ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando's Debra Lemons has combined an eye for interior design and architecture to carve out a career as a principal, architect and interior designer at the firm L2 Studios in a field that traditionally has been dominated by men.

Lemons, with more than 30 years of experience, pushes boundaries in the industry and has established an emphasis in resorts, hotels, resort sales galleries and themed leisure environments.

As professionals in the field of architecture continue to seek greater diversity at all levels of the profession, progress is slow, but steady. According to the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, women made up 27% of the total architect population in 2023. 

Lemons laid the foundation for her own future early. She knew she wanted to be an interior designer, even before she knew what that meant. She says she spent hours rearranging furniture in her parents' house.

“I was fascinated with space, you know, whether it was sitting in church looking up at the vaults or the way the ceilings and the walls were,” Lemons says.

She followed her passion and got a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in interior design at Texas Tech University in 1989.

“Once I got out of school there, I wanted to do a little bit more," Lemons says. "I don’t want an architect telling me what I can do and giving me those boundaries. So, I wanted to create my own boundaries.”

As a woman, breaking down the barriers in the 1970s and '80s didn’t come easy.

“Architecture wasn’t something really women did. I didn’t really understand it,” Lemons says. “In my class, you know, I was one female in 25.

“Nobody wants special treatment. We just wanted to be recognized. And so, what I found myself in my early career was in some degree kind of de-gendering, like, don’t be too feminine, never cry, never. ... Be very, very pragmatic.”

After she obtained her Master's of Architecture in 1994, her first job was designing prisons. Since then, she has designed multifamily residences, hotels, condominiums, hospitals and homes.

But today, as a principal at L2 Studios, she has a seat at the table of the architecture and interior design firm in Orlando. Lemons works alongside her husband, Timothy Lemons, who is president and chief executive officer, and Tommy Hagood, also a principal and architect.

“We cover each other. We each bring something different to the table," Lemons says. "Sometimes one leads, one follows. But we’re our little three-legged stool.”  

She has a vision for every detail in the process. 

“How we light the space, how we manage light from daylight, from exteriors, and then the selection of finishes, furniture, decorative items is what I call the jewelry,” she explains.

From working together on plans, to seeing the project on 3D programs, it all comes together for the final results. 

“The goal at the end of the day is that when it’s finished and the owner walks through, they say it looks like the picture,” Lemons says.

She also enjoys going back to her first love for interior design: the library.

“We call it the heart because this is where revenue is generated back here, design is done.”

It's the place where she picks the colors, textures and finishes of everything they’ve created.

“Here’s where my brain flips over from architecture and worrying about the performance of an exterior skin or a windows system or a roofing system to what the upholstery does on a chair, making sure that the investment the client has made, or the owner has made will last until the first renovation cycle,” she says.

She also takes a leadership role in the industry, serves as chair for the Orlando Foundation for Architecture and is an active member in the professional and development community.

From the concept of an idea, to see it come to fruition, Lemons says she enjoys working alongside a team of people who share the same passion, including nine other female employees at L2 Studios.

“We’re very hands on, calling each other, and just getting together and meeting with each other," one of Lemons' co-workers says.

Adds Lemons, "It’s a great team dynamic and a lot of talent out here.” 

Lemons says she would encourage any young woman pursuing a career in architecture to do so confidently and without reserve, striving to maintain their identity and uniqueness.