Paul Gates, a founding partner of Gates Merkulova Architects LLP, is an architect with over thirty years of experience in designing a wide range of commercial, mixed-use and residential projects. He has extensive experience in interacting with public agencies and coordinating project teams. In addition to his shared role in the firm’s focus on design, his responsibilities include business development and oversight of financial and technical issues.

Before forming Gates Merkulova Architects, Mr. Gates worked in Los Angeles and in New York City as an associate partner with Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates where he was responsible for the design of a number of major office and mixed-use projects in the United States and abroad. Two of these projects, Station Center and Rockefeller Plaza West, won prestigious awards from Progressive Architecture Magazine and the New York Chapter of the A.I.A.

Mr. Gates received a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture from The University of Southern California and a Master of Architecture degree with honors from Princeton University. Mr. Gates is a LEED Accredited Professional.

Mr. Gates has taught at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York and has served as a critic on architectural juries at Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, and the Rhode Island School of Design. His writings and lectures include "Deus Ex Machina: Architecture and the Electronic Media” (A+U) and “Skyscraper Design and Urban Growth."

Zhenya Merkulova, a founding partner of Gates Merkulova Architects LLP, is an architect with over twenty-five years of experience in designing a wide variety of residential, commercial and government projects. Her primary responsibilities at GMA include design, project management and coordination of project teams, while she is also extensively involved in marketing and materials, code and technical research.

Before forming Gates Merkulova Architects, Ms. Merkulova worked in New York City as designer for Agrest & Gandelsonas, Peter Marino Architect, and as designer and project architect with L. Bogdanow & Associates where she was responsible for a number of smaller and medium-size residential and commercial projects. Ms. Merkulova later worked for Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and Skidmore Owings & Merrill as a senior designer responsible for large scale commercial and government projects. In 1991 Ms. Merkulova established her own practice, joining with Paul Gates in 1995 to form Gates Merkulova Architects.

Ms. Merkulova received a Bachelor of Arts degree Magna Cum Laude from Harvard University, and a Master of Architecture degree from Princeton University.

Ms. Merkulova was a founding member of The Society of Young Architects, a group formed for the discussion of current ideas in architecture at The National Arts Club. She has written for and has been interviewed by a number of prestigious domestic and international publications, including Liberation and Newsweek.