Austin Tunnell and Matt Hayes at a drafting table, working through a project design together.

About

One team.Every part of the work.

Building Culture is a vertically integrated placemaking firm in Oklahoma City. We develop, design, and build infill projects in walkable districts — one of very few American firms running all three disciplines under one roof.

Our strategy is simple: build vibrant, charming, and meaningful places — and hold them long-term. The way the best places have always been built.

Human habitat

The principles

Beauty and Craft
Beauty is structural to the work, not decoration. Place either degrades or elevates daily life — there is no neutral building.
Health and Wellness
Low-VOC materials, filtered air, filtered water, daylight, walking distance, neighbors you know. Buildings shape behavior — and biology.
Quality and Durability
Real masonry, real materials, and details that age into the building, not out of it.
Culture and Community
Spaces planned for gathering. The neighborhood is the unit of strategy, not the lot.
Stewardship and Inheritance
Built to last. Designed to enrich the community where they stand, and the investors who hold them with us across generations.

The team

A small group, working in concert.

A founder-led firm. Design-led development.

Austin Tunnell
Founder & CEO
Head of Product and Development
Austin Tunnell
Founder & CEO
Head of Product and Development
Austin Tunnell is the Founder and CEO of Building Culture, a vertically integrated design, build, and development firm in Oklahoma City focused on mixed-use infill within growing walkable districts — built to last, held for the long term.
After a brief stint as a CPA at KPMG and two years in the Peace Corps, Austin came back convinced that the way we design our homes, streets, and neighborhoods quietly shapes our health, our relationships, and the quality of everyday life — and that most of what's been built in America over the past fifty years does the opposite. So he apprenticed under a master mason and timber framer, learned to build with his hands, and started a company to do the work differently.
Today, Austin leads design, product, and capital strategy at Building Culture. He is the sponsor of Townsend, a $30M mixed-use infill project under construction in downtown Edmond, and a partner on Wren, a 34-unit rental development next door. He hosts The Building Culture Podcast, where he talks with builders, designers, and thinkers about a more human way to build cities. The horizon he works toward is generational: places worth keeping, built to last centuries, in neighborhoods that produce real life.
Matt Hayes, AIA
Partner
Director of Architecture and Construction
Matt Hayes, AIA
Partner
Director of Architecture and Construction
Matt's passion for the entire process of bringing a project to life is at home in Building Culture's holistic design-build approach to creating beautiful things that enhance our lives.
Prior to joining Building Culture in 2022, Matt worked in Manhattan at G.P. Schafer Architect, on custom residences in areas including Arkansas, Virginia, Florida, and New York City. He brings the rigor and attention to detail of those $10 million+ projects to Building Culture's work in Oklahoma.
A dedicated learner and teacher, Matt studied traditional architecture and urbanism at the University of Notre Dame and serves as instructor at the Institute for Classical Art and Architecture.
He is a licensed architect in Oklahoma and New York, is NCARB certified and a member of the AIA.

