Tonic Design

D. Kenneth Sargent Visiting Critics

Katherine Hogan
Principal, Tonic Design
Adjunct Professor of Practice, Department of Architecture, NC State University College of Design

Vincent Petrarca
Principal, Tonic Design
Professor of Practice, Department of Architecture, NC State University College of Design

Katherine Hogan ’05, AIA, LEED AP and Vincent Petrarca, Associate AIA are founders and principals of Tonic Design, a design studio, and Tonic Construction, a North Carolina-based construction company. The two companies are separate but interacting entities. Together as a design-build firm, Tonic creates sensitive, modern, construction-led design solutions for all building types, including award-winning modern homes/new home construction, commercial, and cultural design and construction.

With the flexibility to take on the role of designer or general contractor (a builder for other designers), or both (designer/builder), Tonic’s knowledge of construction and design is a valuable editing device for the work they produce, and it increases the scope of their influence on the final product. As a methodology, Tonic embraces the influence of construction on design (construction-led design) and design on construction as the fundamental premise that defines their work.