Mike Vesely, RA, AIA

Principal

Mike started working in the industry in 2008, and has worked on hundreds of projects throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region. Mike is a graduate from the UMD School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation and after graduation he continued working at architecture firms in the state, as well as six years working in-house for a local owner & developer with projects throughout the United States. He founded MJV Architecture in 2024 in order to provide a higher level of architectural services and brings his unique insight into designing for the life of a building – building systems, constructability, maintenance, material life cycles, and budget are factored into every design. He specializes in small commercial, retail, restaurant, and industrial users, but has experience in many other use types. Mike’s experience over the last 16 years has also included residential design, tenant fit-out work, offices, warehouses, manufacturing, specialty uses (breweries/distilleries), religious buildings, clubhouses, dance studios, pool halls, libraries, barber/beauty shops, private health facilities, small educational users, and facade renovations. Mike also volunteered with the City of Laurel in 2015 to facilitate updates to the City Code.

Mike’s greatest satisfaction in architectural design comes from finding creative ways to meet a client’s needs in a functional and aesthetically-pleasing arrangement within the confines of a project’s budget, schedule, and regulatory requirements. His experience working in-house for a developer resulted in the need to form close relationships with contractors, sub-contractors, and many third-party vendors and provided for a substantial amount of field-work and a deep understanding of the many facets of the project from the perspective of an owner. This included site selection, lease negotiations and deadlines, coordination with insurance companies, material acquisition and scheduling, as well as systems to help facilitate the most expedient construction processes, maintaining continuous construction, and avoiding work stoppages. Beyond the construction of the building, Mike’s previous roles included responsibility for the lifetime upkeep of the built environment and he has a great understanding of which systems help with reducing lifetime operational costs, minimizing building wear and tear, and maximizing the life cycle of equipment – resulting in lower maintenance costs and reduced downtime for a business.

Mike is a member of the AIA Chesapeake Bay chapter, and is serving on their Board of Directors for 2025. He also maintains professional membership with NCARB, and personal membership with the Washington DC Area Marine Aquarist Society.