Lyanne
Schuster

With a passion for the arts, Lyanne Schuster studied fine arts and architecture in college, and she worked as a freelance artist through painting murals and drawing, even providing illustrations for a textbook teaching drawing for architects. Her interest in art led her to a career in architecture, where she felt her building designs would benefit from her artistic eye. As licensed architect since 1993, Lyanne has worked on numerous projects ranging from educational, retail, multi-family housing, neighborhood/urban design and even a resort in Malaysia. Whatever the project, she believes it is only good architecture if it functions well for the client.

Since joining QKA in 2005, Lyanne is now one of five Studio Directors and a firm Principal, as well as manager of the Oakland office, where she leads a team of design and construction administration staff on the successful execution of complex educational projects. In 2017, she was certified as an Accredited Learning Environments Planner (ALEP) by the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE), currently held by less than 450 of the nation’s most qualified designers and planners of school facilities.

In her spare time, Lyanne enjoys trail running, reading, learning languages and caring for animals. She taught English in Africa and Japan as well as being a licensed yoga instructor. Lyanne previously worked on a pro-bono programming project for WildCare (a wildlife rehabilitation and nature education center in San Rafael, Calif.) where she continues to volunteer as a foster parent to orphaned wildlife.