Adrienne joined The Gaines Group in June 2006, just after graduating from the University of Virginia’s school of architecture. She is a project manager in the Charlottesville office, managing many of our Earthcraft multifamily projects. Adrienne has a special interest in accessible design and designing for aging-in-place thanks to her father-in-law who had been confined to a wheelchair due to MS. She also serves on the board of CSI, the Construction Specifications Institute, and has earned her CDT certification.

Adrienne lives at Lake Monticello with her husband, Andrew, their son, Alister, and their rescue pugs, Spudnik and Daisy. Andrew is an illustrator and graphic designer, and they travel to many different events with his business, Stronge Designs. Adrienne and Andrew also run a small business selling vintage toys, books, and other collectibles both online and at their antique store booths. Adrienne enjoys hunting at various thrift stores, yard sales, and flea markets for their business, or to add to their robot and space toy collection at home.

​James Halstead has served as our Structural Design Director since 2013 and brings a depth and understanding of fundamental structural solutions and technologies. It’s common to overhear our team members collaborating on an idea and inevitably ask, “James, can we do this?” As often as it is said, James plays a critical role in ensuring the integrity of our work and making our ideas fit structurally into the overall design.

James is a native of Albemarle County and enjoys living and working in the community he was raised in. From a young age, he recalls his close relationship with his grandfather as a source of inspiration that guided his future. As a carpenter, his grandfather could construct almost anything, and James remembers learning as much as he could from him. These early years of learning how things were built led James to study at Piedmont College and eventually begin a career in structural design. He developed much of his skill set while working at a local engineering firm that partnered with the Gaines Group on numerous projects. Their partnership led to a strong relationship over the years, and it was a natural fit for James to join the team at the Gaines Group once his employer retired.

Since joining the firm, James has elevated our team’s ability to support all phases of the design process. His skill set allows our team to find solutions that meet overall design goals. In his words, “Charles and I make a good team. He creates the big picture and I help make it come together with all of the details.” He loves the wide range and diversity of projects but specifically enjoys working on custom residential designs. To date, his most memorable project was the Penn Laird custom home in which the design was centered around a full-size, half-court basketball court in the basement.

Outside of work, James devotes much of his time to his family and community and prioritizes spending time with his wife and daughter. He also serves as the Captain of the Reserve program at the Albemarle Sheriff’s Office and has been an active board member on the Fluvanna County Board of Building Code and Fluvanna County Planning Commission. When he has a free moment, you can also find James unwinding on the golf course.

Paul Tassell graduated from Albemarle High School in 1997 and continued on to Virginia Tech. There he earned his BS in Architecture degree in 2002. While at Tech, he traveled throughout Europe during his fall semester of 4th year. He has grown to admire the architecture of Italian architect Carlo Scarpa. Paul’s career started at Gaines Group Architects in 2002 where he serves as a staff architect. He earned his architectural license in 2016. Paul, a native a Charlottesville, is married to Linde and has 2 children. He enjoys playing soccer, coaching travel youth soccer, and is a nationally licensed coach. In his free time, Paul loves playing with his kids. They also enjoy our Virginia State Parks and love to go camping as a family.

With over forty years of experience, Raymond Gaines has built a reputation for quality, functional, and beautiful projects for hundreds of clients. Mr. Gaines’s background as a builder gives The Gaines Group, PLC their fundamental strength in designing buildings that work, that are economical to build, and that are aesthetically pleasing. Mr. Gaines Has been a Fellow of the Construction Specifications Institute since 2009 and is a Certified Construction Specifier.

Originally from Michiana, Asha moved to Linville, Virginia when she was young and considers the valley her home. Both her home and life are filled with family, friends, as well as her two German Shepherds and cat. She is a recent graduate of Eastern Mennonite University with a degree in Digital Media & Communications and a minor in Spanish. Asha completed a diverse range of design projects in and out of her time at EMU including producing a documentary, designing and translating a website, designing ads for a local business, mural painting, and writing and exhibiting her thesis.

Asha has a diverse range of experience spanning design, leadership, and organization. She has enjoyed many positions and learning opportunities including working in construction, being a camp counselor, leading a club for lgbtq+ students and allies, and being a barista and baker. These experiences have helped develop her organizational and design skills that greatly support our team and help her succeed in the Office Manager and Marketing Team Leader positions.

She loves being around fellow design-minded people because there is “just something about being around other creatives.” Growing up, she was always interested in arts and math, which weren’t often paired in early education. She found their intersection in designing spaces both in the digital and physical realms. Over the years, this has taken the form of building construction, website design, accessibility, and graphic design. Architecture is where she found this intersection, and it has been something that she’s been drawn to by her interest in the way spaces can influence our lives. She considers architecture as an option for a future graduate degree.

On the side, Asha enjoys filling journals with doodles, caring for her plants, and throwing pottery on the wheel. You can probably find her learning some new craft or skill or hanging out with her friends and family. She finds energy from a sense of community and seeing people light up when talking about something they are passionate about. She is inspired and humbled by unique perspectives and strives to continually learn from people who are both different and similar to her. She aims to approach design from an adaptable and intersectional lens.