Global Experience - Local Expertise

Niccolo Valerio

AIA, NCARB, LEED AP
President / Creative Design Director

Niccolo Valerio founded Valerio Architects in 1994 and brings over 40 years of professional experience. Originally from Italy, Niccolo began his career through working in restaurants; from bussing to managerial. Through this experience he built a vast understanding of design implications for flow, operations and overall optimal efficiency for restaurant spaces. He progressed his studies in Architecture while working and quickly built his career as a leader in the field. Fast forward to current days, Niccolo leads Valerio Architects as President and Creative Design Director. With over 32 years of development Valerio Architects has grown to be a leader in the retail, restaurant, and hospitality sectors and even with a broad coverage of support Niccolo keeps active through all brands to ensure the best quality delivered.

Elizabeth Valerio

Vice President

Elizabeth Valerio, with over 35 years of experience and expertise has focused her career on supporting as a leader in Land Use Development and Entitlements coordinations nationwide. She has helped oversee and support all sectors including retail, restaurant, and hospitality nationwide. With her expertise Elizabeth has established and lead Valerio’s in-house Entitlements “E-Team” ensuring high quality work in all stages of a project, from due diligence and feasibility studies through permitting, operations, and beyond. She actively takes lead on complicated filings including Conditional Use Permits (CUPs), Site Plan Reviews, Architectural Review Boards, and more including representing brands at hearings and formal presentations.

Filiberto Gomez

Assoc. AIA, RDI
Principal / Director of Construction Management and Retail Rollouts

Filiberto (Fili) has worked for Valerio Architects since 2008. Over the past 10+ years Fili has been the Director in charge of multiple roll out accounts including Starbucks, Oakley, Superdry, Nespresso and Sunglass Hut. As a Studio Director, Fili manages teams within the office ensuring the projects run efficiently and our client’s high standards are maintained on each and every project. Given his prior 12 year experience working at a high end designed-build firm, Fili was able to expand his role as an Owner’s Rep / Construction Manager for brands that do not have a full in house construction team. Fili oversees a team internally to closely coordinate and manage all aspects as Owner’s Rep roles including but not limited to: Budget, schedule, vendor coordination, ordering, procurements, merchandising, and turnover support. Owner’s Rep and Construction Management provides an added level of support to clients as requested.

Kay Elcan

AIA, NCARB
Principal

Kay Elkan has over 25 years experience and started working for Valerio Architects in 2006. Since joining she has continued her career growth as Project Architect and now Principal overseeing several Luxury Retail clients, including but not limited to: Bottega Veneta, Bulgari, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Graff Diamonds, La Perla, Louis Vuitton, Moschino, Prada, and Salvatore Ferragamo. Kay has also been involved in multiple roll-outs and brand development.

Kay is licensed in California and an active member of AIA. Her professional experience extends from conceptual design to project management and construction. Her commitment to deadlines, her ability to bridge spatial limitations and client objectives, and her fascination with design challenges, regularly meet and exceed client expectations and make her a valued member of the Valerio team.

Melissa Velarde

AIA, NCARB
Associate Principal

Melissa has been working with Valerio Architects since 2004. Over the past 20 years Melissa has advanced from drafting, to project management and currently works closely with Niccolo overseeing the Project Design team. Melissa’s efforts have helped to build many successful concepts from an entrepreneurial phase, completing thousands of layouts through her career, to final detailing of millwork and custom furniture designs seen in her projects today. She oversees a team of staff in creating quality visuals through hand sketching and in-house computer aided rendering, helping to tell the design story for each project. Melissa’s work has been featured through multiple online showcases.

Patrick Wildnauer

NCARB, LEED AP
Associate Principal

Patrick Wildnauer joined Valerio Architects in 2016 and has been primarily working with Valerio’s retail team. Patrick has over 23 years experience within the field and brings forth a vast range of knowledge,project management, design sense, and detail coordination.

Prior to joining Valerio Architects Patrick worked within the Retail Design Department of Forever 21. Within this period of over 5 years Patrick worked closely with Architects, consultants, General Contractors, and vendors to ensure projects maintained tight adherence to budgets, schedules and brand values. Since joining Valerio he has led several retail accounts including but not limited to Dior, Nespresso, Brunello Cucinelli, Givenchy, YSL, Alexander Wang, Acne Studios, & Bally. Patrick attributes his quality attention to Client needs and focus on project priorities to ensuring efficiency and meeting of goals. Patrick has been a valued support on the management of the Valerio retail team.

