About Us
Creating Great Places to Live
TightLines Designs is a socially responsible architecture firm whose mission is to provide eco-friendly, quality affordable housing design solutions. From single family community development to elderly and supportive multi-family housing, we are committed to creating great places to live.
TightLines Designs
19 West Hargett St, Suite 501
Raleigh, NC 27601
Phone: 919-834-3600
Since 2005, TightLines Designs has provided home designs and architectural consulting services. The company is well-respected as a leading national authority on responsible infill design. Commitment to sustainable and healthy communities is our passion. We provide customers with well-designed and affordable home plans to meet their individual needs. TightLines homes deliver curb appeal, environmental sensitivity and livability in an efficient and affordable footprint. Our services include creating plans that are in-stock and ready-to-build—from individual houses to complete neighborhoods. Our plans are distinct, unique, and always customizable.
Our clients include developers, builders, municipalities, non-profit agencies, and homeowners, many of whom rely exclusively and repeatedly on TightLines Designs for home plans and design services. Our home designs have been constructed all over the nation and in Canada. They have been built in historic and new neighborhoods to meet the dynamic needs of urban revitalization and affordable housing initiatives, as well as those of downsizing retirees, young families, and people with disabilities.
Our Team.
Our staff is a team of energetic design professionals committed to providing quality service to our clients. The TightLines team is comprised of individuals who bring unique talents and interests to the table, while sharing a common goal of providing the highest level of design to single and multi-family projects.
Our design background ranges from small house additions and historic renovations to multi-family housing and a number of other project types including faith-based, community, office, restaurant, medical and hospitality buildings. Our technical expertise rounds out our design experience and gives us the proper grounding to take on just about any design challenge that comes our way.
Virginia Tech, Bachelor of Architecture
David Maurer is a LEED Accredited Professional and a member of the North Carolina Board of Architecture, American Institute of Architects, National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, Preservation North Carolina, and National Trust for Historic Preservation. In addition to being directly responsible for designing home plans at TightLines Designs, award-winning architect and owner David Maurer also offers extensive consulting services for municipalities, developers and builders regarding community design, green architecture and historic revitalization. David frequently lectures at conferences on sustainability topics and the NC Rehab Code. He is available to serve a national client base on a range of topics including developing new and revitalized communities, master planning, historic neighborhood infill and conservation land planning.
University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Bachelor of Architecture
After his undergraduate studies at UNC-Charlotte, Craig interned with a Raleigh based architecture firm for over two years where he managed a variety of residential, commercial and municipal projects. During this time, he developed a growing interest in residential design and decided to attend NC State’s graduate architecture program to focus his studies on affordable housing and its potential for creating healthy and safe communities. His final thesis was an investigation of the various elements of affordable housing including regional and adaptable design, construction methods and sustainability. He explored the ways in which the successful implementation of these projects become critical in affordable housing development. Craig’s passion for affordable housing is based on the principle that all people should have access to safe, healthy and economically sustainable housing and that this concept not only benefits individuals, but rather greater society.
North Carolina State University, Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture
Rebecca graduated from North Carolina State University, receiving her degree in Environmental Design in Architecture in 2011, and her Bachelor of Architecture in 2012. In the fall of 2010, she studied abroad in Prague, Czech Republic. Her semester-long project focused on the re-development of a communist-era neighborhood, which sparked her interest in both community development and affordable housing. Rebecca focuses on new construction and the renovation of affordable senior and multi-family community projects, as well as single-family homes across the southeast. What she enjoys most about her career is the opportunity to take a project from conception to completion – when a house or apartment becomes a home.
Gabi graduated from North Carolina State University with her bachelors in Environmental Design in Architecture in 2017. During her studies she took a studio course focused on Public Interest Design which really fueled her passion for affordable housing and sustainability. After graduating she worked as an intern architect for a local Raleigh/Durham firm whose main focus was in the food industry and indoor agriculture. Although this was exciting for Raleigh, Gabi always had a passion for affordable housing and community design which she now is able to express at Tightlines Designs. She will be working with both single family housing and multi-family building types. Outside of TightLines, Gabi loves spending time with her dog Penny exploring North Carolina and eating good food!
Deep did his undergraduate studies from Gujarat University, India. During his time in India, he interned with INHAF Habitat – focused on disaster recovery and affordable housing where he worked on low-cost single family and multifamily housing in collaboration with several local organizations. This ignited his interest in affordable housing and the ideology of ‘housing for all’. His curiosity to learn more about architecture and details brought him to the United States to further pursue his Master’s degree from North Carolina State University. Apart from architecture, Deep is passionate about Cricket. He represented NC State in Triangle Cricket League and American College Cricket. At TightLines Designs, Deep focuses on single family housing projects and does what he always believed in, creating “housing for all.” When not in the office you can always find him on a cricket field!
After graduating from UNC-CH, Cooper began her accounting career in property management and commercial real estate. She worked as property accountant for 12 years before excitedly joining the TightLines team as a Business Manager in September 2020. Outside of the office, Cooper loves spending time with her husband and two children, eating good food and laughing with dear friends.
Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture
Mara graduated from North Carolina State University in 2020 with a Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture, where public interest design studios and a semester abroad in Greece grew her interest in sustainable community development and social equity in design. After graduating, Mara worked with a local design firm focused on food systems planning, then joined the TightLines team in summer 2021. At TightLines, she’s excited to be helping build healthy communities through both single family and multi-family projects. In her free time, you can find Mara playing violin (and a little guitar!), exploring Raleigh, and trying to create the perfect tomato sandwich.
Master of Science in Technology- Sustainable Building Design and Construction
University of North Carolina at Charlotte,
Bachelor of Architecture
Natalie graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2020 with a Bachelor of Architecture, where majoring in Architecture and minoring in Environmental Science developed into a passion for creating a more sustainable built environment. She then went on to study Sustainable Building Design and Construction at Appalachian State University and graduated with a Master of Science in Technology in 2022. During graduate school she enjoyed learning more about green building design methods, building energy performance, and renewable energy technologies, and how they can be utilized to design better buildings not only for the environment, but also for the people occupying them! Natalie received her LEED Green Associate credential in Spring 2022, and is excited to contribute to sustainable and affordable housing projects at TightLines Designs. In her free time, Natalie enjoys photography, traveling, and spending time in nature with her dog Arlo.
Working in association with 4 international architects and being a part of projects ranging from 93 acre resort development on an island to solving mid economic – segment housing needs, Puja has the advantage of working in diverse cultural and spatial contexts. Growing up, studying and working for over seven years in India, she’s had the opportunity to work on a wide scale of single and multi-family homes. Moving to the USA along with her husband, to give her daughter an array of cultural exposure, has given her the opportunity to work in a diverse segment of affordable housing.
She loves space planning and hence thoroughly enjoys optimizing space and as a result optimizing the construction cost and functionality of affordable homes. She believes that we are the change makers that can give our coming generations a better and inclusive world to live in.
When Puja’s not working on projects, she is hosting friends over for dinner or is outdoors playing with her daughter and enjoying ‘Yes Day’ with her family.
While doing her thesis on Co-living housing, she found her interest growing in residential architecture. Pursuing her Master Degree from SCAD – Savannah college of Art and Design, where she also studied traditional vernacular architecture as her thesis project which gave her an opportunity to broaden her horizons for traditional and historic housing as well. She experiences a new found love in creating spaces and how they intertwine with each other.
She loves travelling, hiking, yoga, creating pinterest aesthetic boards and exploring cute cafes. In her leisure time you will find her exploring new places with her friends or watching anime and dramas.