175: Philippe Saad, Principal @ DiMella Shaffer

9 snips

Apr 15, 2026

Philippe Saad, Principal at DiMella Shaffer and co‑founder of Project Q Communities, is an architect focused on inclusive senior, affordable, and supportive housing. He discusses creating LGBTQ+ senior homes like The Pryde, converting a surplus school into community-centered housing, how immigration and wartime loss shaped his design lens, and leading an interdisciplinary firm while mentoring new leaders.

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ANECDOTE

How The Pryde Began From A Surplus School

Philippe Saad co-founded an LGBTQ senior housing nonprofit after noticing no champion for inclusive older-adult housing while working in senior living.
The Pryde repurposed a surplus Hyde Park middle school into walkable LGBTQ+ senior housing connected to neighborhood amenities.

INSIGHT

Supportive Housing Is Designed For Independence

Saad reframes supportive housing as homes with services designed to adapt as residents age or their conditions change.
He emphasizes independence and community benefits, not institutional care, using his father's improved quality of life as an example.

INSIGHT

Cross Market Work Sparks Breakthrough Ideas

DiMella Shaffer encourages interdisciplinary rotations so designers borrow fresh ideas across markets and avoid siloed thinking.
Saad credits life-science colleagues for an out-of-the-box idea that transformed a Longmeadow senior project.

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In 2008, Philippe Saad was handed his first senior living project. It wasn't the market sector he envisioned pursuing, but he had to take the opportunity in light of the great financial crisis. This decision unexpectedly became the foundation of everything he's built since.

Seventeen years later, Philippe is not only a Principal at DiMella Shaffer; he's also the Co-Founder of Project Q Communities and a Founding Board Member of LGBTQ Senior Housing, two nonprofits creating homes for LGBTQ+ older adults in Greater Boston. Philippe's works include The Pryde, The Baldwin, Orchard Cove, and many more.

Philippe co-chairs the Design for Aging Committee at the Boston Society for Architecture, sits on the board of Environments for Aging, and is a Director of SAGE (Society for the Advancement of Gerontological Environments). He has spoken at LeadingAge national conferences, the Global Ageing Network, and the University of Toronto School of Architecture.

Inside this week's episode:

How Philippe found his way into senior living: the market's stigma, his first project, and how his father's experience in independent living changed his perspective on aging.
What the transition to firm leadership looks like: delegation, partnership, growing talent from within, and the responsibilities that come with the role.
How growing up in Lebanon, losing three homes during the civil war, and building a life as an immigrant in Boston shaped Philippe's understanding of community and design.
The Pryde: a surplus Boston school becoming one of the first LGBTQ+ senior housing developments in New England.
DiMella Shaffer: how a firm of 60 operates across multiple market sectors, why interdisciplinary practice is a differentiator, and what the next generation of leadership looks like.

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