Chester Nielsen, AIA, is a seasoned architect and leader in interior architecture with more than 20 years of experience designing high-performance, award-winning, human-centered environments across civic, workplace, healthcare, and education sectors. As Director of Interior Architecture at Huitt-Zollars, he leads the firmwide interiors discipline, setting design standards, mentoring multidisciplinary teams, and ensuring a consistent level of design excellence across all offices.

Chester’s design approach is rooted in clarity, purpose, and innovation. He engages clients in an iterative, collaborative dialogue to define project goals and uncover design solutions that are contextual, meaningful, and inclusive. His process prioritizes the human experience, treating both the project and its full spectrum of users with equal consideration. Attention to light, acoustics, volume, texture, and color ensures that each space is not only functional but sensory-rich and emotionally resonant.

Under Chester’s leadership, Huitt-Zollars has continued to grow its reputation for delivering smart, flexible spaces that evolve with changing human needs. He has helped shape a firmwide culture of design excellence by aligning interior architecture with broader organizational and architectural goals. His portfolio includes numerous notable and award-winning projects for both public institutions and private clients.

Chester is particularly recognized for his expertise in agile environments, a design approach that supports autonomy, creativity, empathy, and movement. His work reflects a belief that space should empower its users and adapt over time, creating memorable and responsive environments designed for how people truly live and work today.

A registered architect in both California and Texas, Chester is widely respected for his thoughtful leadership, clear communication, and deep commitment to creating spaces that support and inspire their users, now and in the future.