Philip Grimaldi

AIA, NCARB, LEED AP
Associate Principal- New York Office Lead

Philip Grimaldi has over 15 years experience and started working with Valerio Architects January 2020. He is licensed in Connecticut and has been closely involved in luxury retail clients including but not limited to Canada Goose, Gucci, Alexander Wang, and Zegna. In addition to overseeing high end projects he also leads Valerio’s New York office and remote teams as Studio Director. Prior to joining Valerio Philip was a Senior Project Manager for Tapestry where he supervised the execution of over 200 store buildouts per year. He credits this time as providing quality knowledge to support his current clients.

Jose Larocca

Associate Principal- Buenos Aires Office Lead

Jose has worked with Valerio since 2007. Before joining Valerio, he worked as an independent architect in Buenos Aires. He also had corporate experience working as a Supervisor in Nextel, Sprint’s subsidiary in Latin America. Jose originally started as an Associate, and has grown into Associate Principal building and overseeing the Buenos Aires team while also providing valued leadership throughout all office locations. Jose is a valued support in overseeing and guiding Valerio's quality control, projects coordination throughout all the phases, schedule and reports to clients. Jose has helped closely support clients including Starbucks, Chipotle, Bacio di Latte.

Ruth Garibaldi

Project Architect / Studio Director- Los Angeles Office

Ruth has over 20 years of experience. She originally joined Valerio in 2012 as a senior associate then moved into a Sr. Project / Account Manager position for Valerio’s Starbucks Account. During her time with Valerio she oversaw and completed over 200+ roll out projects for the Brand. Ruth took a short break from Valerio and worked on other corporate retail programs like Charter/ Spectrum, Union Bank, Medmen & Five Below. Since her return, she’s become one of the Project Architects and Studio Director overseeing the LA office. She’s oversees a team of staff working on projects on a daily basis across all offices, as well as coordination with client Design and Program Managers

Mayra Banda

Studio Director- Monterrey Office

Mayra joined Valerio Architects in 2023 with over 18 years of Architectural experience. She has been integral to the development and expansion of Valerio offices including the recent relocation and expansion of our Monterrey office and team. Mayra has been involved firm-wide with support throughout.

Prior to joining Valerio Mayra has held numerous positions with her portfolio spanning to include Retail, Restaurants, Hotel, Structures, Hospitality, Showrooms, clubs, mixed use developments, and corporate offices. In additionto overseeing the architectural technical coordination closely Mayra has helped in all areas of her projects lifecycle with thorough coordination, document control, scheduling, supervision, and monitoring. Mayra has additional training credits in Project Management in addition to her Bachelor of Architecture from Monterrey University.

Alicia Zaayer

Entitlements Director

Alicia Zaayer joined Valerio Architects in 2012. Prior to joining Valerio Alicia closely worked with building code interpretation and accessibility compliance inspections for multiple well known hotel developments. Alicia joined Valerio Architects at a junior associate level, quickly building a skillset and expertise into her current role as Entitlements Director. Alicia manages Valerio’s in-house Entitlements “E-Team” to oversee the day-to-day development support including jurisdictional research, code compliance reviews, entitlement and permitting strategy, site plan and conditional use permit filings, permit submittal and expediting, and assistance through construction and inspections. Alicia and her team has worked closely with jurisdiction personnel for submittals and code review developing quality relationships nationwide. Alicia has also helped broadly support clients on business licensing, utilities, operations, alcohol licensing, and more.

Anna Travaglia

Chief Financial Officer / Accounting

A strategic CFO and administrative executive with 20+ years of experience leading finance, accounting, human resources, and compliance functions across architecture, legal, and academic organizations. She brings deep expertise in business finance and tax, development, labor compliance, and global operations, with more than a decade of professional experience in Italy. Since joining Valerio in 2012, she has helped guide the firm’s financial strategy and operational growth, building strong, compliant systems that support long-term success across international teams.

Todd Bynon

SHRM-CP
Director of Operations

Todd brings a diverse background in operations management, business leadership, and human resources, with experience spanning aerospace, design, and professional services. Throughout his career, he has led cross-functional operations, supported organizational growth, and developed the processes and people-management practices that help teams perform effectively. His work has increasingly focused on the intersection of operations and human resources, including organizational development, recruiting, performance management, and building scalable people operations. Todd’s leadership approach is also shaped by his military service, which helped establish his foundation in accountability, teamwork, and leading with purpose. After his service, he earned his Master of Business Administration while working full time, applying the concepts and frameworks from his studies directly to real-world business challenges. He holds the SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) credential, reflecting his continued commitment to developing his expertise in human resources and people leadership.