NICHOLAS MCWHIRTER, AIA, NCARB
Design Principal / Studio Head
Nicholas McWhirter is a Principal at SHM Architects in Dallas, Texas. A registered architect in the States of Texas, Colorado, Georgia, and Montana, Nick leads a collaborative studio focused on the concept of total design. He joined SHM in 2015 after a ten-year post as a design and visualization leader at GFF Design in Dallas.
Nick is a 2003 graduate of Texas A&M University and holds a Bachelor of Environmental Design with a minor in Art & Architectural History. He also earned a Master of Architecture degree from The University of Texas at Arlington in 2005.
McWhirter was honored with the Alan Stacell Award for Design Excellence while at Texas A&M, given in memory of one of his beloved mentors. He has been awarded twice by AIA Dallas: a Merit Award for his team’s proposal of the Dallas Center for Architecture Design Competition in 2008, and a First Place Award for his team’s entry in A Temporary Façade: Veiling the Statler Hilton competition in 2009. In 2012, he led a team that received the Grand Prize for their stop-motion hand drawn animation in the Dallas Complete Streets Visual Essay Contest. Inspired by his participation in the AIA Dallas Emerging Leaders Program (Class of 2011), Nick was invited to serve on the publication team for AIA Dallas Columns magazine; first on their Advisory Board (2011-2013), and later as Associate-Editor / Contributing Photographer (2013-2015). In 2023, Nick was admitted to the Design Leadership Network and has participated in the Design Leadership Foundation’s Professional Skills Workshop pilot program at Mississippi State University.
Photography is one of Nick’s many avocations that collectively deepen his sensitivity to natural light and aesthetic composition in architecture. He rode shotgun over ten-thousand miles shooting photos for a hardcover book about barbecue history and culture written by Texas Monthly BBQ Editor, Daniel Vaughn. The Prophets of Smoked Meat was published under Anthony Bourdain’s imprint with Ecco/Harper Collins in 2013.
Among Nick’s other diverse interests, he is a classical music geek, contemporary art lover, and bánh mì sandwich enthusiast. An active member at First United Methodist Church of Dallas, he serves on the Building Committee and is a past vice-chair of the Board of Trustees. Nick is an east Dallas native and lives in Lake Highlands with his wife, Erin and their two sons.