Alanna Brehm, AIA
Project Architect & Project Manager
Alanna Brehm, AIA
Project Architect & Project Manager
Alanna Brehm is an architect and project manager with experience across every phase and scale of a project. At Building Culture, she plays a hands-on role across the firm's portfolio.
A graduate of Oklahoma State University, Alanna most recently worked at Studio Architecture in Oklahoma City.
What drives her most is design that's made for people: buildings shaped around how a community lives, detailed at the human scale, built to last generations. When she's not on a job site or at the drawing board, she's exploring Oklahoma City's restaurant scene with her favorite people.
Grace Magana
Designer & Project Coordinator
Grace Magana
Designer & Project Coordinator
Grace is a Designer & Project Coordinator who supports projects through multiple stages of design and development, helping bring ideas from early concepts into thoughtful and well-executed spaces. With a background in architecture and development planning, she brings a multidisciplinary perspective to her work, balancing creative thinking with organization and practical problem solving. Her experience includes hospitality design, estimating, and project execution, allowing her to contribute across both the design and planning sides of a project.
She is especially passionate about the early phases of the design process, when ideas begin to take shape and collaboration helps establish the direction of a project. She enjoys working through the details that connect design intent with functionality while helping keep teams and processes aligned throughout development. She also holds an MBA from Universidad de Valencia, bringing an additional understanding of planning and strategy that complements her design background. Through her work, she is drawn to creating spaces that feel intentional, lasting, and thoughtfully connected to the people who experience them.
She values collaboration and enjoys being part of a process where design, strategy, and communication come together to create meaningful spaces. She is drawn to projects that thoughtfully balance aesthetics, functionality, and long-term impact.
Jay Castro
Controller
Jay Castro
Controller
Jay is the Controller at Building Culture, where he oversees financial operations, reporting, internal controls, and accounting across the firm's multi-entity structure — design-build, development, holdings, and the SPVs behind each active project.
Prior to Building Culture, Jay worked at Dell and JB Global Solutions, where he built experience in finance, audits, and operational oversight.
He brings that experience to a platform that runs an active development pipeline alongside the operating firm — work that demands rigor across construction accounting, project-level economics, and long-term-hold real-estate strategy.
Maria Spada
Designer & Project Coordinator
Maria Spada
Designer & Project Coordinator
Maria believes that architecture is not just about designing buildings — it's about shaping how we live, connect, and experience the world around us. She sees design as a powerful tool that influences how neighborhoods grow, how people interact, and how communities thrive.
Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Maria studied Architecture, Design, and Urbanism at the University of Buenos Aires. Her education continued internationally with a focus on Interior Design at Parsons School of Design in New York and a Master's in Advanced and Digital Architecture from ELISAVA in Barcelona, Spain.
Before joining Building Culture, Maria worked with ROAD Architects on custom residential projects in Buenos Aires and later with ARQUITECTONICA NY, contributing to the Design Development team on a range of large-scale projects. Her global experience and passion for design in all its forms — from interiors to urban planning — inform her work every day as she helps create beautiful, enduring places where people can flourish.
Sarah Tunnell
Sales and Marketing
Sarah Tunnell
Sales and Marketing
Sarah shines in helping people connect in meaningful ways, and is fascinated with how this can happen organically when set within a proper built environment like the places that are created by Building Culture. Prior to joining the team, Sarah was the Director of the Carlton Landing Community Foundation where she oversaw the new urban community's marketing and event programming. She adores being a mother to her young daughter and son.
Spenser McLeod
Construction Field Tech II
Spenser McLeod
Construction Field Tech II
Spenser is a skilled tradesman at Building Culture, where he helps implement masonry and contributes wherever a project needs hands. His commitment to craft shows in the kind of details that most jobs skip — the ones that decide whether a building still feels right fifty years on. Originally from Colorado, Spenser came to the trade for the transformation itself — raw material becoming finished space. He and his wife share their home with their dog, Ellie.
Thomas Michalek
Superintendent
Thomas Michalek
Superintendent
Thomas Michalek serves as Superintendent at Building Culture, bringing over 20 years of experience in custom home construction. He is licensed in both residential and commercial building and has built his career managing projects from the ground up.
Thomas takes pride in guiding each project from concept to completion, ensuring quality craftsmanship and a smooth building process. He's especially passionate about finish carpentry, where the vision truly comes to life and the details matter most.
Originally from Colorado, Thomas recently relocated to Edmond, Oklahoma, where he and his family have quickly put down roots. Outside of work, he spends his time with his four kids, fishing, dirt biking, and attending sporting events. For Thomas, building isn't just a career, it's a way to leave something lasting his kids and future generations can be proud of.
Vera Pinto
Artist and Graphic Designer
Vera Pinto
Artist and Graphic Designer
Vera is a graphic designer with a background in visual arts and a multidisciplinary practice that spans visual design and creative direction. Her work focuses on creating thoughtful visual systems and digital experiences that communicate ideas clearly while maintaining a strong aesthetic sensibility.
From Buenos Aires, Argentina, Vera began her creative path studying fine arts before continuing her education in graphic design and communications. Her early work explored art, cultural environments, and creative projects connected to visual storytelling and material experimentation.
These formative experiences shaped her attention to detail, materiality, and narrative thinking. Today, she brings a conceptual yet refined visual approach to graphic design, working across branding, editorial design, and digital platforms while contributing to projects that connect design, culture, and communication.

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