MEET OUR TEAM

April is a leading voice in the advancement of alternative, climate-smart & healthy building methods and has been a pioneer in the southeast.  She is an Architect, small business owner, Executive Director, and Adjunct Professor; April has been a keynote speaker and presenter to many organizations and universities over the past decade. 

April has been a Charleston County resident since 2004 and has devoted her career to the advancement of sustainable architecture and affordable housing.  After advancing her career at several Charleston architecture firms, in 2011 she took a leap of faith and founded Root Down Designs, a women-led architecture firm dedicated to sustainable architecture and affordable housing in the south where she serves as the Principal Architect. April pioneered several carbon-negative and alternative housing prototypes in Charleston, such as a Rammed-Earth home and Compressed Earth Blocks. She has worked with multiple building jurisdictions in helping clients obtain building permits for alternative materials and healthy housing. Working with financially-challenged clients and creating affordable building options has been a strong tenant of the Root Down team. 

As a way to educate about these healthy and natural building materials, she began teaching building workshops with a ‘community-building’ ethos embedded. April has led over 4 dozen community-building workshops and courses across the southeast, including educational institutions such as Greenville Technical College, The Governor’s School of Science & Math, and the American College of Building Arts.  She has led over a dozen community-building projects in the Charleston region, including work at MUSC’s Urban Farm, the Romney St. Urban Garden, Fresh Future Farm, and the earthen bus stop at Morrison Ave. Her passion for sustainable architecture and community-building workshops was noticed by The American College of the Building Arts, and she began serving as the Professor of Sustainable Materials in 2018. 

Always seeking and creating more pathways towards streamlined and affordable housing, she launched a for-profit entity, the Root Down House Plan Co. (founded 2020), which has a collection of 20 pre-designed house plans, specific to the south, focused on small to moderate-sized homes, including many ADU plans.   These highly detailed plans come with a ‘Healthy Housing’ specification package and have helped dozens of clients across the southeast navigate a complicated and expensive process.

After an incredibly successful ‘Charleston Hemp-Building Workshop’ in 2022 with over 100 participants, April created the latest chapter and now also serves as the Executive Director of the Root Down Building Collective, a 501c3 grassroots organization whose mission is ‘To Advance Regional, Climate-Smart, & Equitable Housing Solutions.’  Although a young organization, April and her board of 11 are already actively collaborating with other climate- and housing-based organizations, as well as working with Charleston City and County to help meet the carbon emission goals of the Climate Action Plans. The empowerment of communities is at the heart of her work; as an advocate for affordable and healthy building solutions, her passion for engaging with communities and involving people in the process of building is essential and a major passion. She is a true visionary for resilient and healthy buildings for a healthy future! 

April also sits on the board of the Community First Land Trust, lives on James Island, and is a mom of two. 

Download April’s Resume

Gina has been an interior designer and architectural draftsman in Charleston, SC for over 10 years. She joined Root Down Designs in 2018 to re-introduce alternative building materials + advocate for affordable healthy housing. 

Over the past 5 years, Gina has been studying scientific research and journals on redlist chemicals, VOCs, and other toxic materials commonly found in North American homes. Her focus was to understand how these compounds interact with our hot and humid Southeastern climate, leading to poor indoor air quality. With this information as a driving force, her designs are geared towards providing materials and fixtures that promote healthier living and encourage a better world through ethical manufacturing. In 2023, she earned a certificate from Parsons School of Design for ‘Healthier Materials and Sustainable Building.

In her free time, Gina makes sentimental keepsakes and memorial jewelry with human hair. Following patterns from the mid-1800s, she taught herself the ancient technique of weaving strands of hair into intricate and durable jewelry to keep close to the heart.  Check out her work!