Team

Sara Maniez

LEED AP BD+C, Associate AIAArchitectural Designer + Marketing Specialist

Sara (Kellner) Maniez, LEED AP BD+C, Assoc. AIA, brings two decades of experience across architecture, design, teaching, and marketing to JZA+D. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Sara got her start early, interning while in high school at Chermayeff, Sollogub & Poole in Boston, a firm known for aquarium and museum design. While at Pratt, she interned at Stephen B. Jacobs Group and Andi Pepper Interior Design, now SBJ Group, in New York City, working on high-end residential, workplace, and hospitality projects. After graduating, she contributed to large-scale commercial, workplace, hospitality, and institutional work at Elkus Manfredi Architects in Boston, and later served as an architect and project manager with NAVFAC at the U.S. Navy in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Sara has also served as a board member and secretary for the Stratham, NH Heritage Commission and the Hopewell Township Historic Preservation Commission in New Jersey — work that sharpened her sensitivity to projects of historic significance.

At JZA+D, Sara serves as the firm’s sustainability lead, guiding its approach to environmental performance and documenting the data required when projects pursue certification. Her work bridges the architecture and marketing teams, with project experience spanning sacred, workplace, hospitality, commercial, and residential typologies, and she supports the firm’s proposals and digital presence. Sara is active in AIA Central New Jersey, where she helped launch the AIA CNJ Peer ARE Study Group with JZA+D colleague Jasmine Zheng, connecting area peers preparing for the Architect Registration Examination.

Outside the office, Sara enjoys traveling to see family in New England and spending time at home with her husband, Eric, their children, Margo, Marc, and Maeve, and their Labrador, Finbar.