Amanda S. Barton is a Florida-registered architect whose work spans coastal hospitality design, resilient architecture, professional advocacy, and mentorship. Current 2026 materials from the American Institute of Architects and HKS identify her as a Vice President and Project Designer at HKS, where her practice includes hospitality projects in coastal and international settings.
Her public record also extends well beyond individual buildings. Barton has helped develop resilience guidance for architects, served as president of AIA Miami, supported mentorship initiatives, and taken part in efforts to broaden participation within the profession. In 2026, the American Institute of Architects recognized that wider body of work with an AIA Young Architect Award.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Profession | Florida-registered architect |
| Current role | Vice President and Project Designer at HKS |
| Specialization | Coastal hospitality design |
| Education | University of Miami graduate |
| Major professional role | Former AIA Miami president |
| Resilience work | Co-author of the AIA/HKS Resilience Design Toolkit |
| Industry recognition | ENR Texas & Southeast Top Young Professional |
| AIA recognition | AIA Young Architect Award |
How Amanda S. Barton Built Her Architectural Career
Barton graduated from the University of Miami and received the Alpha Rho Chi Medal of Architecture in 2013. By 2026, AIA Florida described her as having more than 12 years of experience serving the architectural community.
Her current professional focus is coastal hospitality architecture. AIA conference materials describe her work as extending across master planning, conceptual design, and architectural documentation, giving her experience at several stages of the design process.
HKS and AIA materials associate Barton with hospitality projects including the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Jacksonville, JW Marriott Hotel São Paulo, The Ocean Club, a Four Seasons Resort, Grand Solmar at Rancho San Lucas Resort and Pendry Barbados.
Those project listings represent collaborative architectural work rather than sole authorship. One project for which Barton has described her role more specifically is the proposed Jungle Island Resort in Miami, where she identified herself as Project Designer. At the time of that profile, the project was listed as unbuilt.
Engineering News-Record provided a broader measure of her experience in 2025, reporting that she had contributed to more than 25 projects covering over 10 million square feet and representing more than $3 billion in construction investment.
For another perspective on architecture as a professional path, StoryFiesta has also covered América Guinart’s architecture work and her later move into entrepreneurship.
How Resilience Became a Defining Part of Her Architectural Work
Resilience has become a recurring part of Barton’s professional work, particularly in relation to coastal communities and sea-level rise.
HKS has described her as a knowledge leader in resilient design for sea-level rise, while AIA Florida records also connect her work with resilience and adaptation efforts. Her interest in those issues appears alongside her hospitality practice rather than as a separate professional track.
Barton has spoken directly about why that work matters to her. In a first-person profile, Barton described advancing resilient design in architectural projects as one of the professional contributions she values most, with the goal of making resilience part of everyday practice.
Her interest in architecture itself began earlier. Barton said a high-school architecture summer program helped lead her toward the profession. She was drawn to the idea of designing sustainable spaces that could serve communities while also carrying cultural meaning.
She has also linked her professional outlook to future generations. Barton said seeing her nieces and nephews makes her think about the kind of world younger people will inherit, and she connects that concern to more equitable, sustainable, and resilient design.
Her approach also includes a civic dimension. In an AIA Florida candidate statement, Barton wrote that architects have a responsibility to engage with issues affecting communities and the built environment, including policy and legislation.
Her Role in the AIA and HKS Resilience Design Toolkit
One of the clearest examples of Barton’s resilience work is the Resilience Design Toolkit: Resilience Design Integration for Architectural Projects, released on May 9, 2023.
Barton was one of four named co-authors, alongside Sammy Shams, Adam Fox, and Josephine Hsu. AIA and HKS produced the toolkit to help architectural teams incorporate resilience thinking into project design.
The work fits closely with Barton’s stated professional priorities. She has described resilient design as something that should be integrated into ordinary architectural practice rather than treated as a separate concern.
Her public writing has also addressed related issues. In 2020, Barton co-authored an HKS article examining how census and demographic information can help architects and public agencies plan for population change, infrastructure demands, and disaster resilience.
Because that article had multiple authors, its arguments are collaborative rather than Barton’s alone. Even so, it forms part of a consistent record connecting her design work with broader questions about how communities prepare for environmental and demographic pressures.
The Hospitality Projects Behind Her Design Experience
Hospitality architecture remains a major part of Barton’s professional identity.
Her documented portfolio includes projects associated with global hotel and resort brands, as well as coastal developments where design decisions must account for location, environment, and guest experience.
Barton has said hospitality design appeals to her because it lets architects create distinctive spaces experienced by many different people in destinations around the world. That interest helps explain why her portfolio includes both domestic and international work.
Her hospitality work sits alongside a documented professional focus on coastal resilience, sea-level rise and long-term environmental conditions affecting the built environment.
The available project records do not establish Barton as the sole designer of the major HKS projects connected with her profile. They do, however, document sustained participation in large hospitality projects and, in the case of Jungle Island Resort, identify her directly as Project Designer.
How Professional Leadership Expanded Beyond Project Work
Barton’s professional activity increasingly expanded into leadership, mentorship, and advocacy.
In 2023, she served as president of AIA Miami. AIA, AIA Florida, and HKS have described her as the chapter’s youngest president. AIA says her leadership included membership growth and broader advocacy efforts.
Her work with emerging professionals developed alongside that leadership. AIA Florida and Engineering News-Record both document her involvement with mentorship and the emerging-professional committee. However,h the sources differ slightly in how they count the exact duration of those responsibilities.
Barton has explained that mentorship has personal significance for her career. In a 2026 public statement, she said important opportunities came when others encouraged her to volunteer, join committees, or accept leadership roles before she felt fully ready. She connected those experiences with her later desire to create similar opportunities for other architects.
Her professional-service work has also included involvement with SAY IT LOUD Florida, an initiative focused on increasing visibility for diverse professionals in architecture and the built environment. Barton said she had wanted to bring the exhibition to Miami for roughly two years.
She has also been involved with SoFloNOMA. A 2026 AIA conference profile identified her as the organization’s vice president at that time.
What Recent Recognition Shows About Her Current Direction
Barton’s recent professional recognition has come from both industry publications and architecture organizations.
Engineering News-Record included Barton in its 2025 Texas & Southeast Top Young Professionals group. That same year, AIA Florida awarded her the Anthony “Tony” Pullara Individual AIA Service Award.
Earlier in her career, Barton received the AIA Miami Associate of the Year award in 2016, the AIA Miami & Fort Lauderdale Volunteer of the Year honor in 2018, and AIA Florida’s Individual Member of the Year recognition in 2019. AIA Miami Emerging Professionals recognition in 2020 and additional emerging-professional recognition in 2021. She also received the SoFloNOMA President’s Award in 2023.
On April 6, 2026, the American Institute of Architects named Barton a recipient of the 2026 AIA Young Architect Award. The recognition covered not just project work, but also her resilience efforts, mentorship, and professional advocacy.
HKS materials from May 2026 identified her as Vice President and Project Designer, a more senior title than the “Designer” label still shown on the firm’s standalone people page.
Later that year, she participated in AIA26 advocacy programming focused on issues including climate, equity, public health, and policy. A July 2026 press release supplied by AIA Florida also stated that Barton had been selected as a Young Architect representative to the AIA Young Architects Forum.
Her work combines coastal hospitality architecture with sustained involvement in resilience, mentorship, and professional advocacy.