James Welch was born near Chicago, Illinois, and raised in a military family.  For James, childhood meant residing in Asia (Japan and South Korea) and domestically residing in New York, Alabama, New Mexico, Nevada, and California.  A final move to Madrid, Spain, rounded out the teenage years.  After graduating from Torrejon American High School, near Madrid, James attended the San Francisco Art Institute on Russian Hill in San Francisco, CA. He subsequently transferred to San Diego State University to study with visionary Eugene Ray, head of the Environmental Design Department.  James became a LEED Accredited Professional in 2009 and a registered California Architect in 2010. 

 

Together with Veronica Romano, James co-founded Romano Welch Architects and has completed numerous residential, retail, hospitality, and commercial projects.  His work draws upon past professional experiences at the architectural offices of Roesling Nakamura Terada Architects (RNT), San Diego, CA, and Elbasani, Logan and Severin Architecture + Urban Design (ELS) Berkeley, CA.  In addition to the architectural firm, James designs and collaborates with Charles Doell, MFA from San Francisco Art Institute, at MR. IMPORTANT DESIGN. This collaboration has led to many exuberant and highly curated interior design projects that have won accolades.  The most notable awards belong to the W Resort Punta Mita, Mexico, the W Resort, Costa Rica, Reserva Conchal, and the Hard Rock Hotel, Palm Springs. Also, notable award winners are interiors for multi-family projects to include Avalon West Hollywood, Avalon Belltown Towers and UDR’s, The Residences at Pacific City, and Vision on Wilshire Blvd. Los Angles, California.