ARCH, ARIA Alumna Turns Research into Impact

Large stadium filled with cheering fans watching a football game; the field is green and the retractable roof is partly open, revealing a blue sky above.

For Candace Rimes, design is about being in service to others—and that service often stems from research about the project, place and people from whom the design was created.

A woman with long blonde hair sits on a chair, smiling, wearing a black top, blue jeans, and cream boots. She is surrounded by potted green plants against a wooden wall.
Candace Rimes ’10

Rimes graduated from the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture (APLA) in 2010 with concurrent degrees in Architecture (ARCH) and Interior Architecture (ARIA). After completing her thesis project—the Safe House Black History Museum in Greensboro, Alabama—at Rural Studio in 2011, she headed to Washington D.C. to work on high-end commercial interiors with Lehman Smith & McLeish (LSM) Studio.

While working on Brookfield’s headquarters in Manhattan’s Financial District with LSM, Rimes learned how to infuse art and custom furniture into her work. That project prompted her next role with Fogarty Finger in New York City.

Currently, Rimes is a Director in Fogarty Finger’s interiors studio and heads the firm’s 12-person Atlanta office, which she helped launch in 2020.

“Auburn set me up for so many different paths,” Rimes said. “There’s so much crossover in design—hospitality, residential, commercial—that architecture school sets you up for working on different typologies.”

Colorful lounge area with red chairs, blue booths, basketball court floor design, and NYC-themed wall art under a skylight and ornate ceiling.
Rimes led Forgarty Finger’s collaboration with New Heights after-school program to design a space where sports activate youth education.

Over the last 12 years, she has been a part of the growth of the new towers in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward development, brought together artisans to display their creations at Dock 72 at Brooklyn Navy Yard and sourced local muralists to promote the power of athletics and learning at the New Heights after-school program.

Recently, Rimes has expanded the studio’s portfolio, taking on a new sports interiors typology by designing suites for the forthcoming Cleveland Browns NFL stadium and launching the firm’s first furniture partnership with Halcon.

These projects draw on the research and experimentation methods Rimes learned both at Rural Studio and in Associate Professor Emeritus Sheri Schumacher’s ARIA thesis course.

“The most valuable part of Rural Studio was being exposed to different cultures, communities and ways of life,” she said. “It opened my eyes to what people need—quality design, shelter, community space—and shaped me as I moved onward into the real world.”

A modern building with wood siding and large windows is lit up at dusk, with bare trees and a gravel driveway in front.
The Safe House Black History Museum in Greensboro repurposes the home where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. sought refuge from the Ku Klux Klan two weeks prior to his assassination. Photo by Timothy Hursley.
Three people in work clothes stand together smiling between two mounds of dirt in front of a building with Marvins logos on a banner.
Rimes was part of the Rural Studio team that designed and built the Safe House Black History Museum.

In Schumacher’s studio, Rimes learned how to dig into research, form a defendable thesis concept and share that with others through presentations, workshops and discussions.

“That really set me up for success in working with clients and talking to my team,” she said.

Modern cafeteria with green chairs and wooden tables, large windows, globe lights, and people working or sitting alone in a bright, open space.
Rimes worked with local artisans for the Dock 72 project at Brooklyn Navy Yard. Photo by Connie Zhou.

Now, Rimes passes that expertise back to students, returning to APLA to sit in on reviews a couple times each year. She hopes future designers help bring an intentional human touch back to the field, rather than letting software lead designs.

“Get back to the ethos and roots of putting ideas to paper,” she said. “Get back to that discovery and research phase of design and think about the end user.”

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Alumni, Alumni Recognition, Rural Studio