END Studio is a Detroit-based architecture and interior design practice exploring playful techniques to transcend the traditional architecture experience.

Our team brings a variety of experience to the table—in architecture, development, art, education, and construction—and provides hands-on, personalized attention to every client and project. From historic renovations to adaptive reuse, art installations to custom furniture, our work aims to enliven space with innovative design, creative material use, and interactivity. We are passionate about uncovering the unseen potentials of a site or structure and using design to engage unexpected contexts.

As a woman-owned and operated business, we are dedicated to diversity in our business practices and to creating equitable and empowering spaces for all people and populations.

We believe strongly that space should be egalitarian and that good design should be available to all. END Studio is committed to making the city a more sustainable, enjoyable, and inspiring place. With every project, we strive to create rich experiences and meaningful encounters for our clients and the entire community.

We believe that every design is a collaboration with our clients and our communities. From programming through ideation, visualization through construction, we will work with you to build your dreams into a reality. Have a project in mind? Let us know! We are looking forward to working with YOU. 

END Team

Elise DeChard, AIA

Owner

Elise DeChard is a licensed architect in Michigan and New York. In over 10 years of experience in the field, she has worked with small businesses, homeowners, artists, developers, and community stakeholders to design everything from community art spaces to thirty-million dollar townhouses to fortune-telling walls of TVs. Prior to relocating to Michigan, Elise worked in architecture and development in New York City, notably for Macro Sea on New Lab at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the Philadelphia Coworking Space and for Marvel Architects on New Lab and the Prince Street Residences.  From 2016-2018, Elise ran an experimental gallery and international artist residency, Tessellate, in a suburban garage in Pontiac. Her work has been featured in Architectural Digest, The Architect’s Newspaper, Wallpaper*, Design Milk, Cubic Journal, TreeHugger, The Oakland Press, Detour Detroit, Fox2 News Detroit, Curbed Detroit, and Detroit Month of Design 2018-2020. She was named a Notable Woman in Design by Crain’s Detroit in 2021 and was a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Scholar in 2022. She holds a Master of Architecture from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a Bachelor of Architecture from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and has taught at Lawrence Technological University and Kendall College of Art and Design.

Sophie Yan, NCIDQ

Lead Interior Designer

Sophie Yan is a multidisciplinary designer with 9 years of professional experience ranging from designing large commercial spaces to fabricating custom furniture as an interior designer, furniture designer, and creative director. Her work examines sustainability through longevity – how designed objects and spaces can grow better over time. Sophie has organized and curated several design exhibitions including “Substance”, which was a featured event for Detroit Month of Design 2019. Her work has been showcased in ArchDaily, Dwell, and The Architect’s Newspaper, NYCxDesign, Wanted Design, Collective Design Fair, and the Milan Furniture Fair. Sophie holds a Master of Fine Arts in 3D Design from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a Bachelor of Interior Design from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Megan Finley

Architectural Designer

Megan Finley is an up-and-coming architectural designer and all-around excitable person. Prior to her foray into the built environment, Megan worked as a costume designer in various Bay Area theaters, often conceiving and constructing around seventy looks per production. She returned to formal studies following the fires in her hometown – Santa Rosa, California – intending to contribute positively to the region through advancements in architectural design, material, and labor. Much of Megan’s work references her deep affinity for intense research and design theory, but also showcases a fun, out-of-the-box, approach to serious propositions. She has initiated projects addressing disaster-proof housing, ‘post-occupancy prose’, and feminist architecture. Megan earned a Master of Architecture from the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Art from Reed College in Portland, Oregon.

Lisa Rutherford

Administrative and Marketing Assistant

Lisa Rutherford is a creative professional with roots in graphic design. In her role as support for the collaborative END Studio team, she will share her experiences in office administration as well as online marketing. She has worked with Gail & Rice Productions and more recently with CultureSource. During her time with CultureSource, she curated the online calendar of events, staying up on what is new and next in metro Detroit. A Southeast Michigan native, she has followed the thriving urban renewal in Detroit, and is endlessly curious about arts and culture. Lisa holds a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Michigan.

Interested in working at END Studio?

Get in touch! Send your resume, portfolio, and contact information for three references to jobs@e-n-d-studio.com. No phone calls please.

View open positions.

PAST COLLABORATORS

Tyler Schaasfma, Ashley Shu, Valeria de Jongh, Hannah Green, Zoë Faylor, Kapish Cheema, Fernando Bales, Sy Bodson, Annie Cosgrove, Rebecca Birmingham