City of Charleston welcomes new City Architect

The city of Charleston has hired Tory Parish as its new City Architect.

Ms. Parish, who began work this week, will help shape the city’s built environment by overseeing the work of the Board of Architectural Review – Large, Board of Architectural Review – Small and the Design Review Board. In addition to managing the operations of the city’s Preservation and Urban Design Division, she is also responsible for interpreting and enforcing the city’s adopted zoning ordinance and managing applications for preservation, design architecture, site design, signage and requests for demolition.

Ms. Parish comes to the City of Charleston with 20 years of experience in design and architecture. Tory is a registered architect and was most recently with LRK Inc. in Celebration, Florida, where she served as the Town Architect for several mixed-use communities. As the Town Architect she led the Architectural Review Committee and managed the development review and approval process. She worked collaboratively with designers, developers, citizens, and the local municipality while maintaining the overall vision and guiding principles of these communities. Ms. Parish also served as the chairperson of the City of Winter Garden Architectural Review and Historic Preservation Board, a public review board charged with protecting historical and cultural resources within the city’s limits and ensuring new construction is sensitively introduced into a vibrant downtown historic district.

Ms. Parish began her architectural career in Charlotte, North Carolina, working on hospitality and healthcare projects after earning her Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.  She also worked for boutique architectural firms and led her own private architectural practice. Tory’s architectural experience includes mixed-use, residential, commercial, and traditional neighborhood design.

A South Carolina native, Ms. Parish is excited to be back in her home state. “I’m eager to serve the City of Charleston – to preserve what makes Charleston special and carefully manage and shape its growth with context sensitive solutions.”