the orchestrated movement of judges, jurors, staff, the public, and detainees as well as the thoughtful, inclusive strategies that ensure these civic spaces serve everyone with dignity.
My journey in historic preservation and community-focused work is far from over. Whether it’s rehabilitating the Googie-style Shawnee Mission Park Marina to be inclusive so more people can enjoy the lake or restoring the historic Coliseum Building at the Missouri State Fairgrounds for future fairgoers, I’m proud to help communities preserve and find new life for their cultural assets. The lesson I learned in Egypt thirty years ago continues to guide me: there is a universal need to connect with our cultural heritage and with one another. What better way to contribute to that end than through the meaningful work we do at SFS?
I lead our Heritage Practice, a specialized team dedicated to the preservation, restoration and adaptive reuse of historic buildings and sites. We support all market sectors by crafting strategies that balance heritage with contemporary functions, to ensure our cultural assets have continued relevance for generations to come.
