The 25 – Gregory L. Palmer

As president of Atlanta-based Harrison Design, Gregory L. Palmer has been central to its growth and emergence as a top architect in the country with an outstanding reputation for the quality of its work and relationships with clients, contractors, and industry.

Palmer joined the firm, which now has six offices on the East and West Coasts, in 1995, and it is his extensive knowledge of classical architecture and historically precise detailing that informs much of the firm’s most illustrious projects, including a residence that led to the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center and Veranda magazine naming Harrison Design the 2022 Southeast Architect of the Year.

Palmer, who won a 2022 Palladio Award and a 2020 Mizner Award for a house in Atlanta, is licensed to practice in 20 states as well as in the District of Columbia. He lives in Naples, Florida, where he established a Harrison Design office in 2017.

A member of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art’s Florida Chapter, Palmer is on the advisory board of the City of Naples Community Redevelopment Association.

His father and grandfather, general contractors, introduced him to the field when he was a youngster. He spent summers on jobsites, and when he was 16, he met his first architect.

“I was working in a trench on a hot summer day and popped my head out and saw a man in a white linen outfit get out of a car,” he says. “I was told to go around with him and take notes and realized, he, the architect, gets to come to the jobsite and be a part of the process. I already had a creative muse to do design work and knew this was the answer.”

Palmer says one of his greatest rewards is passing his knowledge to the next generation.

“Architecture is impactful and lasting,” he says. “It’s a very satisfying feeling to know your work has touched so many lives. It far outlives us and will reflect the best of us.”