Bobby Vance
Robert Vance is a registered architect, Assistant Professor at the Virginia Tech School of Architecture, and Owner/Principal of Vance Design Company. He serves as Co-Director of the Housing Innovation Challenge, an international collegiate design-build competition advancing off-site construction, housing innovation, and industry-academic collaboration. His expertise centers on prefabrication, modular systems, and integrated design-build delivery, informed by award-winning projects such as FutureHAUS. Vance’s professional background includes leadership roles at CannonDesign, ModularDesign+, and Perkins\&Will, where he applied industrialized construction methodologies to projects across healthcare, housing, and civic architecture. His work bridges entrepreneurial practice, academic research, and public engagement to accelerate innovation in the built environment.
Prefabrication, Design-Build, Off-Site Construction, Innovation
ARCH 4004: Architecture IV - Options Lab
ARCH 5715: Architecture and Urbanism Lab
FutureHAUS Dubai – Solar Decathlon Middle East, Dubai, UAE (2018) – Project Manager for first-place overall winner, earning 11 international awards and the widest margin of victory in competition history.
FutureHAUS – NYCxDESIGN Pavilion, Times Square, New York, NY (2019) – Assembled full-scale smart modular home in 72 hours, toured 110,000+ visitors, and garnered major media coverage.
FutureHAUS + Virginia Tech Innovation Campus Exhibition, Alexandria, VA (2019) – Public showcase funded by Dominion Energy to announce VT’s new Innovation Campus.
FEMA & HUD Prototype Demonstrations (2017) – Designed and exhibited rapid-deploy disaster relief home, assembled and disassembled in under two hours for federal agency officials.
Op-Ed: “Gateway to the Future” – Offsite Builder Magazine (2024) – Featured article on advancing housing innovation through off-site construction and industry-academic collaboration.
Article: “The Potential and Possibilities of AI for Offsite” – Modular Building Institute (2024) – Exploration of AI integration in modular and industrialized construction.
TEDxAshburn Talk: “Hey Siri, Order Me a New Kitchen – The Future is Flex Space” (2017) – Public lecture on modular innovation and flexible living environments.
CannonDesign Shield (2020) – COVID-19 testing station concept exhibited at CannonDesign’s Chicago office; featured in Fast Company, Business Insider, and Architect Magazine.
USGBC Greenbuild – KB ProjeKt Home, Los Angeles, CA (2016) – Designed, built, and exhibited a prototype smart home at a major national sustainability expo.
Wood-Mode “Kitchen of the Future” Showcase, Hershey, PA (2018) – Industry exhibition debuting advanced modular kitchen systems to 500+ industry leaders.
1st Place Overall – Solar Decathlon Middle East, FutureHAUS, Dubai, UAE (2018) – Widest margin of victory in competition history, earning 11 international awards across architecture, innovation, and sustainability.
NYC SARA Special Project Design Award – FutureHAUS (2019) – Honored alongside leading architects such as Steven Holl, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Jean Nouvel for groundbreaking modular housing innovation.
Multiple Design Excellence Awards – Singing Hills Recreation Center, Dallas, TX (2021–2023) – Recipient of the Dallas Architecture Forum Civic, Cultural, and Public Art Award, AIA Dallas Honor Award, and Phil Freelon Professional Design Award for design excellence.
National and Regional Recognition – Baylor Scott & White Sports Therapy and Research Center, Frisco, TX (2016–2019) – Garnered the IIDA Texas Oklahoma Design Excellence Award, Contract Magazine Healthcare Environment Award, ENR Best Project Award of Merit, and additional healthcare design honors.
Creative Achievement Award – Virginia Tech College of Architecture + Urban Studies (2019) – Awarded to the FutureHAUS team for outstanding research, design innovation, and academic contribution.
Education
B. Arch, Virginia Tech
M.S. Architecture, Virginia Tech