Member Spotlight: Paul Sionas, AIA

Paul Sionas was the principal owner of the Montclair-based design firm, Sionas Architecture, from 1985 through 2024. He holds professional licenses in Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Professional Planning, with degrees in Architecture from Pratt Institute and Landscape Architecture from Rutgers University. Paul also served as a faculty member at Pratt Institute School of Architecture for 12 years.

The designs of Paul’s firm, Sionas Architecture, have been a mainstay of Montclair and the surrounding area. Awards received by the firm include those for Design, Historic Preservation, and Inclusive Housing. To date, the firm has been the recipient of 7 ‘Bricks and Mortar’ awards from the Montclair Historic Preservation Commission. Paul is proud that his firm designed 7 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified projects. 

He was a Board member and Board secretary for the Montclair YMCA for 21 years, served on the Board of the Montclair Foundation and Montclair Shared Housing Association, and was a president of the Montclair Lions Club. Additionally, Paul sat on the HOMEcorp Community Advisory Board, the Montclair Housing Commission, the Imani Advocacy Center and on various committees at Union Congregational Church of which he is a member. He has lived in Montclair with his wife Michele since 1979 where they raised two daughters.

Paul considers himself lucky to live and have maintained a firm in Montclair, NJ. He often remarks that an architect can spend an entire career only working within Montclair’s borders. Along with its five separate downtown areas, five train stations, varied architectural styles, and streets lined with shade trees planted over 100 years ago, the township is socio-economically and racially diverse

Q&A

What was your favorite recent project?

Growing up, I always loved drawing and reading about cars and thought that I would be a car designer someday. We now have a client who loves cars more than I do. Recently, in cooperation with Architect Sara Susanka, we completed a project for his extensive personal car collection. Our firm has just begun design work with this client on an innovative commercial project involving classic cars combined with an event venue. 

How long did it take before you felt comfortable in your role as an architect?

I felt comfortable as an architect the first time I was retained by a client who told me that they believed in me and trusted me.

What would be your dream job or a project you’d like to work on?

My dream jobs are those with enthusiastic, knowledgeable and supportive clients who want to invest in good design. That is almost as important to me as the project type.

What do you like to do when you are not working?

As a practicing Architect and long time firm owner, most of my time has been spent working. However, I love gardening, visiting my grandchildren on the east and west coasts, volunteering on various Boards, and traveling.  Some of my favorite trips have been to Prince Edward Island in Canada. When traveling I have an odd ritual of posing next to certain automobiles, especially old Fiats.

What are 3 facts about you that make you unique?

I designed my own complete line of cars as an 8 year old. It seems that I am finally seeing some of those ‘jellybean’ shaped cars being built by major manufacturers.

I am proud of my Lithuanian Heritage and the efforts made by my grandparents to make it to the United States. Before they came, I think that they literally believed the streets of America would be paved with gold.

In high school, I broke a 33 year old record in the 100 yard dash. I was called into the principal’s office the next day and introduced to the previous record holder. He offered me a scholarship, a summer job at his Civil Engineering firm, and strongly encouraged me to study Civil Engineering “since everyone will eventually need sewers.” I did not like the work or the studies and intended to transfer to a University with an Architecture program. I was required to meet with an advisor and complete an aptitude test before I was allowed to transfer. The test results strongly pointed to Architecture. As a final part of the process, the advisor recommended that I visit the ‘Ag School’ on campus and meet with the chair of the Landscape Architecture Department, but to be careful, since the chair was a serious recruiter. After a strong sales pitch, I transferred into Landscape Architecture. Upon graduating I began working at a firm in Philadelphia in which one partner was an Architect and the other a Landscape Architect. The projects were all interesting, especially in the late 1970’s when much of the work was in Iran. When the Shah of Iran was deposed, the work stopped and I eventually made my way to Pratt Institute to finally study Architecture.

Who or what are your inspirations for architecture?

In 9^th grade Civics class, we were given an assignment to write a Report about a career we were considering. A condition of the report was that we had to personally visit and interview someone in that career. I had always wanted to be a car designer, but there were no car designers to interview where I lived, so based on a recommendation from my Art Teacher, I made an appointment and visited a local architecture firm. Even though the staff members were each hunched over their drafting tables, smoking unfiltered cigarettes and drinking black coffee, each one told me how much they loved what they were doing.  I looked at their drawings and thought “I could do that!”

I was encouraged by my high school math and mechanical drawing teachers, but was ‘blown away’ when I took a one semester course on Alvar Aalto at Pratt.

In my head, I can occasionally hear the words of a design professor at Pratt berating a student by telling them that if they did not shape up, they would wind up working on houses in the suburbs someday!

Who or what are your inspirations for life?

My wife, our two daughters and their families are my biggest inspirations, plus the church community at Union Congregational in Montclair where everyone has an equal voice. I never take for granted how hard my parents and grandparents worked.

I try to be respectful, and a good listener. I feel strongly about being able to drive past, point out, and be proud of the variety of good projects we have worked on over the years.

What’s exciting about what you are doing in the office?

After almost 40 years as the owner of Sionas Architecture, in October of 2024 I sold the firm and merged it with GSAPC (Gregory Switzer Architecture). GSAPC had relocated their offices from Manhattan to Montclair. Gregory Switzer is the immediate past president of the AIA NYC Chapter and is a member of NOMA. He, along with his staff members, bring a fresh set of eyes to all of our combined projects. We are extremely excited about the potential this brings. 

What advice would you give to recent graduates entering the professional world?